Harris laments 'shadows gathering over our democracy'

Former Vice President Kamala Harris lamented the "shadows gathering over our democracy" when accepting the Chairman’s Award on Saturday at the 56th NAACP Image Awards.

“This organization came into being at a moment when our country struggled with greed, bitterness and hatred, and those who forged the NAACP, those who carried its legacy forward had no illusions about the forces they were up against, no illusions about how stony the road would be,” Harris said in her first major public speech since losing to President Trump in the 2024 election. 

“But some look at this moment and rightly feel the weight of history. Some see the flames on our horizons, the rising waters in our cities, the shadows gathering over our democracy. And ask, what do we do now?” she added.

Harris received a standing ovation from the crowd at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

“This chapter will be written, not simply by whoever occupies the Oval Office, nor by the wealthiest among us,” said Harris in an apparent reference to Trump and Elon Musk, who is leading the Department of Government Efficiency. “The American story will be written by you, written by us, by We the People.”

Harris called on her supporters to organize.

“But we know exactly what to do because we have done it before, and we will do it again. We use our power, we organize, mobilize, we educate and we advocate, because you see, our power has never come from having an easy path," she said. "Our strength flows from our faith, faith in God, faith in each other and our refusal to surrender to cynicism and destruction, not because it is easy, but because it is necessary, not because victory is guaranteed, but because the fight is worth it.”