Alpha Kappa Alpha, the historically Black sorority that counts Vice President Kamala Harris as one of its most notable alumni, has created a political action committee, an unusual move by a sorority rallying around the chance to send one of its own to the White House.
AKA is part of a collective of the country’s oldest and most prestigious fraternities and sororities, known as the “Divine Nine,” whose network of more than 2 million alumni represents a massive political force among a constituency that both parties hope to mobilize ahead of the November elections.
When Harris was announced as Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020, her campaign… It was flooded with thousands of donations for $19.08 — a reference to Alpha Kappa Alpha’s founding year.
In office, Harris received a visit from Divine Nine leaders at the White House — the first time all had been invited there to meet with a president or vice president, POLITICO reported in 2021. Divine Nine leaders have routinely visited the White House or met with Biden or Harris since then. including as recently as Mayas Biden sought to shore up his support among black voters.
Last month, after Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris, all of the Divine Nine presidents pledged in a statement to “meet this critical moment in history with an unprecedented, coordinated voter registration, education and mobilization campaign.” The statement did not mention specific candidates or parties.
The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority PAC, Inc., or AKA 1908 PAC, will be able to accept donations of up to $5,000 from sorority members and their families to support federal campaigns and political parties. Kiahna Davis, AKA’s regional director for the central region, is listed as the PAC’s treasurer. Neither Davis nor the PAC responded to a request for comment.
Harris has long spoken fondly of AKA, whose members he has compared to a “family,” along with the other fraternities and sororities of the Divine Nine.
The vice president’s first public event after becoming the de facto Democratic nominee was an appearance at a national meeting of another Divine Nine sorority, Zeta Phi Beta, and she addressed the Alpha Kappa Alpha, or Boulé, meeting earlier this summer. And a rally she held in Atlanta soon afterward featured participation from only a small sampling of Divine Nine alumnae in political power.
AKA is not the only Greek organization to run a federal fundraising operation. Phi Beta Sigma, a Divine Nine fraternity, operates a political action committee (PAC), and fraternity and sorority leaders founded the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee in 2005 to support candidates “who advocate for and enhance the fraternity and sorority experience.”