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An online call supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’ run for president drew thousands of Black men, raising over $1 million.
On Monday (July 22), the veteran journalist Roland Martin and his Black Star Network hosted a “Win With Black Men” Zoom call for Black men pledging to support Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. The call would exceed viewership levels from the first minutes, prompting Martin to also stream the event live via YouTube. The final numbers were staggering, as revealed in a post by Martin to X, formerly Twitter on Tuesday (July 23): “I have no words. And not just because I’m tired. My @BlkStarNetwork just told me that 53,862 people registered for our #WinWithBlackMen video call. We raised $1.3M and counting from 17,000 donors.”
The call featured numerous guests, including Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock. “This moment will go down in history when the brothers got together to say we are all in for the next president of the United States, Kamala Harris,” Warnock said. “It is time to show up not just for Kamala Harris but our families and future.” Bakari Sellers spoke to those gathered, sharing a deeply personal story about how Harris helped him in a dark time. “Let’s protect Kamala. Let’s be with her like she was there for us,” Sellers said. “We are going to disagree a lot. But let’s put the petty bickering aside. Let’s stand up and be the Black men who change this country. We built this country. I’m rocking with Kamala.”
The “Win With Black Men” call came a day after the Win With Black Women advocacy group held a call on Sunday night (July 21). That call drew 44,000 women supporters and raised $1.5 million for Harris’ campaign in only a few hours.
The call is significant because of the focus on the voting power of Black men – a survey held in May by the Pew Research Center showed an uptick in Black men who said they’d vote for Donald Trump over President Biden in the November elections at 20%. The Biden-Harris ticket did capture 92% of the vote in the 2020 elections. Throughout the chat, the emphasis on voting and voter outreach was emphasized by every speaker, including the Reverend William Barber. “Let’s reach out to those brothers everywhere and lift up a mighty transformative remnant of voters who can change the direction of this nation,” he said, imploring those present to engage those Black men not on the call.
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A lot of people were clowning Michigan motorist Corey Harris, who went viral recently after he joined a virtual hearing to answer for a charge of driving with a suspended license while he was visibly still driving with a suspended license.
Washtenaw County Judge Cedric Simpson couldn’t believe Harris had the audacity to show up on camera while driving, and he revoked the defendant’s bond and ordered him to turn himself in by 6 p.m. that day.
Harris has since spoken out about how “embarrassing” the incident was, but now, folks are questioning whether he should have been put in the position he was in the first place considering his license shouldn’t have been suspended at the time he was charged.
“It’s very embarrassing,” told 7 News Detroit. “With the type of ties that I have with the church and the community, it’s very embarrassing.”
When asked what he was thinking calling into the virtual hearing while driving, he explained that his wife needed to get to the hospital and that was all he was concerned with.
“What was I thinking? I was thinking about getting my wife medical help. That’s what I was thinking,” Harris said. “I wasn’t thinking about the fact that I got a suspended license. I don’t care about all that.”
Then the 44-year-old dropped the bombshell that added a layer to his story folks likely hadn’t considered: his license shouldn’t have been suspended in the first place.
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From 7 News:
“They were supposed to have been lifted it two years ago, but they didn’t,” Harris said.
Secretary of State records show Harris’ license was first suspended in 2010 for unpaid child support in Saginaw County.
Then in 2022, court records show that a judge rescinded that suspension, allowing Harris to drive again. But it appears that information never got to the Secretary of State where even as of Thursday afternoon, Harris’ license is still listed as suspended — the same records police and the judge were going by.
Harris spent two days in jail. And Thursday, Harris said he went back to the Secretary of State to try to resolve the matter.
Harris said, “Always double-check behind these workers because they will say that they will do something and they don’t do it,” Harris said.
So, Harris spent two years not legally being able to drive—which can upend a person’s life and ability to support themself—because legal officials weren’t on their job.
Maybe the people on social media who were dragging Harris really do owe him an apology.
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Corey Harris, a Michigan man due in court virtually for a hearing, certainly didn’t do himself any favors earlier this month before the meeting with the judge. Mr. Harris, who has a suspended license, called into the hearing while driving which sparked the judge to react with disbelief.
Corey Harris, 44, was slated to speak to Washtenaw County Judge Cedric Simpson and called into the hearing via Zoom while driving a vehicle. As reported by Detroit outlet WXYZ, Harris was charged with driving with a suspended license in October 2023. Assistant Public Defender Natalie Pate introduced the case to the judge, and the Zoom call began with Harris simply driving along without any concern for the optics.
Harris caused Judge Simpson to become flabbergasted after he asked the judge for a moment to park his vehicle after he explained he was heading to his doctor’s office. After a moment, Judge Simpson couldn’t believe what he was witnessing.
“No, I’m looking at his record. He doesn’t have a license. He’s suspended and he’s just driving,” Simpson says, trying to maintain his composure. Simpson added, “I don’t even know why he would do that.”
Instead of proceeding with the hearing, Judge Simpson revoked Harris’ bond and ordered Harris to turn himself in by 6 PM that day. As the Detroit News added in its reporting, Harris was set to appear before the court in connection to his suspended license case.
Corey Harris is due back in court on June 5, hopefully taking Uber or getting a lift from a friend.
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Photo: Zinkevych / Getty
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