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Kamala Harris: On The Cusp Of History, Ready To Shatter America’s Last Glass Ceiling
For years Kamala Harris faced criticism that she was not up to the job of being a heartbeat away from the presidency. Now, she finds herself feted by Democrats as their best hope to stop Donald Trump’s comeback.
Despite blazing a trail as the first woman, Black and South Asian vice president in US history, the 59-year-old Democrat long struggled with approval ratings as bad or worse than President Joe Biden’s. The last 12 months, however, have revealed a transformed Harris.
And with Biden’s endorsement of Harris after stunning the world by dropping his own reelection bid Sunday, she’s suddenly on the cusp of history.
As the ageing Biden faded over the last year, his “veep” emerged as a force on the campaign trail, pushing for abortion rights and reaching out to core voters, including suburban women and Black men.
Harris will hope she has done the hard work to earn her full party’s backing in the midst of the crisis.
With a fondness for the f-bomb and her family nickname of “Momala” going viral, she has also finally started to cut through the noise to voters who previously barely paid attention.
She has also won plaudits in party circles by staying loyal to the 81-year-old president during the last few weeks, even as political vultures circled over his candidacy.
She now is likely to face Trump — a brutal battle against a candidate who defeated Hillary Clinton in her bid to become the first female commander-in-chief in 2016.
The fact that Harris has blamed much of the criticism of her by Republicans on racism and sexism would likely make a win feel even more vindicating for her.
Trump and other Republicans have notably stepped up their attacks on her as Biden’s position weakened and polls showed Harris would fare better against him than Biden.
A child of immigrant parents — her father was from Jamaica and her mother from India — Harris grew up in Oakland, California, in an activist household that saw her attend her first rallies in a stroller.
Her focus on rights and justice saw her build an impressive CV, becoming California’s first Black attorney general and the first woman of South Asian heritage elected to the US
Senate.
Harris then went up against Biden in the 2020 primaries. In one stinging attack, she criticized him for allegedly opposing the bussing of students to segregated schools.
“There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bussed to school every day. And that little girl was me,” she said in a barbed attack on her future boss.
But as his running mate, she consolidated the coalition that helped defeat the incumbent Trump in 2020. Her transition to the White House, however, proved difficult.
Critics said she was underwhelming and gaffe prone in a job that has been known to flummox many officeholders.
Struggling to carve out a role, she was tasked by Biden with getting to the roots of the illegal migration problem, but fumbled and then got defensive in response to a question during a visit to the Mexican border. Unusually high staff turnover fed rumors of discontent in the vice presidential office.
And Republicans relentlessly targeted her as being unfit to take over should the worst happen to America’s oldest-ever president, often resorting to stereotypes her supporters branded as sexist and racist.
Harris told the Wall Street Journal in February: “I am ready to serve. There’s no question about that.” Things began to change as the 2024 race got underway.
The Biden campaign repeatedly deployed her to battleground states to hammer home the party’s message on abortion rights, with Harris becoming the first vice president to visit an abortion clinic. Gradually, she began to draw warm and fired-up crowds.
Some of the outreach was, however, cringe-inducing. Earlier this year, she was mocked after she told chat show host Drew Barrymore her family sometimes called her “Momala,” and
Barrymore replied: “We need you to be Momala of the country.”
But voters seemed to be switching on.
A clip of her quoting her mother as often saying “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” became a meme, with a rising sense among supporters that now could be her time.
If elected, Harris would break one of the highest glass ceilings left for women in the United States — that of occupying the country’s top office.
Her husband, Douglas Emhoff, would also be breaking new ground, moving from being the current Second Gentleman to the country’s first First Gentleman.
CARICOM Calls for Nominations for 2025 Women, Youth Energy Awards
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has announced the opening of nominations for the 2025 editions of the Women in Sustainable Energy Awards (WISE) and the Sustainable Energy Youth Awards (SEYA), aimed at celebrating excellence, innovation, and inclusivity in the energy sector.
In a statement, the CARICOM Secretariat said nominations will remain open until 31 August 2025, urging citizens and residents across the region to either apply or nominate deserving peers, mentors or mentees.
The awards, organised in partnership with the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE), are designed to spotlight the roles of women and youth as professionals, entrepreneurs, policy advocates and community champions driving the clean energy transition.
According to CARICOM, WISE seeks to honour women who have made outstanding contributions at community, national, regional, or international levels. Submissions will be assessed in four categories: Business/Entrepreneurship; Social Impact, Community and Advocacy; Policy and Regulations; and Utilities and Industry.
On the other hand, SEYA focuses on individuals between 16 and 35 years old, recognising young innovators and advocates whose work reflects creativity, leadership, and commitment to the sustainable energy movement across public, private, and civil society sectors.
