CLEVELAND, Ohio-U.S. Sen Kamala Harris of California, the only Black woman to seek the 2020 Democratic nomination for president, though she suspended her campaign late last year, will keynote the  virtual event hosted on Sat., May 16 between 11:30-am-12:30 pm by the Cuyahoga County Democratic Women's Caucus.
Cuyahoga County is Ohio's second largest of 88 counties statewide.

It includes the largely Black city of Cleveland, and is a Democratic stronghold.

Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, who sources say is considering a run for state office in 2022, and Ohio 11th Congressional District Congresswoman Marcia Fudge are also featured speakers for tomorrow's webinar, according to the Facebook Event Page for the forum.

Both Fudge and Whaley are Democrats too, and Ohio is a pivotal state for presidential elections, a state President Donald Trump won in 2016 over then Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Though anybody can participate in the virtual forum, registration is required. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ONLINE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EVENT

Dubbed the "11th Annual CDWC Brunch & Conversation: The Urgency of 2020," the virtual event, which will take place on Zoom, is a creative measure to substitute for the annual in-person brunch that could not be held since gatherings are limited during the coronavirus fiasco per orders of Republican Gov Mike DeWine and Public Safety Director Dr. Amy Acton.

Harris is purportedly among those at the top of the list for possible selection as the vice presidential running-mate for Democratic presumptive nominee former vice president Joe Biden, also a former longtime U.S. senator.

Hailing from the nation's post populous state with ties to San Francisco, If she is selected, and subsequently honors the request, she would become the first Black woman to run on a major party ticket in America for president.

Of course Biden must win the nomination for any such possibility to materialize.

He committed to a female running-mate during the 11th Democratic Debate on March 15 in Washington, D.C., and he is  likely the presumptive nominee over U.S. Sen Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who lags behind substantially in pledged delegates.

A Warrensville Heights Democrat whose largely Black congressional district includes Cleveland and a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep Fudge endorsed Harris for president, an indication that the congresswoman is also on board in supporting her as Biden's running-mate as well.

Asked if Congresswoman Fudge intends to support Harris' bid to run on Biden's ticket, her campaign manager said that "I know she endorsed her for president but the congresswoman has not said anything about whom she supports for vice president."

Other women on Biden's short list, say sources, are former presidential candidates U.S. Sens Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, former Atlanta state legislator Stacey Abrams, who is Black, Latina Congresswoman Catherine-Cortez-Mastro, Florida Congresswoman Val Demings and Michigan governor Gretchen  Whitmer.

Biden served as vice president under former president Barack Obama, a Democrat and the nation's first Black president.

The Democratic nominee will take on President Trump for the Nov. 3 general election, absent any delays.

An Obama-Biden ally, Harris suspended  her presidential campaign last December after fundraising difficulties and consistently low poll numbers in the months leading up to her departure, the senator polling at just 2-4 percent in some polls, a drop from when she surged to second place at 22 percent and within five percentage points of Biden following her spectacular performance during the First Democratic Debate in Miami, Florida last June.

Harris, 55, told supporters in an email that she could no longer afford the pursuit of the presidency due to a lack of money but that she will continue to fight.

“My campaign for president simply doesn’t have the financial resources we need to continue,” Harris wrote. “But I want to be clear with you: I am still very much in this fight.”

The junior senator raised eyebrows when she took on Biden during the First Democratic Debate on this issue of race, saying he has fraternized with segregationists and that he should not have opposed court-ordered public school busing plans, busing a 1970s, 80s and 90s phenomenon in place to seek to remedy racial disparities and intentional discrimination against Black children in America's  general largely Black public school districts.

And while Harris may have surged in the polls regarding her dispute with Biden on race during the first Democratic debate, some Democratic voters, mainly Whites, simply did not like her attacking Biden, 77, her supporters saying she did what debaters do to win.

Black political pundits said Harris had an uphill battle from the get go because she is both Black and female, which is double jeopardy relative to a run for president in America, a country that has never entertained a woman for president, not to mention a Black woman.

Despite her general appeal and good looks, and her commitment to the Black community on public policy matters of significance, she could not gain inroads into the Black community like Biden, who enjoys widespread support from Black voters, particularly among older Blacks and southern voters.

Running for vice president is a different animal, pundits have said, and Harris fits the profile that U.S Rep James Clyburn wants on the ticket, a woman and "preferably an African-American woman."

A seasoned and respected congressman, Clyburn is Black too, and is credited with reviving Biden's then failing campaign by endorsing him for South Carolina's primary, which Biden won, and never looked back, his campaign saying also that he did not necessarily expect to win in the earlier primaries like in Iowa and in New Hampshire, White voters territory without a doubt.

And while Harris has some baggage as a former California attorney general from 2011-2017 and Biden wants to distance himself from criticism regarding the 1994 anti-Black crime bill he backed as a then U.S. senator when Bill Clinton was president, pundits say she has the stamina, stage presence and campaign experience to walk with Biden on the campaign trail, and to compliment the Democratic ticket as a candidate for vice president.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com.