BOWIE, Md. — It’s quiet in one neighborhood in Bowie on Tuesday night, but if you take a close listen, you can hear the gratification and love of sisterhood echo from inside one home.
“One of the most compelling things is that we know her, we know what she’s capable of and so now we’re watching her being able to show the world who she is,” Karla Mannings said.
Vice President Kamala Harris’s Line Sisters from Alpha Kappa Sorority Incorporated couldn't hide their excitement as they watched her in the first 2024 presidential debate.
“Amazing, immense pride, she stands on the shoulders of all of our parents and children, our ancestors, the people who dare to dream, who wouldn’t even imagine,” Kuae Noel Kelch said. “I am equal parts speechless that here we are tonight, that our line sister who we met on the campus of Howard in 1986 when we were 19, 20, 21, is getting ready to do a debate.”
Her line sisters credit their humble beginnings for preparing and teaching them all that anything is possible.
“We were loved by our parents, our professors, Howard’s administrators and they always taught us that we could be what we want to be, even president,” Kelch said.
They say her demeanor Tuesday, and all along her journey has always stayed the same, just like her line name 'C-Cubed,' for calm, cool and collected.
“It was so in command, it was cool, it was calm it was collected,” Kelch said. “This is the way she has always been, and this is the way she’s going to lead in the face of turmoil and chaos.”
“She was always in charge,” Valerie Bose said. “She always knew what she wanted to do.”
As millions of people watched Harris on the big stage, all 37 of her line sisters were excited for the world to get to know the woman they’ve always admired and grew up with.
“Now America gets to see the Kamala that we always knew was there,” Bose said.
“She sees the joy in the things, she sees the positivity in things. That’s something that folks are just starting to see about her,” Kelch said.
As they watch her make history, her sisters are excited for their children and other young Black children around the world to see someone who looks like them.
“One of the things she’s doing for our adult children is she is giving them hope for the future and giving them that they can now make their mark on the world,” Mannings said.
Harris’s line sisters have shown the true definition of sisterhood, they have supported Harris as she pledged in 1986 and then went on to California to be District Attorney and then State’s Attorney. Her sisters helped her fundraise. They’ve been there firsthand to watch her ascend to the second highest position in the nation and now as she runs for the highest position, President of the United States.
Several other Howard graduates, along with Divine 9 members of other Black Sororities and Fraternities like Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity attended the watch party.