This may seem like an unlikely message to take away from the DNC, four nights of the Democrats’ best and brightest running rings round the Republican Party with their rhetoric, but sometimes pictures can speak louder than words.
After sizzling speeches from the likes of Jasmine Crockett, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama, presidential hopeful Kamala Harris had her work cut out for her when concluding the convention on Thursday, but the Vice President unsurprisingly rose to the occasion. As she accepted the party’s endorsement to replace Joe Biden as candidate for the first time, Harris delivered a passionate plea to the people of America, urging voters to help her pave “a new way forward” instead of returning to the “chaos and calamity” of Donald Trump.
And yet as impressive as Harris’ words were, the most impactful and instantly iconic moment from the DNC’s final night was a single image which started circulating like wildfire on social media in real-time. The breathtakingly composed shot depicts Harris’s own great-niece, Amara, sitting in the front row and looking up at her auntie as she officially starts her bid to become the first female president in American history.
The acres of meaning baked into this photo — the way it perfectly captures how Kamala’s potential rise to power will inspire young girls, particularly young women of color, of Amara’s generation to follow in her footsteps — is leaving the folks of X in awe. As powerful as all the words we’ve heard across the DNC have been, it’s this photograph that really brings into focus just how much it would mean for the future of the country if Harris is elected this November.
As one over-emotional tweeter put it, “Picture of the year! Of the decade maybe! Of this century?????”
Some are predicting this image — which comes from photographer Todd Heisler of The New York Times — could go down in history.
“The defining image of this era,” as actor Jon Cryer predicts? We’ll have to see.
Eight-year-old Amara Ajagu got her own moment on stage at the DNC’s final night, with she and her sister Leela, 6, appearing alongside Kerry Washington to educate everybody on the correct way to pronounce their great-aunt’s name (Amara and Leela are the granddaughters of Kamala’s younger sister, Maya Harris). This moment only intensified the all-round Scandal nostalgia of the DNC, as the image of Amara and Kamala ironically mirrors the final shot of the Kerry Washington series itself.
“Imagine the impression on this little girl, this moment will carry of her Auntie accepting the Democratic Presidential nomination, for her entire life,” one tweeter noted. In many ways, then, this photo speaks to exactly what Harris discussed in her speech, when alluding to her historic status in the annals of presidential candidates. “Never let anyone tell you who you are,” she said, to the thousands gathered in attendance. “You show them who you are.”