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.”
Harris, a former prosecutor, California attorney general and U.S. senator, pledged AKA in 1986 as an undergraduate at Howard University.
Being a member of the Divine Nine encourages lifelong commitment to camaraderie and service, and, leaders say, Harris’ campaign is tapping into a new avenue of political organization.
Up until now, Black Greek organizations have had more cultural influence than political. These fraternities and sororities were founded after Black people were excluded from white Greek groups. In the century since, Black Greek-letter organizations have developed their own culture, with clothing, colors, slogans and strolling (a century-old tradition of group choreography unique to each organization) becoming an integral part of Black American culture — so much so that many have highlighted Harris’ being an AKA to defend her against Donald Trump’s race-centered attacks.
She addressed some 20,000 AKAs at the organization’s biennial national convention in July, before she launched her presidential campaign. She spoke of her deep AKA roots, starting with her aunt Christine Simmons, who joined the sorority in 1950 while at Howard.
“Sorors, this is a serious matter,” Harris told the audience, referring to the AKA’s traditional “serious matter” chant. “For 116 years, the members of our sorority have been on the front lines of the fight to realize the promise of America. This year, let us continue that work.”
She routinely highlights the network on social media, sharing photos of her visits with sorority sisters and events with the Greek organization. In one 2019 post on X, she wrote that “Being a graduate of @HowardU and a proud member of @akasorority1908 changed my life.”
Her membership has been a source of pride and excitement for both Black people and members of Black Greek organizations.
Days after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and announced that Harris should take over the ticket, a social media user wrote, “Many of y’all are severely underestimating the power of the Divine 9 and AKAs to come together for a common goal! They will be super influential for VP Harris and her campaign … and I am HERE for it!”
Harris has leaned into the cultural significance of her Greek affiliation, too. In 2019, she shared a video of herself calling a supporter’s mother who is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority — a longtime friendly rival of the AKAs. Alongside the video, she wrote, “Whether you’re an AKA, Delta, or any other member of the Divine Nine — we’re all family.” And she spoke to the women of Zeta Phi Beta at their biennial convention in Indianapolis at the end of July.
Minyon Moore, Democratic National Convention chair who is also an AKA, told NBC News in a statement that the Divine Nine’s rallying behind one of their own in Harris is part of its commitment to service and to uplifting Black Americans.
“I’m incredibly proud of the critical role the pan-hellenic council continues to play in civic engagement,” said Moore, a veteran political strategist who served as Hillary Clinton’s adviser. “This November, I’ll be standing shoulder to shoulder with my sisters and brothers as we elect a fellow member of the Divine Nine to the highest office in the country so she can continue to deliver progress for Black communities.”
The National Pan-Hellenic Council is the official unifying and governing body for the Divine Nine. It is a nonpartisan organization that doesn’t officially endorse candidates, its president, Donna Jones Anderson, told NBC News. But, she said, she believes the Divine Nine will continue to be an important voting bloc that politicians prioritize in years to come.
“Some of us are older civil rights leaders, and doctors, and lawyers, and politicians, and mayors. There’s Divine Nine people all over the country, in education, in medicine. We’re everywhere,” Anderson said, adding that politicians recognize this, too. “So, if they come to us, there’s a very good possibility that we can definitely help.”
“We don’t commit to these organizations and do it for just the four years that we are on a college campus. When you join a Black Greek-letter organization, it is a lifetime commitment,” Davis said, adding that she graduated from Howard in 1989.
“We have been serving for decades doing this, and these organizations have been in existence for … well over 117 years. I am excited that we are getting this attention and we are able to say to the nation, ‘This is who we are, this is what we do, and this is the impact that we have.’”
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