The day after President Joe Biden ended his presidential campaign on July 21, Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in Delaware to greet her new campaign staff. She had worked the phones the previous day, and with Biden’s endorsement, was already the presumptive nominee. The campaign would remain intact—there was no time to build a new one from scratch. But there would be tweaks. One was already audible when she strode to the podium to Beyoncé’s 2016 anthem “Freedom.” The megastar had given Harris the go-ahead to use it as the campaign’s new theme song just hours before.
Harris closed her remarks to staff with a question. “Do we believe in freedom?” she said. “Do we believe in opportunity? Do we believe in the promise of America?” The audience clapped and Beyoncé’s chorus returned. Freedom, freedom I can’t move. Freedom cut me loose.
All* In Action Fund is a catalyst for abortion justice, committed to building the political power of people of color working to make ends meet.