MORE THAN 100 BLACK MALE LEADERS SIGN STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY REQUIRING A BLACK WOMAN VICE PRESIDENT

#WinWithBlackWomen 

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. It disgusts us that Black women are not just being vetted in this VP process but unfairly criticized and scrutinized. 

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 AMBITION 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?

Have Democratic Party leaders, allies, or donors ever required Joe Biden to show remorse for the 1986 or 1988 Anti Drug Abuse bills, which established mandatory minimum sentencing and subsequently crack-cocaine sentencing disparities, and by his own admission, led to mass incarceration? What about the 1994 Crime Bill? Let’s be clear about the kind of remorse and reckoning that matters in 2020 when the Black community is still suffering the consequences for these oppressive measures. So, Black women are the only ones required to stay in their place and to show remorse for even questioning their own oppression? 

For too long Black women have been asked to do everything from rally the troops to risk their lives for the Democratic Party with no acknowledgment, no respect, no visibility, and certainly not enough support. More than 700 Black women signed on to a letter demanding a Black woman VP. And we, black men, stand in solidarity with them. 

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 for the devil we know versus the devil we don’t because we are tired of voting for devils—period. 

In solidarity, 

Sean “Diddy” Combs

Lenard “Charlamagne Tha God” Mckelvey

Michael Bennett

Bishop William J. Barber

Ben Crump, Esq.

Chris Paul

James Gee

Jeff Johnson

Dr. Wes Bellamy

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson

Rev. Jamal Bryant

Mysonne Linen

Shelley Davis

Will Packer

Karim Webb

Deon Taylor

Randall Pinkett

Brandon J. Johnson

Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley

Nigel Talley

Van Lathan

Corey Jacobs

Marcus L. Martin MD

Quinton Harrell

Evans Ross

Jason Martin

Robert Wright

Corey Gamble

Wayne Barrow

Felix Stallings Jr.

Karriem Mack

Malcolm Davis

Rodriquez “Jacquees” Broadnax

Al Harrington

Roy Davis Jr.

Chad Elliott Jr.

Richard Morris

Tarik Brooks

Omari V. Bouknight

Tyrone “Ty Dolla $ign” William Griffin Jr.

James Vaughns

Emmanuel Omolabi

Terrence J.

Detavio Samuels

Maurice Barrow

Nick Cannon

Cedric The Entertainer Kyles

Deondre Whitfield

Kirk Lightburn

Dr. Rickey White

Cartier Brown

Freddy Jackson

Omar Epps

Matthew J. Middleton

Jay Lundy

Doug E. Fresh

Mark Wesley

Myron Adoteye

Earl Stevens

Brandon Marshall

Doug Baldwin

Kam Chancellor

Tuma Basa

Ples Jones

Jonathan Randle

Chris Robinson

Rep. Derwin Montgomery

Horace Levon Linnen

Ronald Bacon

Derek ” Chuck Bone” Osorio

NeAndre Broussard

Aliaume Damala Badara “Akon” Thiam

Anthony Williams

Ray Muhammad

Dennis Rogers, PhD

Brandon Scott

Brian Rowland

Johnathan Randall

Jermaine Reed

Rep. Jewel Jones

Gregory Jones

Eric Gerald

Leon Keel

Ron Samuels

Conrad Neblett

Kwame McLeod

Stephen Green

Bakari Kitwana

Cliff Albright

Phil Hughley

Anthony Anderson

Javin Joyce

Eddie Francis

Jerry “JB Smoove” Angelo Brooks

Baye Adofo-Wilson

Collins Pettaway, III

Genaro Stewart

Rev. Mark Thompson

Rashaad Lambert

Omar Beasley

Mark Anthony Neal

Joe Dillard Jr.

Al B. Sure!

Van Jones

Thomas Wilson

Alvin Waters

Calvin Waters

Montez Cornelius

Rev. Herbert Daughtry

Bakari Sellers

Pastor Michael McBride

Rev. Tony Lee

Zuo Reeves

Rahim Jenkins

Bill Bellamy

Richard Gant

Rev. Lukata Mjumbe

Bobby L. Fuse

Eric Gantt

Koko Archibong

Terrence Charles

Jeff Rush

Channing Johnson

Ron Finley

Datwon Thomas

Edward Lewis

Blair Underwood

Nate Parker

TJ Martin

Stephen Hill

Tony Okungbowa

Paul Hill

Marlon Nichols

Arthur Lewis

Gordon Bobbb

Leelai Demoz

Rickey Minor

Marquise Burns

Roger Givens

Brian Rowland

NOTE: This statement of solidarity is in response to the more than 700 Black women who signed a letter calling for a Black woman Vice President