Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Valerie Jarrett Join National Women for Biden Call
Biden for President held a national Women for Biden call with Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Valerie Jarrett. Mayor Bottoms and Jarrett discussed the history of Juneteenth and reflected upon the current nationwide movement for change.
Asked about her early support for Vice President Biden, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said: “We know Joe and I didn’t know him well at that time, but I knew his heart and it was not lost on me that this was an older white man who was willing to stand alongside and quite often, behind a younger African American man to lead our country, and representation is everything. And for me, it meant that he valued our communities, that he valued communities of color and that he was willing to do whatever he needed to do … to show the world that Barack Obama was this amazing president that deserved to be supported … I kept saying the South’s got something to say, I knew that how I felt about Joe Biden, was felt by so many people in the South and that was born out, obviously in South Carolina and on Super Tuesday. And everything that I believed to be true then, I absolutely know it to be true now.”
“I will say, as painful and anguishing as this period has been, and let’s face it for those of us from black families, this is not something that’s new and it has been going on for generations,” said Valerie Jarrett. “What we are seeing in all 50 states around this country today … people of all walks of life, all ages, all races does give me hope … that this is not just an inflection point. It’s the beginning of a turning point, but it turns on all of us exercising our voices and getting involved and helping in any way that we can.”
Mayor Bottoms also touched on the difference women will make in the election this November.
“Strong women make strong women. And strong women make strong communities. This is the moment for women to lead — and we have to lead people straight into the voting booth this November,” she said.