STONECREST, Ga. (AP) – Kamala Harris told congregants at a large black church in suburban Atlanta on Sunday that people show compassion and respect in their daily lives and simply “preach values.” He said he needed to do more than that.
Watch Harris’ remarks in the player above.
The Democratic presidential candidate visited New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest for her 60th birthday, where the congregation performed a song called “Souls to Vote” encouraging black churchgoers to vote. It was part of a broader national campaign known as “The Vote.” .
Read more: Kamala Harris and Faith: A Baptist with a Jewish Spouse and the Black Church’s Connection to Gandhi
The Rev. Jamal Bryant said the vice president is “an American hero and a voice for our future” and “our fearless leader.” In his sermon, he also welcomed the idea of the United States electing a woman as president for the first time. “It takes real men to support real women,” Bryant said.
“If black women are going to roll up their sleeves, society has to change,” the pastor said.
Harris told the parable of the Good Samaritan from Luke’s Gospel, about a man who was attacked by robbers while traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. The traveler was beaten and bloody, but was saved by a stranger.
All faiths promote the idea of loving your neighbor, but truly loving a stranger as if they were your neighbor is much more difficult to achieve, Harris said.
“At this moment, across our country, we see some individuals seeking to deepen divisions among us, spread hatred, sow fear, and cause chaos,” Harris told the congregation. he said. “The true measure of a leader’s strength is determined by who he lifts up.”
With a more gloomy expression than at the political rally, she emphasized that true faith is about protecting humanity. She said the parable of the Samaritan reminds people that “preaching the values of compassion and respect is not enough.” We have to live them. ”
Harris concluded by saying, “We may cry all night long, but joy will come in the morning,” and the audience applauded her.
Many participants wore pink to raise awareness for breast cancer. Opal Lee, an activist who campaigned to make Juneteenth a federally recognized holiday, was also in attendance. Harris hugged her.
The vice president is also scheduled to make a noon stop at Divine Faith Ministries International in Jonesboro with singer Stevie Wonder before recording an interview with the Rev. Al Sharpton that will be broadcast on MSNBC later Sunday. . The schedule reflects the campaign’s efforts to treat all voters like voters in battleground states and appeal to all voters in a hotly contested election with early voting underway.
Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, was headed to a church in Saginaw, Michigan, while his wife, Gwen, was scheduled to attend a service in Las Vegas.
The Souls to the Polls initiative launched last week and is led by the National Black Faith Leaders Advisory Council, which will send representatives to battleground states as early voting begins in the Nov. 5 election. I am doing it.
Martin Luther King III said Friday, “My father used to say, “A people without a vote is a powerless people.” The most important step we can take is a short trip to the ballot box. It’s a step,” he said. “When Black voters are organized and engaged, we have the power to change the trajectory of this country.”
On Saturday, the vice president rallied supporters in Detroit with singer Lizzo before heading to Atlanta to focus on abortion rights, amid the state’s restrictive abortion laws that took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court. Emphasizing the death of the state’s mother, three judges appointed. Donald Trump overturns Roe v. Wade.
WATCH: Harris campaigns in Detroit and Atlanta, Lizzo and Usher also participate
And after Sunday’s campaign, she will campaign in rural areas of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin with former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).
“Donald Trump still refuses to take any responsibility for the pain and suffering he has caused,” Harris said.
Harris is a Baptist and her husband, Doug Emhoff, is Jewish. She said she was inspired by the work of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., as well as the religious traditions of her mother’s native India and the black church. As a child, Harris sang in the choir at the 23rd Street Church of God in Oakland.
The idea of ”Souls to the Polls” dates back to the civil rights movement. Reverend George Lee, a black entrepreneur from Mississippi, was murdered by white supremacists in 1955 after helping register nearly 100 black residents to vote in the town of Belzoni. The cemetery where Lee is buried is a polling place.
Black church congregations across the country have been engaged in a campaign to repeal the vote for years. Partly meant to combat voter suppression tactics dating back to the Jim Crow era, early voting in black communities is valued almost as much from the pulpit as by candidates.
Early voting began in Georgia on Tuesday, with more than 310,000 people voting that day, more than double the first-day total in 2020. A record 5 million people voted in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.
