A Black Man Who isn’t Going to Vote? A Conversation with an Advancing Black American for the Preliminary Elections
Reached on the phone this week, he said he’s definitely planning to vote. “When Biden dropped out, I was kind of happy,” Pounds said, explaining he thought Biden was too old for the job.
Back in May, Evans was cutting the hair of Christian Pounds, a 22-year-old college student. He didn’t think his vote would change anything, even though he disliked both candidates.
Evans is one of many who say gas prices are high and groceries are too expensive. She sees Harris talking about going after companies for price gouging in the ads that show up constantly on the TV in the barbershop — but Evans doesn’t buy that as a real solution.
Evans said that most of his female family and friends are going to vote for Harris. But she said some of the men in her life aren’t so sure. “I think … a lot of men aren’t ready to vote for a woman.”
This weekend, Harris will be in Eastern North Carolina, a section of the state with a large Black population but where turnout among those voters has lagged in recent years.
In the last few days of the election, the Harris campaign will target Black men with events including partnerships with influential black males and talks with Black business owners.
Black Men Aren’t the First Choice: Mike Harris’ Campaign to Lead the Way for Black Women in the State of Rocky Mount, N.C.
“Part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that,” Obama said.
That’s why on Tuesday Harris will be taking questions from callers in swing states in a town hall conversation moderated by Charlamagne tha God, an influential Black radio host who has pulled very few punches with Democratic politicians.
As early voting begins in key states where every vote will count, Harris is racing to address the problem. Black men may not vote if President Donald Trump is making inroads with them.
ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — From behind her barber chair and in her community, Cherita Evans — who goes by “Storm the Barber” — has picked up on a troubling trend for Vice President Harris’ campaign.
In the neighboring community of Wilson, Mike Harris is a barber at Style Masters. He’s been voting for Democrats all his life, and said he hopes Harris will become the first female president.
“Some people don’t believe in female leaders, but I tell them all the time … my mom raised me and my brother in our house. Mike Harris thinks that women can do the job.
Black Americans do not owe their votes to any candidate because they look like us, they said in a statement. “It’s demeaning to suggest that we can’t evaluate a candidate’s track record — especially when Kamala Harris has done more harm than good to Black communities.”
She attended a Black church in N.C. and held a rally in the part of the state where Democrats are hoping to boost turnout among Black voters.
According to the co-chair of the Harris’ campaign, her new announcement is part of her “Opportunity Economy” pledge, which is “an economy where people don’t just get by but get ahead.” He said that the tools that Black men are equipped with to thrive are to buy a home, start a business and build wealth.
Vice President Harris pledged to give 1 million loans to black entrepreneurs and tolegalize recreational marijuana on Monday in order to court Black voters who may be crucial in the presidential race.