by Rob Taylor Jr., Courier Staff Writer
This isn’t a movie. The upcoming presidential election is real. So real that movie stars have come to Pittsburgh to let those in this pivotal region know that there’s a clear choice for president — Kamala Harris.
Danai Gurira, who most notably played Okoye in the powerful movies “Black Panther” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” and as Michonne on “The Walking Dead,” spent time on the North Side of Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon, Nov. 3, urging residents to vote for Harris and inspiring canvassers to continue their important work. Gurira later joined an event in Aliquippa, Beaver County, hosted by Aliquippa mayor Dwan B. Walker.
Gurira was joined on the North Side by her fellow “avenger,” highly-acclaimed actress Scarlett Johansson.
ACTRESSES DANAI GURIRA AND SCARLETT JOHANSSON, ON PITTSBURGH’S NORTH SIDE, SUNDAY, NOV. 3, 2024. (PHOTO BY ROB TAYLOR JR.)
In an exclusive interview with the New Pittsburgh Courier, Gurira called the election “a powerful moment for Black America, for Black Pittsburgh and for Black Pennsylvania.”
She added: “This is a very deciding vote; it decides the country’s future and it also decides the world’s future. I think that is something we can’t forget.”
Gurira was born in Iowa, but moved to her parents’ native country, Zimbabwe, at age 5, where she was raised. She returned to the U.S. for college in Minnesota and later, New York.
“My sister sent this list of all the things that Kamala has done so far, the journey she’s taken…she’s had a couple ‘firsts’ already,” such as first woman attorney general of California and first woman U.S. vice president. “This is an extremely qualified woman and as a Black woman, I know it’s not easy for us to get there.”
What’s also impressed Gurira is how Harris has handled the incessant attacks on her by her opponent, Donald Trump, and other television ads. “She’s kept her eyes on the prize, she hasn’t spent her time grappling with every insult. She’s kept her eyes focused on us, the American people,” Gurira told the Courier. Harris continues to talk about improving homeownership for African Americans, small business-building, improved health care and women’s health, and that’s music to Gurira’s ears.
“She has vision, she has focus, she has compassion, she has humanity, she’s tough and she’s ready,” Gurira said of Harris. “Obviously we have the clear candidate to be the next president of the United States.”
Eric Holder is not a movie star — he’s the former attorney general of the United States from 2009-2015, during the heart of President Barack Obama’s tenure. He’s the first Black U.S. attorney general in the country’s history. Thus, in a way, he’s got some “movie star status” as well, as he, too, felt compelled to come to Pittsburgh on Nov. 3 to make sure Black people in the city would exercise their right to vote on Nov. 5, if they haven’t voted already.
Holder was situated more so on the South Side of town, Sunday afternoon, Nov. 3. He told the Courier in an exclusive interview that he has friends who live in Pittsburgh, and a family friend was Evelyn Cunningham, a prominent Black journalist who worked at the Courier from 1940 to 1962.
Cunningham died in 2010 at age 94.
FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER, ON PITTSBURGH’S SOUTH SIDE, NOV. 3, 2024. (PHOTO: HARRIS-WALZ FOR PENNSYLVANIA)
“To have the first woman elected as president of the United States, it has impacts beyond policy,” Holder told the Courier. “Obviously policy’s important, and I think she (Kamala Harris) has much better policy positions than Donald Trump does, but it also means that little girls are going to look and say, ‘that’s something that I can do.'”
Holder said he’s known Harris for decades. He had many interactions with her when he was U.S. attorney general, and she was attorney general of California. “Donald Trump is wholly unqualified to be president of the United States, experientially, temperamentally…he possesses none of the prerequisites you would want in a president,” Holder said. “By contrast, (Harris) has had experience at the local, state and federal level, she has been in the executive branch where she’s had to make executive branch decisions at all those levels…being attorney general for the biggest state in the country” is a big job, Holder said. “We had to talk about a range of issues, both civil as well as criminal, and you have to have good decision-making skills, and that’s what you want in a president.”
Holder also said a good president has empathy for people, and “I know this woman. She has the intelligence, she has the experience, she’s got the instincts to be, not a good president, but I think a great president.”
FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER, ON PITTSBURGH’S SOUTH SIDE, NOV. 3, 2024. (PHOTO: HARRIS-WALZ FOR PENNSYLVANIA)