When Kamala Harris took the stage at the Democratic National Convention to deliver her acceptance speech, she was greeted by a powerful visual: a sea of women dressed in white, paying homage to the women’s suffrage movement. But among the crowd, pink and green stood out, signaling pride for the Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) sorority, to which Harris belongs.
Earlier in the evening, comedian D.L. Hughley acknowledged the AKA members with a spirited shoutout, “Where the AKAs?” The crowd’s enthusiastic response underscored the growing political influence of AKA and the other Black fraternities and sororities that make up the Divine Nine, a coalition determined to help one of their own ascend to the White House. Harris, who joined AKA during her time at Howard University, maintains strong ties with the sorority, which has become a significant part of her public identity.
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The Divine Nine, known for its long history of civic engagement and social action, has rallied behind Harris’s candidacy in an unprecedented show of unity. While these organizations are nonpartisan, their voter mobilization efforts could play a crucial role in the upcoming election. For example, AKA has created its own political action committee to support down-ballot candidates who are members of the sorority, while Alpha Phi Alpha has launched a grant program to boost voter engagement efforts in key battleground states.
“The Divine Nine will always be my family,” Harris wrote on X (formerly Twitter) last summer, and her campaign has embraced the power of these organizations. With an estimated 2.5 million members, the Divine Nine is well-positioned to mobilize a massive voter turnout effort. Their influence was evident during Harris’s acceptance speech, where she referenced trailblazing members like Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley, while also highlighting the importance of passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
The Divine Nine’s impact on Harris’s campaign is rooted in a legacy of leadership and service that dates back to the Civil Rights Movement, when figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, and John Lewis led the charge for racial justice. Today, as Harris aims to make history as the first Black woman vice president, the Divine Nine is once again stepping up to help shape the future of the nation.
As Election Day approaches, the Divine Nine is not just focused on national races but also on local and state elections, with organizations like Delta Sigma Theta training thousands of members to promote social action and monitor polling centers. The stakes are high, and the Divine Nine is committed to making a difference. As Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, put it, this election is “one more historic chance to make a real difference in the world.”
