Shirley Chisholm, first African American woman to announce her candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972 and first African American woman in Congress in 1968. Photo from the Library of Congress via Unsplash.

By Iracema Navarro, Politics Editor

Presidential nominee Joe Biden has said he will announce his running mate in early August. with the pressure arising for the position to be held by a woman or a woman of color.

During a Democratic debate in March, Biden committed that he would pick a woman to be vice president (VP).  Joe Biden’s research committee has been looking at the women prospects’ private documents and arranging interviews with them.

With his pledge and protests occurring in every corner of America against racial inequality in the Black Lives Matter movement, Democrats advisors are encouraging the vice president to be a woman of color. According to a study from Monmouth University in early June, Democratic voters support and prefer the idea of a black woman as VP.

With a list containing senators, representatives, mayors, governors, and former National Security advisers, California Senator, Kamala Harris is on the top of the list. With a diverse background, the senator was born in Oakland, Ca, raised by her Indian mother and Jamaican father. Harris was elected to the Senate in 2016,  was the attorney general of California from 2011 to 2016, and was the district attorney of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011. With her experience as a prosecutor, she would bring an insight into the broken system to encourage changes.

Potential candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, mayor of Atlanta since 2018 was quick to request the firing of the officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks on June 12 and established new restrictions for police force. With a quick response and as an important figure in the Black Lives Matter movement in Atlanta, she is high on the VP list.

Susan Rice was part of the Obama administration for eight years, along with Biden as the national security adviser and ambassador to the United Nations. With her history and international experience, Rice is a strong consideration.

A figure in the House of Representatives debate over police reform and a contender for the VP position is Karen Bass, a representative from California since 2011. She was a former speaker of the California State Assembly and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. She holds a range of political and legislative records in Los Angeles but is not a very known figure nationally. 

A representative from Florida since 2017 is Val Demings who served as an impeachment manager for President Trump’s Senate trial. Coming from the swing state of Florida, her influence will be a strong force for Biden’s election run. 

Followed strongly nationally after her unsuccessful campaign for governor of Georgia in 2018, Stacey Abrams advocates on voting rights and was the initial black woman prospect. 

A woman of color in the VP position will provide an advantage on female voters and to distance the presidential nominee Joe Biden from sexual assault allegations; he’s denied these accusations. 

When Biden announces his woman running mate, she will join Sarah Palin and Geraldine Ferraro as the only females nominated to run for the office of Vice President.