By Jonnika Kwon
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Four years ago, I watched as the world was introduced to then-Senator Kamala Harris. I was in eighth grade, and not very politically aware. Something about Kamala Harris’ Democratic National Convention (DNC) speech in 2020 resonated with me. After four years of an endless bad news cycle, I was used to tuning out politics. But Kamala Harris renewed my interest, and I found myself following the news, not out of fear or desperation, but out of hope. Soon, my interest in politics would evolve into actual organizing. My freshman year of high school, I joined the High School Democrats of America (HSDA). I now lead the Washington chapter of HSDA and have volunteered and worked on several campaigns.
That’s the short version of how I found myself at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, watching Kamala Harris accept the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. The DNC was a truly surreal experience. Being 17, I was the youngest delegate from Washington (in fact, I will turn 18 on Oct. 20, which is also Kamala Harris’ birthday!). I felt incredibly grateful to be elected a national delegate. The breathtaking experience of walking into the United Center each day never quite wore off. I quite literally had a front row seat to history. I went from watching the news, to being interviewed on it. In all, I spoke with over 20 media outlets. While I felt grateful for this experience, I also knew I held a certain responsibility. When I spoke to the press, I was aware that my perspective would be taken as emblematic of the wider views of my generation.
Jonnika Kwon being interviewed by NBC (Screenshot from an NBC broadcast)
I can say that Gen-Z showed up strong at the DNC! On the first day, a few other Washington teen-delegates and I went viral for our outfits. We wore “Cowboy Kamala” sashes with light-up cowboy hats in a tribute to Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter album. The theme was selected by our state party chair, Shasti Conrad, one of the youngest state party chairs in the nation. A tweet of our outfits accrued over 250,000 views on X, and we were interviewed on CNN and NBC during primetime coverage of the DNC. Articles were published by Teen Vogue, Politico, USA Today, and countless other outlets. Our visibility allowed me to share my views on the Harris campaign and speak to the larger issue of youth engagement in politics. Only now, as I write this flying home from Chicago am I able to fully appreciate why our attire gained so much attention—we were representing a new kind of politics, a tone shift, and a new chapter in American history.
When we think of traditional politics, a certain image of white men in drab suits smoking cigars at country clubs is evoked. But our virality just further cemented that this kind of politics no longer has a stranglehold on our country. I look back on a picture taken from my NBC interview and I see four young people, all of them non-white, two of them women, celebrating the nomination of the first Black and South Asian woman to the highest office in the country. I also see joy. Kamala Harris’ campaign has sent a jolt of electricity through the political scene precisely because she is running on joy. It’s more complicated than a mere “vibes election,” however. Kamala Harris is refreshing and compelling because she is authentic and genuine, and she seems like a real person. She is the kind of candidate who makes you want to go out in public in a light-up cowboy hat because you want to share that joy with the world. In a political system that has been historically inaccessible to the vast majority of the American public, Harris’ candidacy is like a bridge being lowered, inviting everyone into the hallowed halls of a castle that has, for too long, been open to only a select few. This is my long-winded way of expressing a sentiment that is at once simple and also indicative of a deeper truth—representation matters.
The way Harris’ campaign has been discounted as running on “vibes” only shows half the picture. The energy we feel is more than a fleeting excitement. It is a culmination of the women’s liberation movement, the civil rights movement, and the larger push for progress in America. It is fueled by the passion of young people like me who don’t have the luxury of sitting back and hoping older generations make the right decisions. It is the prospect of America as a land of opportunity finally being fulfilled.
In this context, it’s important to acknowledge that joy should have a place in our political system. Politicians should be able to laugh and tell goofy stories about coconut trees and show their humanity. The enthusiasm around Harris shouldn’t be the exception, it should be the rule. I’ll end with this final prediction: If we can harness this joy, use it to reach voters, talk to our friends and family about voting, and mobilize historically marginalized groups, we will soon be celebrating the inauguration of President Kamala Harris.