Unsolicited advice is a bane of life. Still, as a Californian and a concerned American, I take the liberty of giving some advice to the democratic VP nominee Kamala Harris, born in Oakland 55 years ago to biracial parents.
The first concerns the presidential campaign.
Go for broke, Kamala. Take the gloves off because Trump
sure as hell will. You must be proactive, not reactive. Take the fight to him
by anticipating his foul tweets, his misogynistic and racist remarks, his
attempts to suppress the vote and confiscate mail-in ballots. But complement
that by invoking the better angels of our nature, by convincing Americans that
we are that “shining city upon a hill” and not the dystopia Trump has wrought.
You nailed it when you said this election is a battle for the soul of our
nation. Bring your prosecutorial chops to expose the existential threat Trump
poses for America.
Trump will likely contest the election if defeated but
ultimately the law of the land will prevail, and he will have to leave if Biden
wins.
What then?
Your priority should be to help President Biden rebuild
America from within. To that end, your first task should be to restore normalcy
to our lives. Four years of nonstop hysteria and hypocrisy, of magical thinking
and mendacity by the President have left us dazed and depressed. We crave a
return to decency and decorum. We want to breathe the fresh air of democracy,
not the fetid air of authoritarianism.
Next, help President Biden treat the Covid-19 catastrophe with the seriousness it deserves, with doctors and scientists dictating policies. Despite the economic hardship and the horrifying death toll, Americans will make the necessary sacrifices if convinced that the administration is using dependable data and sound science to stop the killer pathogen. You persuasive powers will be instrumental in making this happen.
Finally, help the more than 160 million Americans out of work with meaningful financial assistance. I teach at a community college and have observed firsthand how students, some of them first in their family to attend college and some who are essential workers, are struggling to survive the health care, economic and educational crises brought on by the abject failure of Trump to contain the coronavirus. While a few students had to drop out to care for loved ones or take on risky jobs, most forged on. As one student wrote in a chat during a Zoom session: “Soon I hope to see light at the end of the tunnel.”
There are many, many more urgent issues that need to be addressed but for now, and for the first 100 days of the Joe Biden Presidency, these will do.
When you were campaigning for the Senate, Kamala, your motto was, “Fearless for the People.” Your scope has now widened but your motto should remain the same. As attorney general of California, you showed your mettle taking on big banks, pharmaceutical companies and transnational criminal organizations preying on vulnerable Americans. That battle must continue.
It’s time to clean house, the White House, through the agency of truth, accountability, justice and the rule of law. You have it what it takes to get the job done. Two literary figures who grew up in Oakland in early 20th century – Gertrude Stein and Jack London - were also known for their feistiness, organization skills and social activism. Knowingly or unknowingly, you are continuing that legacy, honed by your grandmother, a skilled organizer, and your grandfather, an active member of the movement to win India’s independence from the British in the 1940s.
As a woman of color, born of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, you represent the cosmopolitan interracial democracy of America. Your story, as Joe Biden said, is America’s story. If elected, we are counting on you, Kamala, to take us from four years of darkness to the light of grace and good governance.
