Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in Boston on Saturday to attend the 2023 NAACP National Convention at the Boston Convention Center.
The Convention kicked off earlier this week with the theme "Thriving Together.” The Vice President was the distinguished guest for a conversation later Saturday, arriving in Boston just before 4 p.m. and then addressing thousands inside the convention center in the Seaport.
“I am just filled with joy and humbled to be with all of these incredible leaders who are here, gathered here in Boston forty years after the last gathering in this historic city,” Harris said.
The first female and black vice president formerly served as California's attorney general. Massachusetts AG Andrea Campbell moderated the wide-ranging discussion Saturday, telling Harris, "I sit here standing on your shoulders as a former attorney general and the first Black woman elected in that role in the country.”
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National and local leaders like NAACP Boston branch president Tanisha Sullivan marked the importance of the moment for the storied organization.
“Our cities and our towns need the volunteerism in our units helping to ensure that the impact of the national NAACP is felt by our people,” Sullivan said.
People from across the country listened in to Mayor Michelle Wu's remarks on the historic fight for justice.
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“My family and so many others were able to come to this country to raise their kids in a land where they believed we had a shot at leading better lives than they’d ever had because of generations of Black leaders,” Boston's mayor told the crowd.
The next generations of leaders said they left the conference feeling inspired.
“We felt so empowered coming out of that room, listening to Kamala Harris and all the other leaders within the NAACP," student India Smith said.
“It’s pure motivation you know just seeing people that look like me being able to make such a big difference,” student Awwal Boswell added.
Organizers are hoping the vice president's visit will inspire members to continue fighting for racial justice across the country for generations to come.
Harris made history as the first Black woman vice president to provide a keynote speech at an NAACP Convention last year. Her remarks focused on the Administration’s support for abortion rights and tighter gun restrictions, and conveyed a promise to reduce disproportionately high maternal mortality rates for people of color.
She now joins a list of presidents and vice presidents from Eisenhower to Carter and Bush to Obama to headline the convention over the last 113 years.
For this year's convention, there’s a lengthy schedule of discussions, luncheons and other events over the next few days.
“It’s upon us to make sure that we mentor them correctly because this is how they grow, generation to generation.” said one member of the organization.
