One woman was putting her toddler to bed in Baltimore when her phone pinged. Another in Washington saw it while doom-scrolling. A third sat on the deck of her Connecticut home talking about chores with her husband when the WhatsApp message came.
Washington
After Biden’s exit, Zoom led by Black women mobilized 44,000 for Harris
More than 44,000 people logged onto a Zoom call to support Harris and raised more than $1.5 million for her campaign in three hours, according to Win With Black Women founder Jotaka Eaddy.
“Anybody that does not think that Black and Brown women are the backbone of this party, they don’t know us,” Star Jones, the lawyer and former talk show host, told The Washington Post. “[Harris] has already been leading by example. We are going to support her, we’re going to raise money for her, and we’re going to get out the vote for her.”
The call shows the ways in which Black women, a key Democratic voting bloc, plan to galvanize and organize to support Harris. The call, which attracted several celebrities and political figures, was off the record and everyone spoke in their personal capacities, but many attendees described to The Post that it felt like church, a family reunion, a rally or the online hangouts from the height of quarantine.
Even though they were told not to, people streamed the Zoom on other sites such as Clubhouse, Twitch and YouTube.
Eaddy organized the Zoom call the same way in which she has hosted most Sunday night calls for Win With Black Women since August 2020. The organization says it aims to elect Black women nationwide and speaks out against racism and sexism. At the height of the 2020 election, she said the most attendees she had on one Zoom call was 1,500 people. Eaddy was expecting a few hundred last night.
But she realized something was different around 2 p.m., when she got a message that 50 people were in the Zoom waiting room. The call was set to start at 8:30 p.m.
By 7:50 p.m., the Zoom was at capacity with 1,000 people. Members contacted Zoom, which moved the group to a webinar, giving them unlimited capacity to expand their attendees.
“I am forever grateful to the leadership of Zoom for what they did,” Eaddy said.
She said “allies” who identify as Latinx, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and Black men joined the Zoom to show their support. But the majority of the call focused on Black women’s collective power to elect Harris.
“What happened last night was historic,” Eaddy said. “It really is the culmination of so many Black women for years and years and years that have been working, cultivating and creating for this moment. And last night was also a homage, a work to them and their sacrifice.”
Bernice King, the youngest child of Martin Luther King Jr.; 85-year-old Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the most senior Black woman in the House; and Donna Brazile, the two-time acting chair of the Democratic National Committee, each spoke during the call. Jones, actress Jenifer Lewis, first lady of Maryland Dawn Moore, radio host Angela Rye, U.S. Senate hopeful Angela D. Alsobrooks and author Luvvie Ajayi Jones also joined.
Many representatives of the nine Black sororities and fraternities that exist under the National Pan-Hellenic Council, known as the Divine Nine, also spoke. Alpha Kappa Alpha, of which Harris is a member, formed the first Black sorority in 1908.
Naima Cochrane, a music industry executive and writer, spent the early part of her Sunday afternoon shocked about Biden’s announcement. She said she was not confident in American voters, though she was confident about Harris. But the call lit a fire under her.
“There was no conversation about doubt. There was no ‘what if we can’t’; it was ‘this is what we’re about to do,’” Cochrane said. “People needed to know directives. That there is a strategy, that we’re unified in messaging, and their next steps. We can go forward confidently and strongly now to combat misinformation and combat naysayers.”
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), who has endorsed Harris, said she got at least 10 messages from people telling her about the Zoom call. Bowser told The Post on Monday that she was at an event celebrating Washington’s restaurant scene when she joined the call. When other women heard she was stepping out to log on, they asked if they could come. So a dozen women huddled around an iPhone outside the event and listened.
Bowser said there was “collective anxiety about what is coming.” She said the women are expecting sexist attacks against Harris from political opponents. She logged on again on her way home. After putting her daughter to sleep and walking the family’s dog, she logged on for a third time. The call, Bowser said, “is indicative of what these women are going to do over the next several months.”
The founder of Black Girls Vote, Nykidra “Nyki” Robinson, said she received the Zoom link about 15 times, starting at 3 p.m. After putting her 2-year-old to sleep, she joined the call at 9:40 p.m.
“Sometimes we work in silos, but I felt a sense of community being on the call and feel better equipped to mobilize young voters,” she said.
“I hope Joe Biden feels the love. We’re grateful for him,” Robinson said. “We’re also really excited to support Harris in this moment in history. The call was very much about sisterhood, unity and love.”
Jane, a Black woman in Connecticut who spoke to The Post on the condition that only her first name be published because she feared retribution from her employer, spent last night watching the Zoom call from her kitchen island on speakerphone as one of her 11-year-old sons listened in. He asked her whether Harris would be president, and she explained to him how the nomination process works.
