We Did It

Pati Navalta Poblete

Weeks leading up to Joe Biden’s selection of his running mate, we at She the People were frantically at work. We looked at the women on his shortlist, researched their positions, strengths, and weaknesses on issues that we knew were important to women of color. We came up with statements for each of them, should they be announced the VP nominee, all the while trying to navigate the moving target of Biden’s announcement and rumors of who was on and who was off the list.

It wasn’t until the news was released on Tuesday afternoon — that Sen. Kamala Harris was the vice presidential nominee — that, collectively, we felt the enormity of the moment. The adrenaline gave way to a solemn joy, and the frenzied buzz that had been swirling around us for weeks came to a hard stop. 

We did it. 

Three simple words that give purpose to generations of ache, injustice and struggle.

For She the People, these three words have a special meaning. The organization was created for the very purpose of elevating and mobilizing women of color in politics. It was created to change the narrative in a way that would enable and empower Americans to reimagine what leadership could and should look like. 

And in the course of our daily work to reach this ambitious and necessary goal, we nearly failed to notice something incredible. 

She the People is not just changing the narrative, it is the narrative. 

Within 24 hours of the announcement of the VP pick, national news came calling, all wanting founder Aimee Allison’s opinion on the significance of the moment, and what role She the People is playing in the shifting — and lifting — of the political landscape: NBC News, PBS NewsHour, The Atlantic,  ABC News, NPR, Washington Post, The New York Times — along with dozens of other media outlets. Both Newsweek and the San Francisco Chronicle ran opinion pieces penned and co-penned by Aimee, and requests from national radio and news shows continue to pour in.

Why is this significant? Because before She the People was created three years ago, none of this was even imaginable. Getting the attention of a local reporter to do a story about an organization that hoped to change the face of national politics by elevating women of color was hard enough — let alone getting national attention. 

It is significant because our voices — generations of them — are finally being heard. It matters because we are witnessing what we could only imagine when this organization first solidified its mission statement. And because of this we have opened the door. We have a record number of women running in Congress and in local races. She the People and the issues that women of color care about are now part of mainstream news. We have the first Black and Asian American woman vice presidential candidate in history. 

People are finally listening. 

We did it — and we’re going to do so much more. 

Pati Navalta Poblete is a content strategist with She the People.