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Kamala Harris and Beyoncé AFP
Beyoncé Sparks Democratic Frenzy

Beyoncé Sparks Democratic Frenzy

The megastar shared the stage with Kamala Harris in Houston, in a new mega-rally focused on abortion rights and ensuring a future for all women.

M. Pérez

Sábado, 26 de octubre 2024, 12:20

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Beyoncé attended Houston this Friday not to sing her hits or promote her latest album, 'Cowboy Carter'. She did so to show her most severe profile as an activist and a woman concerned about the future of her own.

"I am not here as a celebrity. I am not here as a politician. I am here as a mother. A mother who deeply cares about the world in which my children and all our children live. A world where we have the freedom to control our bodies," she exclaimed before a large, excited audience, ready to witness the magic of two of the most famous women in the United States at this moment: the singer and the politician. Beyoncé and Kamala Harris. It was their first rally together. In Houston (Texas), a challenging venue where the two railed against state rules that almost suffocate the right to abortion.

The African American star called for "unity" around the Democratic candidate so that the US "sings a song of dignity and opportunities". "Imagine our daughters growing up and seeing what is possible without limits or barriers. Imagine our grandmothers, imagine what they feel right now," added the singer, who spoke in her homeland in a way rarely seen in her interviews. Beyoncé is a Democrat and has supported their campaigns. In fact, Kamala Harris uses her song 'Freedom' as the soundtrack of her campaign. However, it is very likely that never like tonight has she expanded on such a broad political speech.

There was a lot of emotion. If the night before in Atlanta the Democrats could attend what could be called a political gala, a brilliant show full of stars sending messages of encouragement, with Obama, Bruce Springsteen, Samuel L. Jackson, or Spike Lee on stage, Houston has constituted the emotional and sentimental part of the candidate's program. Beyoncé has spoken about women's right to decide about their bodies and their future. But also on the platform, the voice of a group of women who have recounted how they were on the brink of death after being denied the right to abortion in high-risk pregnancies was heard.

Beyoncé and Kelly Rowlands, on the stage they shared with Willie Nelson. Reuters

Among the speakers was the mother of Amber Thurman, a 26-year-old woman admitted to a hospital in Georgia who died while it was debated whether she had the right to a legal abortion. The event also brought together several doctors who explained how Texas laws forced them to move to other states due to the obstacles imposed on their healthcare work.

"If you think you are protected against Trump's abortion bans because you live in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New York, California, or any state where voters or legislators have protected reproductive freedom, be aware that no one is protected," Kamala Harris stated in her speech. Serious, very serious, the Democratic candidate warned that "if Donald Trump wins again, he will ban abortion across the country," and warned of the advent of a time of restriction of "rights and freedoms" if the Republican leader reaches the White House. In contrast, with the Democrats, Harris affirmed that "freedom will win".

The candidate is embarked on a final tour of rallies with great public resonance. Her team wants them to have a profound impact on the electorate and be remembered until November 5 to keep the home electorate mobilized and attract undecided voters. In a campaign, there is no stitch without thread. In Houston, one of the missions has been to convince moderate Republican women that Democrats better guarantee their rights.

Anyway, this is America. And it was evident that Beyoncé's presence had to unleash the show. There were long lines to enter the Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, formerly known as BBVA Compass and home to the Houston Dynamo and Houston Dash soccer teams. The venue hosted 30,000 people. Thousands of them waited up to ten hours to try to be the first and get as close as possible to the stage. The night was not cheap either. Parking in the thousands of spaces available near the stadium cost $45. Two bottles of water in the venue cost $20. No alcohol was sold.

The show did not disappoint. There were DJs who set the audience in motion with the hits of the local megastar. Beyoncé declined to sing. It was a night to talk. For speeches. Her own mother gave one of them. She took the stage with her former Destiny's Child bandmate, Kelly Rowland. "Everyone says Texas plays a crucial role in changing the course of our future," Beyoncé said before encouraging attendees to vote for the Democratic Party. "We all have a role to play to make this a reality," she added. Kelly Rowland joined the call: "Houston, you already participated in creating 'Destiny'. So do what you do and do it again," she exclaimed before stating that "we are taking back control".

There were also other celebrities. Actresses like Jessica Alba, who opened the long night of Democratic communion by repeating the phrase: "We are not going back." However, it was Willie Nelson, the institution of American music, who ended up putting the emotional, nostalgic, and twilight point to the rally. Perhaps not even Kamala Harris herself could imagine when she was nominated as a candidate in substitution that Joe Biden that in two consecutive days she would share the stage with Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, and Willie Nelson. He appeared at the Shell Energy Stadium wearing a T-shirt printed like in the best times of the summer of love with the words 'Harris Walz' in honor of the two candidates. The audience brought down the pavilion with shouts of 'Willie Willie'. To the cry of "Are we ready to say 'Madam President'?", the veteran 91-year-old singer defended a brief but lysergic repertoire of hope and illusion armed with his guitar and a base band formed by double bass, guitar, harmonica, and a one-piece drum. 'Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys' and 'On the Road Again' were played. Few rallies will have had such a legendary ending.

