Kamala Harris Picked to be Biden's VP with the Help of Over 100 Black Men

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden announced his decision, on Tuesday, August 11, to add Kamala Harris to his ticket, making her the first Black woman to become a vice presidential candidate.

The announcement came with the Democratic National Convention right around the corner.

And while the whole world waited for Biden to finally announce his choice, it was over 100 Black men who took matters into their own hands to tell the candidate who he should pick.

In an open letter sent to Biden, these men expressed the importance of adding a Black woman to the ticket and assured him that if he didn’t he’d lost the election.

“As someone who has said throughout the campaign that VP Joe Biden needs to choose a Black woman VP, the urgency for that pick has gone from something that SHOULD happen to something that HAS to happen,” the letter stated. “It disgusts us that Black women are not just being vetted in this VP process but unfairly criticized and scrutinized.”

It continues, "Was Joe Biden ever labeled 'too ambitious' because he ran for president three times? Should President Obama not have made him the VP because he had to worry about his 'loyalty' when he clearly had AMBITIONS to be president himself? Why does Senator Kamala Harris have to show remorse for questioning Biden's previous stance on integrated busing during a democratic primary debate?"

The letter represents a last attempt to push Biden towards picking a Black woman.

It finishes with, “Failing to select a Black woman in 2020 means you will lose the election. We don’t want to choose between the lesser of two evils and we don’t want to vote the devil we know versus the devil we don’t because we are tired of voting for devils - period.”

The signers of the letter are Black men who are leaders in multiple industries including,

Aliaume Damala Badara "Akon" Thiam, Doug E. Fresh, Lenard "Charlamagne Tha God" Mckelvey, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, Sean "Diddy" Combs, CNN’s Van Jones, Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley, Tyrone "Ty Dolla $ign" William Griffin Jr., Will Packer.

Biden had already announced in July that he was considering four Black women to be his running and according to reports Harris, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Rep. Val Demings of Florida, former national security adviser Susan Rice were all considered along with a few other Black women and couple of White women.

Earlier in the year, more than 200 Black women composed a similar letter to urge Biden to choose a Black woman as his vice president.