In historic speeches at the Democratic National Convention, Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama explain, “What we do these next 76 days will echo through generations to come.”

Harris, the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigration, became the first African American and Asian American to accept a major party’s Vice Presidential nomination. If election, she will also be the first woman to hold the office.

In her virtual address amid the Coronavirus pandemic, she said bluntly, “We’re at an inflection point,” as she challenged Donald Trump and called for redemption and recovery:

The constant chaos leaves adrift. The incompetence makes us feel afraid. The callousness makes us feel alone. It’s a lot – and here’s the thing: we can do better and deserve so much more.

She built her appeal on history, both America’s and hers. Invoking trail-blazing predecessors such as “Mary Church Terrell and Mary McCleod Bethune. Fannie Lou Hamer and Diane Nash. Constance Baker Motley and Shirley Chisholm”, she continued with a tribute to her mother, a distinguished breast cancer researcher who passed away in 2009:

There’s another woman, whose name isn’t known, whose story isn’t shared. Another woman whose shoulders I stand on. And that’s my mother — Shyamala Gopalan Harris….

My mother taught me that service to others gives life purpose and meaning.

Accepting the nomination, Harris declared:

I do so, committed to the values she taught me. To the Word that teaches me to walk by faith, and not by sight. And to a vision passed on through generations of Americans—one that Joe Biden shares. A vision of our nation as a Beloved Community — where all are welcome, no matter what we look like, where we come from, or who we love.

The US Senator from California spoke of the damage of Coronavirus: “the loss of life, the loss of jobs, the loss of opportunities, the loss of normalcy. And yes, the loss of certainty”.

She linked it to the damage of “structural racism. Of inequities in education and technology, health care and housing, job security and transportation. The injustice in reproductive and maternal health care. In the excessive use of force by police. And in our broader criminal justice system.”

There were brief but pointed criticisms of “Donald Trump’s failure of leadership [which] has cost lives and livelihoods.” She contrasted “a president who turns our tragedies into political weapons” with the promise of Democratic nominee Joe Biden, “a president who turns our challenges into purpose”.

But the Vice Presidential nominee closed with a call to action beyond Trump and November’s election.

We have a chance to change the course of history. We’re all in this fight….

Let’s fight with conviction. Let’s fight with hope. Let’s fight with confidence in ourselves, and a commitment to each other. To the America we know is possible. The America, we love.

Years from now, this moment will have passed. And our children and our grandchildren will look in our eyes and ask us: Where were you when the stakes were so high?

They will ask us, what was it like?

And we will tell them. We will tell them, not just how we felt.

We will tell them what we did.

Obama: To “Realize Our Highest Ideals”

Speaking from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, Obama invoked the historic setting to set out the stakes of “a system of representative government — a democracy — through which we could better realize our highest ideals”.

He framed a historic challenge through aspiration and achievement — “gradually, we made this country more just, more equal, and more free” — with the current situation in the White House:

At minimum, we should expect a president to feel a sense of responsibility for the safety and welfare of all 330 million of us — regardless of what we look like, how we worship, who we love, how much money we have –= or who we voted for.

But we should also expect a President to be the custodian of this democracy. We should expect that regardless of ego, ambition, or political beliefs, the President will preserve, protect, and defend the freedoms and ideals that so many Americans marched for and went to jail for; fought for and died for.

He contrasted the possibilities of “my friend Joe Biden” and his “ideal partner” Harris — to dealing with Coronavirus, expand health care, “rescue the economy”, and “restore our standing in the world” — with the man they face in November’s election:

Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t. And the consequences of that failure are severe. 170,000 Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone while those at the top take in more than ever. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before.

Obama returned to the ability and values of Biden and Harris, while — like the Vice Presidential nominee — he brought in all Americans: “I am asking you to believe in Joe and Kamala’s ability to lead this country out of these dark times and build it back better. But here’s the thing: no single American can fix this country alone.”

He concluded:

What we do echoes through generations….

You can give our democracy new meaning. You can take it to a better place. You’re the missing ingredient — the ones who will decide whether or not America becomes the country that fully lives up to its creed.

That work will continue long after this election. But any chance of success depends entirely on the outcome of this election. This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that’s what it takes to win. So we have to get busy building it up.