She said she was glad her son saw a group of Black women come together so quickly to support each other.
“This is a message to the world,” she said. “Don’t underestimate Black women in this country and the reach we have. Sometimes we’re ignored, but you would want to be our friends because that’s how fast we were able to get that information out. It was lightning speed.”
Mariam Sarr logged on to the Zoom at 10 p.m. determined to make sure the Democratic Party does not “skip over Harris.”
“As a young Black woman in corporate America, I know what it feels like to be passed over. I feel energized in a way like I did in 2008. I actively campaigned for Obama when I was in college and hit the streets campaigning. Last night felt like the same way.”
On Monday night, political commentator Roland Martin will host his own online discussion with the Win With Black Men group.
Star Jones, who has known Harris for several years and is a founding member of Win With Black Women, was tasked with fundraising. As the creator of the Brown Girls Fundraising Collective, Jones told The Post that she spent last night at a dinner with people working to see how they could fund Harris’s campaign. She got a fundraising link together but had no graphics. Leaders of the Zoom call told her to join around 11:43 p.m.
She told the attendees the challenge was to raise $1 million over the next 100 days. She dropped the fundraising link at 11:50 p.m. “Within 100 minutes we raised $1 million,” Jones said.
The money will go directly to the Harris presidential campaign, according to Jones.
“People don’t tend to think we actually have the power of the pocketbook,” Jones said. “So in addition to what we spend as consumers, we actually do give in a political climate when we feel we have skin in the game.”
As of 1:30 p.m. Monday, Jones said they had raised more than $1.6 million dollars from more than 13,000 donors.
Washington
Residents clean up, assess damage after waters recede from Washington state flooding
Receding waters allowed residents of Burlington, Washington, to assess damage and clean up after record flooding. (AP video: Manuel Valdes)
Receding waters allowed residents of Burlington, Washington, to assess damage and clean up after record flooding. (AP video: Manuel Valdes)
Washington
New York Giants vs. Washington Commanders: Behind Enemy Lines
The New York Giants (2-11) and Washington Commanders (3-10) will square off on Sunday afternoon in a Week 15 matchup at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Opening the week, the Giants were listed as 1.5-point home favorites, but that line has shifted slightly with New York now at -2.5 as of this writing.
With this matchup on tap, Giants Wire took the opportunity to hold a Q&A with Commanders Wire managing editor Bryan Manning.
Is Daniel Snyder back in charge? Explain the fall from NFC Championship Game to 3-10.
Manning: There have been so many factors in Washington’s fall this year. The year they’re having right now is probably the one everyone expected a year ago. The roster was in bad shape due to Ron Rivera whiffing on four drafts, but GM Adam Peters needs more from his draft picks. Is it coaching? We’ve already seen the DC “reassigned.” Injuries have played a role. Look, I saw questions on this roster before the injuries, but they haven’t helped. Daniels being in and out of the lineup hasn’t helped. McLaurin holding out over the summer really changed things. When you add it all together, it’s the perfect storm of terrible.
It’s been an odd season for Jayden Daniels, who is now out on Sunday. What have you seen from him in Year 2, and what do you expect from him moving forward?
Jayden has been let down a bit by the team. If anyone watched him last year, they’d know he was the reason this team won 12 games and made it to the NFC championship. He erased deficits. No third down was too long. He was automatic on fourth downs. However, McLaurin’s holdout, Noah Brown being out for so long, and Austin Ekeler’s injury crushed the offense. A rotating cast of wide receivers, often called up from the practice squad, has hampered the offense. The injuries were more bad luck than anything. And I believe Jayden could play through them, outside of the initial elbow injury. This offseason should be about finding a 1B to McLaurin’s 1A.
What does the loss of Zach Ertz mean for Washington’s offense, especially with Marcus Mariota under center?
Losing Ertz hurts. While he had some issues with drops at times, and he was no longer a threat after the catch, the quarterbacks trusted Ertz. He consistently gets open, even at 35. A great leader, and he’s still a productive player. His shoes are big. The hope is Ben Sinnott can be the guy. I am not confident he is ready to do some of the things Ertz did. Mariota, like Daniels, always trusts Ertz on third downs and inside the red zone.
Jonathan Jones and Bobby Wagner are banged up. What do they mean to the defense, and who steps in if they can’t go on Sunday?