Among the speakers were Beyoncé's mother, the singer's lifelong friend and former bandmate Kelly Rowland, Texas country music legend Willie Nelson, and Representative Colin Allred, the Democratic rival of Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz. Several women who have sought medical attention for abortion since the Supreme Court overturned the Roe ruling and the mother of Amber Thurman, the Georgia woman who died after delays in her medical care related to Georgia's abortion ban, also spoke. A group of obstetricians who said they could no longer practice medicine as they saw fit in Texas since the state banned most abortion services also participated in the rally.

It is time for America to sing a new song. Our voices sing a chorus of unity. They sing a song of dignity and opportunity. Are you all ready to add your voice to the new American song? Because I am. So let's do it. Ladies and gentlemen, give a big and strong Texan welcome to the next President of the United States: Vice President Kamala Harris.

Beyoncé Campaigns With Harris in Texas

1:24

Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland expressed their support for Vice President Kamala Harris at a campaign event focused on abortion rights in Houston on Friday night. CreditCredit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times

Reid J. EpsteinJ. David GoodmanLisa Lerer

By Reid J. EpsteinJ. David GoodmanyLisa Lerer

Reid J. Epstein and J. David Goodman reported from Houston, and Lisa Lerer reported from New York.

October 26, 2024

Updated at 1:19 am ET

Vice President Kamala Harris veered off the presidential battlegrounds on Friday to receive the endorsement of global superstar Beyoncé in Texas, at an event almost entirely focused on abortion rights.

With the presidential race stalled, Harris's campaign sought to use Beyoncé's status—particularly in her hometown, Houston—to focus attention on the near-total abortion ban in the state as a warning of what could happen nationwide if former President Donald J. Trump won another term in the White House.

The rally in Houston was not only the largest of her campaign but also the most emotionally charged event since she became the Democratic candidate. Beyoncé delivered a speech focused on a more optimistic future, and the heartbreaking stories of Texas women who suffered life-threatening health complications as a result of being denied proper care for pregnancy complications took center stage.

Ms. Harris and many of the speakers solely blamed Trump, who frequently boasts of having appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Although Trump has promised to leave abortion laws to individual states and says he would veto a national ban, the former president's allies and officials who served in his administration are planning ways to restrict abortion rights that would go beyond the laws enacted in conservative states across the country.

Ms. Harris warned that if elected for another term, Trump will take steps to ban abortion nationwide, regardless of his campaign promises.

"Although tonight we are in Texas, for anyone watching the program from another state, if you think you are protected from Trump's abortion bans because you live in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New York, California, or any state where voters or legislators have protected reproductive freedom, please know: no one is protected," she said. "Because a national ban by Donald Trump will make abortion illegal in all states."

Image

Vice President Kamala Harris has made former President Donald J. Trump's role in overturning the Roe v. Wade ruling a central focus of her campaign, hoping that the issue of abortion rights will encourage voters to support her candidacy. Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times

By combining harsh warnings with the reach of a stratospheric celebrity like Beyoncé, Harris's campaign hoped to break through a crowded and diffuse information environment to inform voters before election day. The goal was to create a moment that resonated among disconnected voters and Republican-leaning women who, according to Harris's team, are key to the vice president's potential success.

Beyoncé's appearance was notable for the pop star, who usually supports Democratic candidates but rarely makes extensive comments about her political beliefs. Her song "Freedom" has become the anthem of Harris's campaign, used to introduce the vice president at almost every appearance. After Trump used a snippet of the song in a video, her lawyers reportedly threatened to send a cease and desist letter.

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"I am not here as a celebrity," Beyoncé told the crowd on Friday, which according to Harris's campaign was 30,000 people. "I am not here as a politician. I am here as a mother, a mother who deeply cares about the world in which my children and all our children live."

And she continued: "Imagine our daughters growing up and seeing what is possible without limits or barriers. Imagine our grandmothers, imagine what they feel right now."

Among the speakers were Beyoncé's mother, the singer's lifelong friend and former bandmate Kelly Rowland, Texas country music legend Willie Nelson, and Representative Colin Allred, the Democratic rival of Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz. Several women who have sought medical attention for abortion since the Supreme Court overturned the Roe ruling and the mother of Amber Thurman, the Georgia woman who died after delays in her medical care related to Georgia's abortion ban, also spoke. A group of obstetricians who said they could no longer practice medicine as they saw fit in Texas since the state banned most abortion services also participated in the rally.

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The fall of the Roe v. Wade case gave momentum to a new coalition of moderate Republican, independent, and Democratic voters who have driven Democratic victories at all levels of the ticket in the two years since the Supreme Court ruling. Harris has made blaming Trump for the removal of the constitutional right to abortion a central theme of her campaign, hoping to use the issue to drive voters to support her candidacy.

On the outdoor video panels of the stadium, Harris played clips of Trump boasting about his role in eliminating abortion rights, among testimonies of women who have suffered as a result of strict bans that prevented them from receiving medical care.

In a race where polls show a substantial gender gap, with women favoring Harris and men backing Trump, the vice president made an explicit appeal to men in favor of abortion rights, almost begging them to vote for women's rights.

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