For many, the results of the 2024 presidential election were devastating, as Vice President Harris lost her bid for the White House early Wednesday morning, ending a campaign that could have made history with her as the first woman to sit in the Oval Office.
“The result of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for,” Harris said from Howard University late Wednesday afternoon. “But hear me when I say—hear me when I say— the light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.”
While Tuesday night began as one filled with excitement, laughter and hope at Howard, much of that energy dissipated as results began pouring in. By 1 a.m., Harris supporters started filing out of the campus with a sense of uneasiness. On Wednesday, the disappointment was palpable.
“I feel like we failed her as the American people,” said Dayesha Sims, a doctoral student of health communications at Howard.
“I think people didn’t want to see a Black woman president,” she added. “Seeing not only a Black woman, but a pro-Black woman … I think that discouraged a lot of people. America has voted and unfortunately, they have to see what Donald Trump is really capable of and really see that we made a big mistake.”
Still, despite Harris’s loss, Black America had several historic victories. For the first time, two Black women will serve in the Senate at the same time. Delaware Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester and Maryland’s Angela Alsobrooks both became the first Black women to be elected from their respective states.
For some, that history is helping keep the sense of hope alive.
“Regardless of the outcome, history has been made and the bar has been raised and the door has been kicked open, and so I’m proud of what’s been accomplished,” said Katheryn Holmes Johnson, who helped the Harris campaign on the ground in Pennsylvania.
It’s a sentiment Harris echoed herself on Wednesday as she promised to keep the ideals of her campaign alive.
“While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,” Harris said.
“The fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness and the dignity of all people, a fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation, the ideals that reflect on America at our best. That is a fight I will never give up.”
