The founder of the viral “Win With Black Women” livestream that had 90,000 participants nationwide as Vice President Kamala Harris entered the race for the White House in July said as a child, she “always was that kid that just wanted to fight for anybody who I felt was being mistreated.”
Jotaka Eaddy said she felt that way after hearing negative comments made about Black women named as possible vice presidential candidates in 2020, when President Biden was on the campaign trail.
“Every last one of those women were receiving racist, sexist attacks,” Eaddy told CBS News. “No one was challenging their policies, their agendas. It was, ‘she was too ambitious.’”
Eaddy’s mentor, former White House political director Minyon Moore, encouraged Eaddy to do something. And in 2020, Eaddy created “Win With Black Women,” a virtual network that started meeting every Sunday during the pandemic via zoom with the goal of supporting and advancing the policy agenda of Black women. Since July, it’s raised more than $2.6 million for the Harris campaign.
When Mr. Biden opted to leave the race in July, endorsing Harris as his successor, the group’s routine call went viral, as around 90,000 Black women and allies came together to strategize — and to embrace the history that could be made.
“Remember this moment, remember where you were, remember how you felt,” Eaddy said at the time.
Eaddy said when the call came to a close at 1 a.m., around 20,000 women remained, in what she said “felt like a hug that you just did not want to let go.”
The group’s work inspired others to form virtual groups, while raising millions of dollars for the shared cause. And it inspired a “Unite for America” livestream in September with Oprah Winfrey, featuring Harris herself, who thanked Eaddy for her work.
“She started it, Jotaka started it,” Harris said.
According to CBS News polling, more than nine in 10 Black women voters are backing Harris in the 2024 presidential election. The support comes as Black women helped propel Mr. Biden to victory in 2020, like in Georgia, with 92% supporting him and helping a Democrat to win the state for the first time in 28 years.
The effort comes after a long history of Black women organizing, according to historian and professor Martha S. Jones.
“When we look back across not just decades, but more than a century, what we recognize is that Black women have always been knocking on the door, rattling the gates, insisting on a place at the table in American politics,” Jones said.
Jones, the author of “Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All,” was part of the zoom call in July, and noted the importance of getting out the vote — which she called “the heart of democracy.”
For Eaddy, she recognizes the new standard that “Win With Black Women” has set on voter outreach, which she hopes will make an impact in decades to come.
“What we are seeing is a level of energy united around our collective, our collective absolute need to ensure that this country is a place where we can all thrive and live and be free,” Eaddy said.
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