Harris holds access to an untapped voting bloc: The Divine Nine

By Char Adams, NBC News

As a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, a Black Greek organization that is part of the “Divine Nine,” Harris has unique access to millions of members who are used to mobilizing, organizing and volunteering. 

Greek organizations tend to be the domain of colleges, with students pledging and developing life-long connections in fraternities and sororities. But Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is thrusting Black Greek organizations into the political sphere. She is the first presidential nominee to come from a Divine Nine Greek organization, so would be the first president from the Black Greek system if elected. 

That means Harris has ready access to the Divine Nine’s more than 2 million members — including activists, community leaders, philanthropists and more — and what could be a potentially powerful voting and mobilization bloc. 

Harris, 59, is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the oldest Black Greek-lettered sorority in the country and one of the Black sororities or fraternities that make up the “Divine Nine.” It’s a sisterhood that has rallied behind Harris since her ascent to the vice presidency, especially as these organizations encourage lifelong membership and community involvement beyond one’s college years. Last week, Kiahna W. Davis, a regional director of Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc., formed an AKA political action committee to support Harris. 

Deidra Davis, graduate adviser to the AKA’s founding chapter in Washington, D.C., said it was a point of pride to see Harris ascend to such a high political position, and the sorority will seize the opportunity to get more Black Americans involved in civic life. 

“Alpha Kappa Alpha and all of the other Divine Nine organizations are nonpartisan,” she said, “so we really are focused on using this as an opportunity to really strengthen voter registration efforts, to educate those in the community about the importance of voting, and really encouraging people to exercise their voting rights.”

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