Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin shared the stage with Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, D.C. Friday, at the National Urban League’s annual conference.
Woodfin served as the moderator for a fireside chat with the vice president, asking Harris questions about the Biden Administration’s actions on a range of topics, including gun violence, abortion, maternal health care and voting rights.
Harris spoke on the need to limit access to assault weapons, racial bias in the health care field, reproductive choice and maternal mortality rates, as well as the importance of voting in the upcoming midterm elections.
“In certain states, they are criminalizing health care providers, punishing women,” Harris said. “That law where they’re basically allowing vigilantes to turn in folks who exercise their rights.
“So why do these elections matter? Well, because who your [district attorney] is matters. Who your secretary of state is, on voting, that matters. Who your governor is matters. Who your mayor is certainly matters, not to mention, who are the members of Congress. There’s so much at stake.”
Also appearing at the conference were U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky and EPA Administrator Michael Regan.
Woodfin, on Twitter, called the experience an “incredible honor” to “have frank dialogue about how we move our country forward.”
Woodfin and Harris also shared commencement speaking duties at the May graduation ceremonies at Tennessee State University, a historically Black university in Nashville.
During Friday’s event, the pair both applauded increased funding for historically Black colleges awarded by the Biden administration. Both are alums of HBCUs, Harris from Howard University, and Woodfin from Morehouse College.
You can watch the full video from the event below. Woodfin and Harris take the stage at around the 19:00 mark of the video.
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