Both awards will be presented at the 9th Caribbean Sustainable Energy Forum (CSEF IX) scheduled to hold in Grenada from 28 to 30 October 2025.
The Secretariat noted that the initiative also seeks to promote gender diversity and intergenerational leadership as critical elements for the success of the region’s energy transition agenda.
Nigeria Deports 50 Chinese, Dozens of Others in Crackdown on Cybercrime Syndicate
Nigeria has deported dozens of foreigners, including 50 Chinese nationals, in a sweeping crackdown on what authorities described as one of the country’s “largest foreign-led cybercrime syndicates.”
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which coordinated the operation, said the deportations followed convictions for offences bordering on cyberterrorism and internet fraud.
“This brings the total number of repatriated convicted foreign nationals to 102 in the ongoing exercise,” the Commission announced in a statement.
The deportees were part of 192 suspects arrested in Lagos last Friday during a sting operation code-named Eagle Flush.
According to the EFCC, actionable intelligence had linked the suspects to a sprawling cybercrime ring operating across Nigerian cities.
Of those arrested, 148 were Chinese nationals, while the others included citizens of the Philippines and several West African countries.
Photos released on Thursday by the EFCC showed the foreigners lined up at an airport, wearing facemasks and clutching their luggage, moments before boarding flights back to their home countries. The agency added that “further deportations are scheduled in the coming days.”
This marks the second major clampdown on foreign cybercriminals in less than a year. In December last year, nearly 800 suspects — including 148 Chinese and 40 Filipinos — were arrested in connection with organised online romance scams and fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes.
Nigeria has long battled the scourge of cybercrime, popularly associated with so-called Yahoo Boys.
While local syndicates remain widespread, the involvement of foreign nationals has added a new layer to the country’s cyber-fraud landscape.
The EFCC links the rising wave of internet crime to youth unemployment, a weak regulatory environment and the lure of quick wealth.
Experts have also warned that the growing sophistication of these schemes poses a major risk to Nigeria’s digital economy.
Global tech giants have also waded into the fight. Last year, Meta — owners of Instagram and Facebook — removed thousands of Nigerian-linked accounts and more than 5,700 Facebook groups tied to sextortion and online scam networks.
Despite sustained enforcement, the Commission maintains that international collaboration remains key to breaking up transnational cybercrime networks.
Grief, Fear and Silence as Rebels Kill 140 in Eastern DR Congo
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused M23 rebels of killing at least 140 people, including women and children, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last month, describing it as one of the worst atrocities since the group resurfaced in late 2021.
The rights group, in a report released Wednesday, said the killings took place between July 10 and 30 in at least 14 villages near the Virunga National Park in Rutshuru territory.
Witnesses alleged that Rwanda-backed fighters used machetes and gunfire to attack residents, largely from the Hutu ethnic group, during an offensive against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
Accounts from survivors detailed harrowing scenes. One man said he lost five members of his family on July 11 in Katanga area.
A woman recounted how rebels killed her husband with a machete before forcing about 70 women and children to sit along a riverbank, where they were shot at.
Another survivor told HRW he watched helplessly as his wife and four young children were murdered.
Victims’ families were reportedly ordered to bury corpses in nearby fields or leave them exposed, while several bodies were dumped into the Rutshuru River.
While HRW estimates at least 140 people were killed, it warned the death toll may exceed 300, citing corroborating findings by the United Nations earlier this month.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had reported that the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) backed the M23 in killings of at least 319 civilians across four villages in Rutshuru between July 9 and 21.
M23 has denied the allegations, accusing HRW of falsifying evidence and serving as “an instrument of propaganda” for the Congolese government. Its political allies in the AFC opposition bloc also dismissed the report as “hearsay” and “deceptively interpreted imagery.”
Rwanda, for its part, rejected the UN and HRW reports, insisting that it has no control over the rebels.
“The M23 is not Rwanda-controlled, and these questions should be raised with them,” Kigali said in a statement, warning that “sensational allegations” risk undermining peace efforts.
Fighting in eastern DRC escalated in January after M23 captured swathes of territory, including areas around Goma, the provincial capital.
The conflict has forced hundreds of thousands from their homes and left thousands dead, despite peace initiatives led by the United States and Qatar.
Last month, Kinshasa and the M23 signed a ceasefire agreement in Doha. But the truce faltered after the rebels pulled out of talks, accusing the government of reneging on its commitments. The Congolese army has also accused the M23 of fresh violations.
HRW has urged the UN Security Council, the European Union and partner governments to condemn the atrocities, impose sanctions, and ensure the arrest and prosecution of those responsible.
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Diaspora Watch 20th Edition (October 14-20, 2024): Your Trusted Source for Global News and Insights
