Divine Nine members in Metro Detroit weigh in on campaign fundraising efforts for Kamala Harris
(CBS DETROIT) — Financial support for Vice President Kamala Harris has skyrocketed since President Biden withdrew from the presidential race, and a single Zoom call contributed to that number, raising a record amount of money in just three hours.
"There are almost 1.4 million total members of the Divine Nine. I think 1.4 million people can make a major impact in this election," said John Johnson, chair of the Political and Social Action Committee for the Detroit Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi.
Johnson is speaking specifically about the role his organization and its members play in political engagement.
"And [when it come to this year's presidential election] that's what we'll be emphasizing in terms of voter education," he said. "[We'll also be] looking at the policies that each candidate brings to the table and what is in our best interest as a community, as a country."
Johnson and his organization aren't the only ones galvanizing voters. A Zoom call on Sunday led by the group Win With Black Women hosted more than 44,000 people, including representatives from the nine Black sororities and fraternities that exist under the National Pan-Hellenic Council, known as the Divine Nine. Harris is a member of the Council's Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
"People are just energized," said Crystal Sewell, vice president and program chairman for the AKA Lambda Pi Omega chapter. "And really really excited about possibilities [as] it relates to VP Harris and her candidacy."
Sewell says that call ended in a record-breaking fundraising effort, with more than $1.5 million raised in three hours for Harris' presidential campaign. In the last election, members of Sewell's sorority contributed more than $200,000 to the 2020 Biden-Harris campaign.
"As we think about the work of Alpha Kappa Alpha, or members of Alpha Kappa Alpha, [and] members of the Divine Nine, I think individually you begin to realize the power of our dollars," Sewell said.