Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. announced the induction of April Showers as an Honorary Member at their 60th International Biennial Boule in Houston today. Showers is the Founder and CEO of Afro Unicorn, a brand designed to celebrate the uniqueness and magic of women and children of color.

Launched in 2019, Afro Unicorn has quickly become a global sensation, with products featured in major retailers like Walmart, Target, and Amazon. The brand boasts over 25 product categories and 45 licensee partners worldwide, establishing itself as the largest Black-owned licensed character lifestyle brand in the United States. Inspired by her favorite emoji—the unicorn—and her experiences as a single mother of two sons, April has created a brand that resonates deeply with her audience.

In addition to her entrepreneurial success, April is a passionate mentor and advocate for women entrepreneurs. Through Afro Unicorn and her various philanthropic efforts, she inspires individuals globally to embrace their uniqueness and unlock their full potential. Her commitment to community and leadership continues to make a positive impact around the world.

April Showers joins an impressive cohort of new honorary members of Sigma Gamma Rho, including Krystal Harris, Ta’Rhonda Jones, Bianca Knight, Sharon Moody, Kim Roxie, Kera Wright, Bettina Benson, Rebekah Borucki, Jackie Chambers de Freitas, Kelley Gay, and Dwan Martin. This year’s inductees are recognized for their outstanding achievements and dedication to making a difference in their communities and industries.

ATLANTA (AP) — Two rallies. Two Americas.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump stood in the same arena four days apart, each looking over capacity crowds like concert stars or prizefighters.

The competing events were staged three months before Election Day in the state that produced the closest margin of the 2020 race for the White House. On policy, tone, the types of voters in attendance and even the music playlists, the rallies offered not just opposing visions of the country but starkly different versions of it.

Those dynamics raise questions about how a factionalized citizenry might embrace a Trump comeback or a Harris ascension.

On that, at least two people who came to the Georgia State Convocation Center on different days could agree.

“It’s OK to have different ideologies,” said Angela Engram, a 59-year-old Democrat who drove from Stockbridge, Georgia, to hear Harris on Tuesday. “But now it’s just so much about parties and personalities and power, with people not even trying to understand each other.”

Tracy Maddux, a 67-year-old retired grocer from Sparta, Georgia, who was at Trump’s rally on Saturday, shared Engram’s lament about politics in 2024.

But Maddux blamed Engram’s party, saying Democrats were no longer concerned about ordinary people. Engram blamed Trump and his supporters, especially those who accept his falsehoods that his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden was rigged.

Both crowds added up to a battleground coalition

With Biden leaving the race in July and Democrats elevating Harris, both major party candidates have the juice to pack arenas now.

Harris — the first woman, the first Black woman and the first person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president — drew a racially and generationally mixed, though majority Black, majority female crowd. Democrats danced to R&B, hip hop and pop music. They rocked with guest star Megan Thee Stallion and they exploded for Beyoncé’s “Freedom,” which has become Harris’ entrance song and campaign anthem.

Trump drew an overwhelmingly white audience with a noticeable presence of Black voters. The playlist leaned to his eclectic musical tastes — the Village People and ABBA among them — but featured plenty of country music. The crowd erupted at the first notes of his signature walk-up song: “God Bless the USA,” by Trump supporter Lee Greenwood.

It was two disparate crowds in just one of a divided nation’s battleground states that will decide the presidency. In 2020, Biden campaigned hard with Black voters, younger voters, other nonwhite voters and college-educated white voters in metro areas such as Atlanta. Trump dominated rural areas, small towns and smaller cities. In Georgia, the result was a Biden victory by 11,779 votes out of 5 million cast.

Both campaigns expect the Harris-Trump matchup to track along the same lines, with the parties’ bases playing pivotal roles in the Georgia and national outcome.

Last week’s gathering for Harris frustrated Republicans enough that they played down her part in it.

“They had a big crowd. They had some entertainment here. They were doing some twerking,” said Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who served as one of Trump’s “fake electors” after the 2020 election.

Jones alleged that Harris’ crowd thinned after Megan Thee Stallion’s performance. That was not the case in the 25 minutes Harris spoke. In fact, Trump lost sizable chunks of supporters across his 91-minute speech.

