Vice President Kamala Harris has a lot of traveling to do this summer, and one of her stops will be Boston. She’s coming to our city this month to join the NAACP National Convention, the White House told us on Thursday.
They said Harris “will be on the move across the country in July and August,” and she’ll also visit Florida, Illinois, Indiana, and Massachusetts.
She’ll be here in Boston on July 29, they said.
You might remember that Harris made history last year as the first Black woman vice president to give the main speech at the NAACP convention. She spoke about important issues like abortion rights, stricter gun laws, and the high death rates for pregnant people of color.
“Vice President Harris’ attendance at the convention will encourage our members and supporters to keep fighting for racial justice in all 50 states. We can’t wait to hear from the Vice President on how the administration is keeping its promise to address the issues that are important to Black America. This is what thriving together looks like,” NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement.
Harris will join some amazing speakers, such as former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Congressman Justin Jones, President and CEO of The National Council of Negro Women Shavon Arline-Bradley, and other activists, writers, and artists.
We’ll also get to hear from Robert Kraft, owner of the Patriots and founder of the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism; Henry Louis Gates, a literary critic and professor of African-American studies; and criminal justice reform advocate Meek Mill. They’ll have a discussion on racial injustice and hate crimes, moderated by Joy Taylor.
The NAACP’s 114th National Convention will happen from July 26 to Aug. 1 in South Boston, and it will bring a lot of money to our city — more than $10 million!
Boston has been lucky enough to host the convention twice before, in 1911 and 2020 — but we didn’t get to see them in person last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.