Black History

Opinion: Sha’Carri, H.E.R., and Kamala’s Olympian Dash to the Presidency

I know the Olympics are over. Consider this me just running through the tape. You know, the one at the finish line. (Remember as the 100-meter gold medalist Noah Lyles found out, a leg can beat you, but it’s the first torso to cross that counts). I’m still savoring all of the Olympics highlights.

Published

2 years ago

August 19, 2024

Oakland Post

Courtesy of Harris-Walz Campaign.

By Emil Guillermo

I know the Olympics are over. Consider this me just running through the tape. You know, the one at the finish line.

(Remember as the 100-meter gold medalist Noah Lyles found out, a leg can beat you, but it’s the first torso to cross that counts).

I’m still savoring all of the Olympics highlights.

My favorite moment — even more than the wild Stephen Curry three that nailed the gold in men’s basketball–was the Women’s 4×100 relay and Sha’Carri Richardson. Far behind, as she got the baton for the anchor leg, Richardson was magic in motion. With a phenomenal burst of speed, she made up the lost ground in seconds. But it was her glance back at the smoked competition as she crossed the finished line that got me.

Unforgettable.

To top it off was the closing ceremony that included H.E.R., singing the “Star Spangled Banner,” our country’s national anthem. It was H.E.R. representing all of us — the Asian American Filipino/African American pop star a/k/a Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson of Vallejo, Calif.

She was the face of America, welcoming the next games to our nation where in 2028, the entire country will be closer to what California already is, a minority-majority state. Seeing the multiracial singer was the extension of an ideal theme that a world where people have a love interest in one another, will get along with each other.

It’s the hope of a world at peace beyond the Olympic zone.

KAMALA IN THE BAY AREA FOR $13 MILLION

As the closing ceremonies were relayed from Paris, another biracial icon was continuing her Olympian sprint to the presidency. Kamala Harris was back in the Bay Area to share her campaign joy with rich homies.

At the Fairmount in San Francisco, the tickets ranged from $3,300 to up to $500,000 — a sliding scale for the well-heeled. Far from the $5 dollar internet pitches that end up in your inbox daily.

There were some who gladly paid at the low-end forgoing a vacation to support a historic run to save democracy. Nearly 700 attendees offering up more than $13 million were reported on the inside, including high tech folks and politicos like attorney general Rob Bonta.

Outside of the event, Harris also drew the same type of Pro-Gaza protestors who have dogged her at events in Las Vegas and Detroit. “Killer Kamala, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” was the chant, according to reports.

The protestors accuse Israel of genocide against the Palestinians but hold the Biden/Harris administration just as accountable for the tens of thousands who have died in Gaza.

Harris never saw the protestors on Nob Hill. But she saw them in Detroit, where she let the protestors have their First Amendment right, and then spoke directly them.

“If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that, otherwise, I’m speaking,” Harris said to cheers from supporters who drowned out the protestors.

It was as tough and as candid as Harris has been on any issue since she began her campaign.

For now, she is the joyful, feelgood Kamala, raising millions, staying on message, and “moving forward not backward.”

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. See him on YouTube.com/@emilamok1. Or at www.amok.com