Two rallies gave two very different American visions

Democrats celebrated Harris as a historic figure who could leverage her background for all Americans.

“She brings all of those strands together,” Raphael Warnock, Georgia’s first Black U.S. senator, said Tuesday. “She sees us because in a real sense she is all of us.”

Harris herself talked more policy than biography, including on her biggest liabilities: inflation and immigration.

On inflation, she implicitly blamed corporate greed, promising to attack “price gouging” and “hidden fees.” Democrats promoted the biggest spending measures of Biden’s tenure as seminal investments in clean energy, domestic manufacturing such as the burgeoning electric battery plants in Georgia and infrastructure improvements that eluded previous presidents, Trump included.

On Saturday, Republicans blamed those measures as the cause of higher prices, and they cast Harris as a radical who threatens national values.

Trump offered dystopian forecasts of a Harris administration. “A crash like 1929 … you’ll end up in World War III … the suburbs will be overrun with violent crime and savage foreign gangs,” Trump warned. “If Kamala wins, it will be crime, chaos and death all across our country.”

He blamed Harris specifically for the killing of Georgia resident Laken Riley, whose death authorities have blamed on a Venezuelan man who allegedly entered the United States illegally. Harris did not mention Riley, but criticized Trump for spooking Senate Republicans into abandoning a bipartisan immigration and border security deal.

From coveted floor seats, Terry Wilson, a 46-year-old trucker from Chattanooga, Tennessee, stood in acclamation for Trump’s broadsides on Harris. In an interview, Wilson added his own Trumpian hyperbole: “I mean, she’s a Marxist.”

Michaelah Montgomery, a Black conservative activist, joined Trump’s recent mockery of Harris’ racial and ethnic identity. “She’s only Black when it’s time to get elected,” Montgomery argued. The predominantly white audience laughed and cheered.

To running mate JD Vance, Trump was the living martyr who “took a bullet for the country.” Speakers recalled a bloodied Trump standing up after a would-be assassin’s bullet nicked his ear at a Pennsylvania rally three weeks before. The image was emblazoned on T-shirts throughout the Atlanta audience.

At the Harris rally, Trump was presented as the ex-president with the felony record who ran a profiteering online college, was found liable in civil court for sexual abuse, denied the 2020 election results and watched his supporters ransack the U.S. Capitol to prevent Biden’s certification as his successor.

“I have been dealing with people like him my entire career,” said Harris, a former prosecutor in California.

There was no mention Tuesday of Trump’s brush with death or Biden’s subsequent call to tamp down political rhetoric. There were, however, chants of “Lock him up! Lock him up!” — cries that began with Biden still in the race but rose to a deafening pitch in Atlanta.

The chant is a retort to Republicans, who eight years ago bellowed “Lock her up!” about Hillary Clinton, Trump’s Democratic opponent. She has never been charged with any crime.

Consensus is an increasingly elusive idea

Presidential campaigns always involve differences and division. Only once in the last half century – Republican Ronald Reagan in 1984 – has the winner surpassed 55% of all votes cast. It’s been more common for the winner not even to prevail in the popular vote, as happened for Trump in 2016 and Republican George W. Bush in 2000.

Engram, the Harris backer from Stockbridge, still found reason for optimism.

“There really is so much that we all share in common if people would just calm down and consider it,” she said, even as she expressed doubts about Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement ever aiding national consensus. Healthier discourse under a Harris administration, she said, would depend “on the good Republicans who are not all MAGA.”

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Trump’s allies did not suggest they could aim for consensus. Pastor Jentezen Franklin of Gainesville, Georgia, used his invocation Saturday to declare the election “a spiritual battle.”

U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., warned of a leftist “regime” behind Harris: “They hate you. But Donald Trump loves you.”

Trump went on at length about his lies that he lost in 2020 due to voter fraud. He attacked not just Democrats but Gov. Brian Kemp, the most powerful Georgia Republican, and others who, Trump said, failed the party by not helping him overturn Biden’s victory.

Democrats on Tuesday peppered their remarks about voting with references to the late civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis, who long represented the Atlanta area in Congress. Warnock mocked Trump as “a Florida man” who made an infamous phone call pressuring the Georgia secretary of state “to find 11,780 votes” to make him the winner of the 2020 contest.