Jones missed a lot of time earlier this season. When he returned, the Commanders lost Marshon Lattimore and Trey Amos for the season. Jones is a solid veteran who can play inside and outside, and Washington doesn’t have a lot of cornerback depth now. The defense has stunk regardless of who has played in the secondary, so I am not sure we will notice much. Wagner is still a solid player, but teams wisely attack him in the passing game. That’s his weakness now as a 14th-year pro. He is still excellent against the run or as a blitzer. But he’s a massive liability in coverage. Jordan Magee has played a lot lately, but I would like to see him play the MIKE one entire game in place of Wagner, just to see what he can do.
How do you see Sunday’s game playing out, who wins, and what’s the final score?
These games are always crazy. I feel like it’s always the Giants and Commanders fighting for draft position late in the season. It’s unfortunate for both franchises. While I still like the future outlook for both teams, this game is for nothing more than who will pick higher in the draft. Although the players do not care. The Giants are playing better. Sure, the wins haven’t come, but they will on Sunday. Another close one, but New York wins, 24-20.
Washington
Washington state takes stock of flooding damage as another atmospheric river looms
And while the river did see record flows at Mount Vernon, both the dikes and a downtown floodwall held up. The city isn’t out of the woods yet — Ezelle said the Skagit could return to a major flood stage next week.
In the nearby town of Burlington, the river did overtop a slough off the Skagit. Officials sent a warning early Friday morning to evacuate for all 11,000 Burlington residents as some neighborhoods and roadways flooded, though not all of them ultimately needed to leave.
“In the middle of the night, about a thousand people had to flee their homes in a really dire situation,” Gov. Bob Ferguson said in a news conference on Friday afternoon.
The flood event has set records across Washington state and it prompted officials to ask about 100,000 people to evacuate this week, forced dozens of rescues and caused widespread destruction of roads and other infrastructure.
Washington state is prone to intense spells of fall rainfall, but these storms have been exceptional. The atmospheric rivers this week dumped as much as 16 inches of rain in Washington’s Cascade mountains over about three days, according to National Weather Service data.
Because many rivers and streams were already running high and the soil was already saturated, the water tore through lowland communities. The Skagit River system is the third biggest on the U.S. west coast, and at Mount Vernon, this is the highest the river has ever run in recorded history.
“There has been no reported loss of life at this time,” Ferguson said. “The situation is very dynamic, but we’re exceedingly grateful.”
By Friday afternoon, while many roadways near Burlington remained closed, parts of downtown bustled with car traffic, as national guardsmen were waving people away from road closures and curious residents were out snapping photos of the swollen Skagit. Downstream, in the town of Conway, a tree trunk and the metal siding of a trailer could be seen racing away in the current.
The dramatic week of flooding sets the stage for a difficult recovery, in a growing state that’s already struggling to provide shelter to homeless residents. It’s not clear how many homes have been damaged, but neighborhoods in dozens of towns and cities took on water. Recovery won’t be quick — after flooding in 2021, some residents who lost their homes were displaced for months.
President Donald Trump on Friday signed the state’s request for an expedited emergency declaration, which will enable people to seek individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for things like temporary housing and home repairs. The measure will also allow state and local governments to seek federal assistance to remove debris and repair roads, bridges, water facilities and other infrastructure.
The Trump administration has made suggestions it would overhaul FEMA and prove less disaster relief to states. In left-leaning Washington, the president’s pen to paper offered another an initial sigh of relief.
“One of the challenges that we’ve had with the administration in the past is that they don’t really want to do longer term recovery,” said Rep. Rick Larsen, who represents Burlington and Mount Vernon. In an interview with NBC News, Larsen added that the declaration was “an indication that they understand how disastrous this particular disaster is and we’re not out of it yet.”
The next atmospheric river storm on tap will likely arrive Sunday night.
Jeff Michalski, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Seattle, said a few days of dry weather will allow most rivers to recede, before they begin to swell again on Tuesday, as the rainfall pulses downstream.
Lowland parts of western Washington will receive about an inch of rain during the storm; the mountains could get up to three.
“It could possibly either prolong flooding or cause renewed flooding on some of the rivers,” Michalski said. “A few rivers may bump back into flood stage moving into the Tuesday, Wednesday time frame, but we’re not expecting widespread major flood levels like we have seen.”
After Wednesday, the forecast calls for more rain in lowland Washington and heavy snow in the Cascades.
“It does not let up,” Michalski said.
Ferguson said the situation would remain “dynamic and unpredictable” over the next week.
“This is not just a one- or two- day crisis. These water levels have been historic and they’re going to remain very high for an extended period of time,” Ferguson said. “That puts pressure on our infrastructure. The infrastructure has, for the most part, withstood the challenge so far.”
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