IT WAS THE FIRST WEEK OF JULY. News of the presidential election had been mired, for eight days, in alarming assessments of Joe Biden after his disastrous debate with Donald Trump. The president had started but not finished sentences, slurred words and at points stood with his mouth slightly agape.
Now, at the Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans, Kamala Harris was set to speak. The attendees - mostly Black women - were talking about the possibilities: did her future lie at the top of the Democratic party's ticket?
"Who is Kamala Harris?" host Caroline Wanga asked her guest. "The vice-president of the United States," Harris responded. "I am a wife. We have children. I am a god-mommy. I am an auntie. I am a best friend. I am a good cook... and you know, I am a fighter for people. I am prepared to fight."
Until late July, Harris had been the running mate of the oldest man to seek the presidency. Today, the nation's first Black and south Asian and female vice-president, once characterised as a public official struggling to find her footing, is a presidential candidate with a narrow lead over her opponent, Donald Trump.
Last Thursday night, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, she formally accepted the party's presidential nomination with a sweeping, pointed speech in which she vowed to prosecute the case against Trump and carry the country to a brighter and fairer future. In an address that balanced optimism with scathing criticism of her opponent, Harris acknowledged her "unlikely" path to the nomination and extended her hand to voters of all political ideologies.
"Our nation, with this election, has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past, a chance to chart a new way forward - not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans," she said.
Denne historien er fra August 30, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Denne historien er fra August 30, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Starlink's conquest of the Amazon leaves Brazil in a dilemma
The helicopter swooped into one of the most inaccessible corners of the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian special forces commandos leaped from it into the caiman-inhabited waters below.
Dalai Lama's mountain town feels the strain of tourist boom
SUVs and saloon cars pass slowly along McLeod Ganj's narrow one-way Jogiwara Road, blaring horns at pedestrians and scooter riders and playing loud music.
'I am all the world' The brutal rule of a West Bank settler
Palestinians tell ofblacklisted Yakov's reign across the Jabal Salman valley and heisjust one of many violent bosses
Stormy waters New flashpoint emerges in South China Sea dispute
Hopes that tensions in the South China Sea might ease have been short lived.
'Justice delayed' Why trust in public inquiries to bring closure is fading
After the final report of the Grenfell fire inquiry was published, Hisam Choucair, who lost six family members in the blaze, said: \"We did not ask for this inquiry... It's delayed the justice my family deserves.\"
Celeriac soup with almond pangrattato
I'm not ashamed to say that as soon as September hits, my stick blender comes out. Just as I embrace salads when the clocks go forward in the UK, I wholeheartedly throw myself into soup season once the summer holidays end. Autumn is approaching in the northern hemisphere and I'm ready with my ladle. Celeriac is one of my favourite soup heroes, because it gives the creamiest, silkiest finish with little effort. You don't have to make the almond pangrattato, but it is a wonderful addition.
Are smoke signals telling me to make an oil change in the kitchen?
Should you that is, not can you) cook with extra-virgin olive oil? Antonio, Atlanta, Georgia, US
Going underground
A darkly humorous encounter between an American spy-cop and the members ofan eco-commune she is hired to infiltrate
All work and no play
Hard Graft, a powerfulnew London exhibition, focuses onworkers’ exploitation, from the ruined hands ofa washerwoman to mothers forced to sell their bodies
What the princess and the shaman tell us about hereditary privilege
It should have been an Instagram-perfect wedding image, but it turned out to be something more embarrassing.