Through all other rhetoric, the two candidates each made nods at unity.

“We are one movement, one people, one family and one glorious nation under God,” the former president said.

The vice president’s version: “We love our country, and I believe it is the highest form of patriotism to fight for the ideals of our country. … And when we fight, we win.”

But only one of them will.

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Suni Lee, the former Olympic all-around champion, added another chapter to her storied career by securing the bronze medal in the uneven bars final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. This marks the second Olympic medal on the apparatus for the American gymnast, a testament to her unwavering determination and exceptional talent.

Lee’s journey to the podium is particularly inspiring given the significant health challenges she has overcome. Diagnosed with two rare kidney diseases in 2022, the gymnast faced a period of debilitating symptoms that hindered her ability to train. Despite these setbacks, she demonstrated remarkable resilience, returning to elite competition and achieving extraordinary results.

“Suni’s comeback is a testament to her character and athleticism,” said Jess Graba, Lee’s coach. “Overcoming the obstacles she faced required immense mental and physical strength.”

The uneven bars final was a fiercely contested event, featuring a stellar lineup of world-class gymnasts. Lee’s performance, characterized by precision and consistency, earned her a well-deserved spot on the podium. Her ability to execute under pressure showcased the maturity and experience of a seasoned Olympian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfPVjFDg63M

With a bronze medal in the all-around and a gold as part of the U.S. women’s team, Lee has already secured multiple medals at these Games. As she prepares for the balance beam final, there is anticipation that she may add a fourth medal to her collection.

Lee’s triumph resonates beyond the world of gymnastics. Her story of perseverance in the face of adversity has inspired countless individuals to overcome their challenges.

“I’m honored to be able to inspire others,” Lee said. “It’s important to lean on your support system during difficult times.”

Suni Lee continues to leave an enduring legacy as one of the most decorated American gymnasts of all time. Her performance in Paris has solidified her status as a global sporting icon.

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Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. announced today that it has proudly inducted LaTavia Roberson as an honorary member during its 60th International Biennial Boule held in Houston.

LaTavia Roberson initially gained widespread acclaim as a member of Destiny’s Child, one of the most successful R&B girl groups in history. During her time with the group, Roberson helped propel Destiny’s Child to international fame, contributing to the release of two studio albums and selling over 25 million records worldwide. Her efforts with the group were recognized with two Grammy Awards and three Soul Train Music Awards.

In addition to her achievements in music, Roberson has made significant strides in philanthropy and entrepreneurship. She founded the Le Papillon Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering personal and communal transformation. The foundation’s name, which translates to “butterfly” in French, represents the metamorphosis Roberson seeks to encourage in others. Her entrepreneurial ventures include the Queens Kollection cosmetics line and an upcoming lingerie line called Seductress. Roberson is also developing a documentary that will share her journey of resilience and perseverance.

LaTavia Roberson joins an esteemed group of newly inducted honorary members, including Krystal Harris, Ta’Rhonda Jones, Bianca Knight, Sharon Moody, Kim Roxie, April Showers, Kera Wright, Bettina Benson, Rebekah Borucki, Jackie Chambers de Freitas, Kelley Gay, and Dwan Martin. This year’s honorees were recognized for their exceptional contributions across various fields, aligning with Sigma Gamma Rho’s mission to celebrate and support influential women.

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — There were small signs for anyone willing to look that the sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson might not quite match the person she has become.

The wobbly starts. The little details. The meek exit from the Olympic trials earlier this summer after such a promising start.

All the hype aside, Richardson was never a sure thing to win an Olympic gold medal Saturday in the 100 meters. On a rainy and odd evening at the Stade de France, 23-year-old Julien Alfred from St. Lucia showed there’s more than one inspirational story, and more than one great sprinter, at this Olympic track meet.

Alfred romped through the puddles and past Richardson and the rest of a largely depleted field, finishing in 10.72 seconds to throw a brick wall in front of what was supposed to be one of the best stories in Paris.

She beat Richardson by .15 seconds — the biggest margin in the Olympic 100 since 2008 — to bring home the first medal of any color to the small eastern Caribbean island of St. Lucia.

