Kamala Harris, A Conveniently Forgotten Enemy

Originally published on this blog, 11-02-2020

I know this post won’t be popular; I’m not going to pretend otherwise. I’m writing this as a sex worker, but I know most sex worker communities will brush my concerns aside, whether temporarily or even as a whole. The 2020 Election Day in the US is an arm’s length away, and no matter who you are voting for in the presidential election, I would appreciate if you took this time to heed my warning.

On August 11th, Joe Biden announced Kamala Harris as his pick for Vice President. I didn’t know this at the time – I was working in a remote area with barely any internet connection. When I came back home at the beginning of September, my stomach dropped when I learned of the news. It was when Harris ran to become the Democratic presidential candidate back in 2019 that I and many others learned of her atrocious political career.

“But what has she done?” you may be asking. Well…

• She fought against a Supreme Court ruling to reduce California prison overcrowding;

• Despite the California Innocence Project helping Daniel Larsen to prove his innocence in court of a concealed weapon conviction, Harris appealed the ruling because of a technicality, but Federal Magistrate Judge Suzanne Segal ordered his immediate release;

• She opposed legislation that would have required her office to investigate police shooting fatalities (“How many more people need to die before she steps in?” said Phelicia Jones);

• Prosecuted people for nonviolent crimes, such as marijuana convictions, with her defending that practice in her book, Smart on Crime: “Nonviolent crimes exact a huge toll on America’s communities…It’s important to fight all crime. Drug crimes in particular exact a terrible toll and rob people young and old of hope.”

• Co-sponsored SESTA, which, along with FOSTA, has – ya know – put sex workers’ lives more at risk, and is in violation of the First Amendment.

You can cherry-pick the good Kamala Harris has done, but looking at her overall record, I can see her for what she is – just another dangerous politician, although this time, under the guise of a progressive candidate who understands the plight of the marginalized. I wish I could like her. I could say that about any politician, but with her, she could have given a voice to the overlooked and outcasts of society, but knowing that this isn’t the case – that she’s no ally to people like me – it makes my skin crawl. I want to be happy that a fellow woman of color is rising through the political ranks, yet I can’t be.

When I came back home, it took weeks for me to find anyone in my network to post criticism of Harris on social media. It’s a presidential election year, so yes, there’s a lot of political talk online, but I also have very politically vocal friends. The first criticism I read was because I actively searched for it, and it came in the form of a Rolling Stone article. I was disturbed my friends’ silence. I was even more disturbed when my white liberal friends starting posting endearing photos of Kamala Harris, with comments about her being a great role model, “Kamala Harris 2024!”, and so on.

Some people think they shouldn’t post criticism of the candidates they support because it may convince other people to not support the same candidates. To that, I say we’re screwing with our future. We may become indifferent and careless. If politicians’ shortcomings are ignored, the more easily get away with harming us. I know those who are voting for Biden/Harris simply because they’re not Donald Trump and Mike Pence. I don’t care who you’re voting for, but believing that one politician is better over another does not cancel out any past harms your preferred candidate has done or will do. We need to be active in voicing our concerns, before and after elections, or else these issues will be blown to the wayside.

Maybe you believe that Kamala Harris is slowly, but legitimately changing for the better. Maybe you think she’s slightly more progressive than the establishment. Don’t be quiet, thinking that it will result in eventual change. Speak up for yourself and others. Let’s hold our politicians accountable. I learned long ago that wishing for other people to take action results in nothing, and that voting is only one step forward, when, really, we need to take dozens more for meaningful change.

Ask yourself: “What am I doing to help prevent political violence and negligence?”

Organize political events, write to your politicians, run for office, and take care of the people in your life. I’m not waiting for Kamala Harris to supposedly fix up our criminal justice system and renounce her past mistakes. I don’t trust her. As a sex worker, I need to constantly remind myself that I may die as a result of SESTA/FOSTA. I can’t wait.

If you can brush aside all that I have brought up, be grateful that your well-being doesn’t depend on so-called “progressive” legislation. After SESTA/FOSTA passed, my social media feeds were filled with stories of sex workers who committed suicide because those bills served as their final straw against living. Then and now, it’s common to find stories of full-service sex workers who were killed by clients in my social newsfeeds. If you don’t feel overwhelmed by the amount of sex worker death stories that cross your field of vision, be damn grateful.