Harris-Walz Campaign Kicks Off HBCU Homecoming Tour

The tour kicked off at Winston Salem State University.

In an effort to continue their voter outreach to young Black voters, the Harris-Walz campaign kicked off its HBCU homecoming tour on Sept. 28 at Winston Salem State University.

According to Ebony, the tour is a continuation of Vice President Harris’s pledge during her campaign to earn the vote of Black people in particular by focusing on them as a voting bloc.

The Harris-Walz Campaign National Black Engagement Director, Christale Spain, told the outlet that the campaign is not operating out of the sense that Black voters owe them a vote.

“Vice President Harris has been very clear: She is not taking a single voter for granted, Black voters are not in our back pocket, and we must put in the work to earn their vote. That is exactly what we are doing by launching an HBCU homecoming tour across battleground states,” Spain said.

Spain continued, “As President, Kamala Harris will chart a new way forward that includes creating an opportunity economy that provides real economic tools for our community, not to mention her leadership as Vice President has resulted in millions forgiven in student loan debt directly working to close the racial wealth gap and millions of new jobs created for Black workers. Vice President Harris is the only candidate in this election who has delivered real progress for Black America — and she’s just getting started.”

According to Fox 5 Atlanta, at Winston Salem State University, the campaign sponsored or hosted a tailgate as the campus was dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene which tore through parts of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. In addition to Winston Salem State, the tour is currently scheduled to include stops at Lincoln University and Virginia State University on Oct.12, Harris’s alma mater of Howard University, North Carolina A&T University, and Clark Atlanta University on Oct. 19, and Morehouse College and Spelman College on Oct. 26 with the flexibility to add other stops to the tour if necessary.

The tour is a continuation of outreach and other efforts that Harris has made in her official capacity as Vice President and during her time as a U.S. Senator. In 2023, Harris established a “Fight For Our Freedoms College Tour,” which according to a White House briefing statement, focused on “the fight for reproductive freedom, common sense gun safety laws, climate action, voting rights, LGBTQ+ equality, and teaching America’s full history.”

On that tour, Harris included stops at Hampton University, North Carolina A&T, and the AUC (Morehouse, Spelman, Clark Atlanta University and Morris Brown College.)

In a press release, Harris made it clear that young Black voters are central to youth voter outreach efforts of the Biden-Harris administration. “This generation is critical to the urgent issues that are at stake right now for our future,” the Vice President said. “It is young leaders throughout America who know what the solutions look like and are organizing in their communities to make them a reality. My message to students is clear: We are counting on you, we need you, you are everything.”

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