Quite apart from their traditional support for the Democratic Party, Jamaican and other Caribbean nationals in the United States seem especially enthused by the prospect of one of their own becoming president of the US after the November 5, 2024 election.

Vice-President Ms Kamala Harris is the daughter of Jamaican Professor Donald Harris of Brown’s Town, St Ann – a fact that has been reverberating throughout the presidential campaign, ensuring that Jamaica’s name is on the tips of many tongues.

Ms Harris is also of South Asian descent, her mother Shyamala Gopalan Harris being from India, making her biracial, a status which seems to have caused former President Donald Trump to trip up in an interview at a convention of black journalists in Chicago, Illinois, last week.

Stung by a question from
ABC journalist Ms Rachel Scott about racist attacks by Republicans on the Democratic candidate, Mr Trump stunned the audience when he claimed that he had known Ms Harris as an Indian but she had suddenly “turned black” and “became a black person… and someone should look into it”.

The attacks on her race and gender seemed to have only served to galvanise the Caribbean nationals, notably the Jamaicans from all walks of life, to join a coalition of her supporters with roots in the region.

In the days since President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the race on July 21, 2024, and endorsed Ms Harris, the Caribbean nationals have been raising funds and volunteering to serve in different roles in the campaign.

A broader alliance — Caribbean-American United In Support of Kamala Harris for President — reported signing on 1,000 members within a matter of days after she became the presumptive nominee.

Another group, the Caribbean-American Coalition of Florida, has attracted large numbers of volunteers who are working to register new voters, disseminate pertinent information, and raise funds for the campaign.

“They realise that the cultural energy of Jamaica and Jamaicans could be a real asset in swing states like Pennsylvania, Florida, and Georgia,” according to Florida-based attorney Mr Marlon Hill, who is Jamaican and a past elector in Florida for the Barack Obama 2008 campaign.

“Since President Biden stepped down there has been an explosion of interest and organic organising in support of VP Kamala Harris as the presumptive nominee,” Hill said, noting that Ms Harris’s story and connections to Jamaica is familiar to many Jamaican Americans, “giving her a tremendous and unique opportunity to connect to a new generation of first-time voters”.

We are informed in a story by Harold Bailey in Tuesday’s edition of the Jamaica Observer that among the well known personalities of Jamaican descent who are supporting Ms Harris are actress Sheryl Lee Ralph and New York Congresswoman Yvette Clarke representing an area largely populated by Jamaican and Caribbean nationals.

In the words of Jamaican American activist Mr Irwine Clare Jr, Ms Harris “has clearly awaken the sleeping giant among us”, with people moving from words to action and comparing the level of enthusiasm to that seen in former President Obama’s 2008 campaign.

The optics aside, if Ms Harris becomes America’s first woman president, it is left to be seen if she can have any greater impact than the 46 men before her.