Alfred’s victory completed a journey that included her father’s death in 2013 and a move to Jamaica as a teenager, alone, in hopes of training to become a great sprinter.

“He believed I could do it,” Alfred said, crying as she talked about her dad. “He couldn’t get to see me on the biggest stage of my career.”

Richardson was left with silver — a nice color but certainly not the point of all this after what she’s been through the last three years. Her training partner, Melissa Jefferson, finished third in 10.92 seconds.

Richardson came in as the favorite even though she has hardly been flawless this summer.

Her opening race on the road to Paris included a terrible start at Olympic trials in an event she won with an untied shoelace.

Those starts got marginally better, but after she won the U.S. title in the 100, it was a bit of a shock when she failed to qualify for the 200, thus denying herself a chance at double gold in Paris.

On the gold-medal day in the 100, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce abruptly withdrew from the event before the semifinal, leaving all three Jamaicans who swept the podium at the Tokyo Games on the sideline for what, at one point, had been billed as the marquee race of the Olympics.

All of which seemed to set up perfectly for Richardson — only when she lined up in the semifinal, she was right next to Alfred, the only other woman in the Olympic field to crack 10.8 this year.

Richardson lumbered out of the blocks and lost that race by .05 seconds. It was a harbinger of things to come, though Alfred said she barely noticed who was in the lane next to her — it was Richardson again — when the final rolled around 90 minutes later.

“Sometimes when I do, I tend to panic,” Alfred said. “So far this year (not paying attention) has been such a good strategy.“

Neither the specter of Richardson on her right again nor the downpour that started about 10 minutes before the race began could slow down Alfred in the final.

Alfred’s opening burst played big when she won the world indoor title earlier this year at 60 meters, and she started strong in this one, with two steps on the entire field at the 40-meter mark. Richardson, as has happened before this summer, labored to get to full speed.

The American, her arms pumping wide in Lane 7, looked to be making up a bit of ground when Alfred leaned into the finish line. But there was too big a gap between them, and the real contest was the one between Richardson and Jefferson for second.

“I’m a baby in this sport,” said the 23-year-old Jefferson, who won the 2022 U.S. title while Richardson was still fashioning her comeback. “I have a lot of learning and growth to do.“

A centerpiece of NBC’s pre-Games’ coverage and the star of a Netflix documentary about track, Richardson did not show up for interviews after her second-place finish. It was a rarely seen breach of Olympic protocol and a move destined to keep the world guessing about a star who has stayed very much on message since her luck started changing this time last year.

In the few interviews she did in the leadup to the Games, she leaned into personal growth, and how she had become a more thoughtful, mindful person since her lowest point in 2021, shortly after she learned of the death of her biological mother.

That triggered a bout with depression, which left her alone in her hotel room in 2021 at Olympic trials, which is where she said she used marijuana. That cost her the trip to Tokyo. It took two years for her to climb back to the pinnacle, and it turns out, the high point came last year at worlds in Hungary, when she won the 100-meter title.

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Given where she was at the last Olympics, a silver medal at these ones, with a chance for more next week in the 4×100 relays, isn’t bad.

But hardly anyone had her playing second fiddle to the sprinter from St. Lucia.

Alfred said on race days, she usually wakes up early on to jot down thoughts in her journal.

On Saturday, she kept it simple. “I wrote down ‘Julien Alfred: Olympic champion,’” she said.

Short. Simple. And 100% on target, a lot like the race she ran to become one.

America gets gold, silver and bronze elsewhere on Day 2

America’s lone gold medal of the day came from Ryan Crouser, who earned a three-peat in the shot put. Another American silver went to the 4×400 mixed relay team, which got reeled in by Femke Bol of the Netherlands in the anchor lap.

Jasmine Moore won a bronze medal in the triple jump competition, won by Thea Lafond, who brought the first Olympic medal to Dominica.

Moore set herself up for a possible double when she competes in long jump later this week.

“Tomorrow, I think I’ll eat, lift, eat some more and enjoy it,” Moore said. “And when long jump comes, just try to have some fun.”

Noah Lyles advances to men’s 100 semifinals

Earlier in the day, Noah Lyles finished second (10.04) in a sluggish first-round qualifying heat to make the semifinals in the men’s 100. The semifinals and finals for that are set for Sunday.

