“Protection” became a key theme on a Monday night Zoom call organized by “Win With Black Men.” During the four hour call, several Black men discussed the importance of protecting Kamala Harris as she seeks to make history by becoming the first women to serve as President of the United States.
The call was hosted by Roland Martin and the Black Star Network and featured Khalil Thompson, executive director of ‘Win With Black Men”; Bakari Sellers, CNN commentator; Michael Blake, CEO of Kairos Democracy; and Quentin James, president collective pac.
“Let’s protect Kamala,” Sellers said during the call. “Let’s be with her like she was there for us. We are going to disagree a lot. But let’s put the petty bickering aside. Let’s stand up and be the Black men who change this country.”
Over 20,000 Black men were on the Zoom call, and thousands more watched the call online. In all, over $1 million was raised. The donations came in quickly. After about 30 minutes, over $500,000 was raised.
The “Win With Black Men” call came one day after 44,000 Black women raised over $1.5 million for Harris. In an exclusive interview conducted prior to Monday night’s call, Khalil Thompson shared how women have led the way.
“Sisters, as they always do, have been leading the charge and we’re trying to catch up to them,” Thompson said. “We’re really excited to see this groundswell of support. I remember when my father took me and my brothers to the Million Man March back in 1995. We want to have that same groundswell and that feeling. This is about us showing up and making the best decisions for our community…It’s about electing and hiring people that are going to represent our communities and bring the best for our communities back when they’re in office.”
The narrative presented by some mainstream media outlets is that Black men are disengaged with this year’s political process. Thompson wants to debunk that theory.
“I think we have to support our communities and our brothers who are frustrated,” Thompson said. “But there is not one person that has been elected to office that’s a perfect human being, because none of us are. And so making sure that there’s not a litmus test or a purity test that we’re going to hold one particular party to and not hold the other to. I think that is a detriment to us all. It is important that I believe we show up and support Kamala Harris. I think when we make it about one particular person, then each election is just about that person. We are calling for a transformative moment.”
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