Asheville civil rights pioneer thinks Sen. Kamala Harris would be voice for the voiceless
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — A senator from California is just eight days away from finding out whether she'll be the next vice president of the United States.
Kamala Harris has already made history as the first woman of color to seek the second highest office in the land on a major party ticket.
"Little brown and black girls can look at her and say, 'She looks like me,'" local activist Oralene Simmons said of Harris. "I understand that her motto comes from her mother, and it says, 'You can be first, just don't be last.'"
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Simmons, president of the Martin Luther King Jr. Association of Asheville and Buncombe County, was certainly not the last. She is the great-granddaughter of a slave who was held as collateral on the loan to build Mars Hill College. Some 105 years later, in the early 1960s, Simmons became the first African-American to attend that school.
"I never want any student here to walk that rocky road," Simmons said.
Fast forward to 2020, Simmons is still an activist, speaking during a protest at Mars Hill, after the police killing of George Floyd.
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Simmons is a big fan of the woman she believes brings strength and energy to the presidential campaign of former Vice President Joe Biden. She thinks Harris is the perfect candidate in the battle for social justice or fall Americans.
"We can look for these things within Kamala. I think that she would be a voice for the voiceless," Simmons said. "I certainly do see her as being a person for that pivotal moment and keeping Dr. King's dream alive. She is a rising star."
And Simmons believes Harris is a start that will rise to even greater heights.
"I see her as being president, I see her as cracking that highest glass ceiling in politics," Simmons said. "And making the dreams come true for so many people. I've been somebody there in the trenches that was able to move forward, and I see her moving forward today. And it is my hope that it's moving to the White House."
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