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Social media influencer Brooke Schofield is facing intense backlash after fans uncovered a series of racist and insensitive posts she made between 2012 and 2015. Among the controversial posts, one particularly inflammatory tweet surfaced in which a then 16-year-old Schofield defended George Zimmerman for killing Trayvon Martin.

“Guarantee if Zimmerman shot a white guy this wouldn’t even be a story. NEWS FLASH THIS WASN’T A CRIME OF RACISM IT WAS SELF DEFENSE,” Schofield tweeted at the time.

The resurfacing of these posts has sparked outrage online, with many calling for accountability and questioning Schofield’s character. The posts, made when Schofield was between 15 and 18 years old, reflect views that many find deeply troubling and inconsistent with today’s societal values.

In response to the backlash, Schofield issued an apology, attempting to explain the context of her upbringing and the influence it may have had on her views during those years.

“My parents were addicts, so I was adopted by my grandparents when I was like 10. As is true for a lot of grandparents, they’re a little bit less progressive than a lot of us are now,” Schofield said.

Despite her apology, the controversy continues to swirl, with critics questioning the sincerity of her remorse and the potential impact of her past views on her current platform and influence. The situation highlights the enduring consequences of social media posts and the importance of accountability for public figures.

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At the 60th International Biennial Boule in Houston this weekend, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. proudly inducted Ta’Rhonda Jones as an honorary member.

Jones’s acting career includes notable roles such as Porsha Taylor (Taraji P. Henson’s assistant) on Empire, a role she evolved from a temporary part to a main cast member over an eight-year period. Her impressive resume also includes appearances in Chicago P.D., The Tale of Four directed by Gabourey Sidibe, The Perfect Christmas Present on Hallmark, and Stolen By Her Mother on Lifetime. Additionally, Jones gained recognition as the winner of MasterChef Celebrity Showdown and is currently the official host of Oprah’s OWN Network’s new dating show, The Never Ever Mets. Her dedication to community service was especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic when she successfully mobilized resources to feed over 1,500 families, surpassing her initial goal of 500.

As the Founder and CEO of the Black Village Foundation, Jones is dedicated to building Black wealth in underserved neighborhoods in Chicago. Her foundation focuses on creating multiple streams of income and breaking the cycle of generational poverty through education and grants. This commitment to service extends to her work with Project H.O.O.D. (Helping Others Obtain Destiny), where she serves as the performing arts director. In this role, she mentors youth, teaches acting and life skills, and is a passionate advocate for positive change.

Ta’Rhonda Jones’s induction into Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. highlights her exceptional contributions across various fields and her steadfast dedication to serving others. Alongside Jones, Sigma Gamma Rho also inducted twelve other remarkable women as honorary members: Krystal Harris, Bianca Knight, Sharon Moody, LaTavia Roberson, Kim Roxie, April Showers, Kera Wright, Bettina Benson, Rebekah Borucki, Jackie Chambers de Freitas, Kelley Gay, and Dwan Martin.

Kamala Harris has range. She can grill nominees for the Supreme Court or meet with foreign dignitaries, then pivot to hosting a Diwali celebration or dancing enthusiastically alongside an HBCU-styled marching band.

It is a dexterity that Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, developed as a person of color to navigate the corridors of power or Main Street in a nation where race and identity influence how one is received or embraced.

Harris, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, is an adroit code-switcher, a term that can include deliberately adjusting one’s speech style and expression to optimize relatability and ensure she gets a message across.

Former President Donald Trump, during a contentious interview session at a meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists, showed no familiarity with the concept. He implied that Harris is inauthentic for embracing all aspects of her heritage. His failure to recognize code-switching also speaks to a prevailing belief that whiteness, often correlated with speaking in plainly enunciated English, is the default in our politics and democracy.

“We need to be celebrating our whole selves, which means we need to celebrate all of our identities,” said Christine Chen, co-founder and executive director of APIAVote, a nonpartisan civic engagement organization focused on the Asian American Pacific Islander community.

“The more that a candidate can embrace their multiple identities, I think that’s a way to connect with different communities and different people who identify on different issues that you stand on,” added Chen, who is Chinese American.

