By Tony Jones
The 39th Annual Legislative Conference of the National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women (NOBEL) could prove to be one of the most important in the organization’s 39 year history, and House Minority Leader Karen Camper admits to a heightened sense of excitement in her plans to attend. Slated for August 6-10 in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, it’s not the location that’s giving her the extra energy, but the potential impact the organization could have in the 2024 presidential election.
According to NOBEL’s website, the organization has 380 politically active, mostly Democratic Party members whose groundwork could prove crucial following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would not be running for reelection and was endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to become the presumptive Democratic Party nominee to run against former president Donald Trump in the 2024 Presidential election Nov. 5.
Camper said she was as surprised as anyone else by the news, but says it brings even more clarity to their purpose.
“I was actually having dinner with my mother when someone called and asked had I heard the news, I turned on the television and saw it. I was really saddened by it because I thought we (Democrats) could really win with him and that we were going to be making the mistake of our lifetime,” Camper said.
Then he immediately endorsed Madam Vice President and my emotions changed. I thought, there is a silver lining and the fact that she could now become the first woman president of the United States.”
The initial news reports reflected similar responses throughout the nation as the polls are now terming the race as a neck and neck battle. Before then Biden had been running several points behind Trump, but Harris has enjoyed a strong kick off, including an endorsement from former President Barack Obama and released a recruitment commercial featuring mega pop star Beyonce’s hit song “Freedom.”
Camper, who was elected to represent District 86 (Whitehaven) in 2008, is a past NOBEL president, and has long espoused the belief that Black people have invested more in the American Democracy than any other group and the current moment is another in-dication of that.
“Black women are often called on to rally, support, organize, and that’s what we do. It’s who we are. But at the same time very often we don’t get the full benefit of the democracy that we have worked for,” Camper said. “I feel this is an opportunity to leverage the power that Black women have in order to assure [Vice President Harris] is elected.” NOBEL is a non-partisan organization, and according to Camper who says because most state-elected women are Democrats I can see this explosion of adrenaline. During her tenure as president she made a conscious effort to reach out to Republicans to get them re-engaged in NOBEL. One of them was Sen. Jackie Winter (Minority Leader of the Oregon State Senate, Dec. 2019), and the first Black woman caucus chairman in the Republican Party in Oregon. Another was Jane Powdrell-Colbert, who served on Camper’s board.
Camper also said she is hoping for a strong effort from Win With Black Women, which began in 2019 and has about 4,000 members.Camper reports a Tennessee chapter was recently formed and is hoping for a strong Get Out The Vote campaign across the state.
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