Trump, who falsely suggested to the annual gathering of Black journalists that the vice president has been misleading voters about her race, waded into murkier waters by insinuating Harris cannot be trusted because she “happened to turn Black” after she promoted her Indian heritage.

Harris doesn’t need to code-switch to prove she is a Black and Indian American woman; she was born that way.

Shereen Marisol Meraji, former co-host of the award-winning NPR podcast “Code Switch,” said Harris’ identity is layered and can still be challenging to navigate in a nation that once encouraged multiracial people to favor one identity over another.

“If you walk through the world as I have, where I’m trying very much to embrace both sides of myself, then it’s like you get put through these authenticity tests,” said Meraji, who is of Iranian and Puerto Rican heritage.

An assistant professor of race and journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, Meraji added: “The ability to code-switch and go into different communities … it is a huge asset. And I think for people who are in competition with Kamala Harris, it’s also quite threatening.”

Many politicians of color code-switch to ensure vital information is delivered to voters and constituents with cultural resonance. This is a familiar concept among Americans of color, including the 33.8 million people identified as being more than one race, according to the last U.S. Census.

Code-switching is hardly new and it isn’t a skill entirely foreign to white people. But it remains one of the most effective communication tools that politicians of color use to wield influence and gain power in venues where they have historically not had it.

Code-switching can help increase the likelihood of receiving fair treatment, getting quality service or landing job opportunities for people who are disadvantaged or overlooked due to systemic racism.

After Trump questioned Harris’s race, in response to a question about his own diversity, equity and inclusion rhetoric, interviewer Rachel Scott of ABC News countered by citing elements of the vice president’s biography that might prove she is Black.

Scott noted that Harris attended Howard University, one of the nation’s most prominent historically Black colleges and universities. At Howard, Harris pledged the historically Black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha. And, most pointedly, her Jamaican father and Indian mother both immigrated to the U.S. during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

It is also false to claim that Harris has only embraced being Black or Indian, or code-switched between the two, when it benefited her politically.

In 2003, the year Harris was elected San Francisco district attorney, she told a local newspaper chain that many people were not used to her identity. “My Indian heritage is just as strong as my African American heritage. One does not exclude the other,” Harris said.

As a candidate for California attorney general, she spoke of her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan, teaching her and her sister to “share in the pride of our culture.” In 2009, Harris told the outlet India Abroad, “When we think about it, India is the oldest democracy in the world — so that is part of my background, and without question has had a great deal of influence on what I do today and who I am.”

During the 2012 reelection campaign of Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president, Harris related to being the underdog in races where her opponent could outspend her on commercial and ads. “I beat the odds to become the first Black attorney general,” she said, referring to her 2010 election in California.

Trump’s challenging of Harris’ identify, which drew groans and laughter, had echoes of him as the chief propagator of a false theory that Obama was ineligible to be president because he was not born in the U.S.. Trump’s Republican running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, on Wednesday aligned with Trump when he suggested Harris is a “phony who caters to whatever audience is in front of her.”

“I don’t know if you saw this, but earlier this week … she went down to Georgia and started talking with a fake southern accent,” Vance told an audience at a rally in Glendale, Arizona, referencing Harris’s Atlanta campaign event that featured a predominantly Black audience.

Vance, a white man whose wife is Indian American and whose three children are of mixed heritage, is far from the first American politician to fixate on the speech and accents of politicians of color. In 2010, the late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid came under under fire for comments he made years earlier suggesting Obama appealed to voters because he was a fair-skinned Black man “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”

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White politicians, too, have been known to code-switch when they are in front of largely Black or Latino audiences. And many have done so to varying degrees of success. In 2006, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was criticized for adapting her speech cadence while delivering remarks at Coretta Scott King’s funeral at Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached.

The difference is that in the not so distant past, career survival for white politicians did not hinge on their ability to code-switch. Harris continues to have a different lived experience.

Chen said politicians of any race or identity can develop healthy relationships across all communities if they show compassion and are responsive to their constituents’ needs.

“Whether you are white or Black or any other identity, how you show up in the community will determine whether or not it’s an authentic relationship,” she said. “You’re going to be able to address their concerns more effectively because you’re actually more educated and understand what they’re going through.”