Editor's note: The text of the speech below is as prepared. Her actual delivery may have varied.
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Hello Chicago!
Something wonderfully magical is in the air, isnāt it?
Not just here in this arenaā¦ but spreading all across this country we loveā¦ a familiar feeling thatās been buried too deep for too long.
You know what Iām talking about?
Itās the contagious power of hope!
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The anticipationā¦ the energyā¦ the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a brighter day.
The chance to vanquish the demons of fear, division, and hate that have consumed usā¦ and continue pursuing the unfinished promise of this great nationāthe dream that our parents and grandparents fought and died and sacrificed for.
America, hope is making a comeback!
To be honest, Iām realizing that until recently, I have mournedthe dimming of that hope.
Maybe youāve experienced the same feelingsā¦ a deep pit in my stomachā¦ a palpable sense of dread about the future.
And for me, that mourning has been mixed with my own personal grief.
The last time I was in Chicago was to memorialize my motherāthe woman who showed me the meaning of hard work, humility, and decencyā¦ who set my moral compass high and showed me the power of my voice.
I still feel her loss so profoundlyā¦ I wasnāt even sure Iād be steady enough to stand before you tonight.
But my heart compelled me to be here because of the sense of duty I feel to honor her memoryā¦ and to remind us all not to squander the sacrifices our elders made to give us a better future.
You see, my mom, in her steady, quiet way, lived out that striving sense of hope every day of her life.
She believed that all children āall people ā have valueā¦ that anyone can succeed if given the opportunity.
She and my father didnāt aspire to be wealthyā¦ in fact, they were suspicious of those who took more than they needed.
They understood that it wasnāt enough for their kids to thrive if everyone else around us was drowning.
So my mother volunteered at the local schoolā¦ she always looked out for the other kids on our block.
She was glad to do the thankless, unglamorous work that for generations, has strengthened the fabric of this nation.
The belief that if you do unto othersā¦ if you love thy neighborā¦ if you work and scrape and sacrifice, it will pay offāif not for you, then maybe for your children or your grandchildrenā¦ those values have been passed on through family farms and factory townsā¦ through tree-lined suburbs and crowded tenementsā¦ through prayer groups and National Guard units and social studies classrooms.
Those were the values my mother poured into me until her very last breath.
Kamala Harris and I built our lives on those same foundational values.
Even though our mothers grew up an ocean apart, they shared the same belief in the promise of this country.
Thatās why her mother moved here from India at 19.
Itās why she taught Kamala about justiceā¦ about our obligation to lift others upā¦ about our responsibility to give more than we take.
Sheād often tell her daughter, āDonāt sit around and complain about thingsādo something!ā
So with that voice in her head, Kamala went out and worked hard in school, graduating from an HBCUā¦earning her law degree at a state schoolā¦ and then she went on to work for the people.
Fighting to hold lawbreakers accountable and strengthen the rule of lawā¦ fighting to get folks better wagesā¦ cheaper prescription drugsā¦ a good educationā¦ decent health care, childcare, and elder care.
From a middle-class household, she worked her way up to become Vice President of the United States of America.
Kamala Harris is more than ready for this moment.
She is one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the presidencyā¦ and she is one of the most dignifiedāa tribute to her mother, to my mother, and probably to your mother tooā¦ the embodiment of the stories we tell ourselves about this country.
Her story is your storyā¦ itās my storyā¦ itās the story of the vast majority of Americans trying to build a better life.
Kamala knows, like we do, that regardless of where you come from, what you look like, who you love, how you worship, or whatās in your bank accountā¦ we all deserve the opportunity to build a decent lifeā¦ all of our contributions deserve to be accepted and valued.
Because no one has a monopoly on what it means to be an Americanā¦ no one!
Kamala has shown her allegiance to this nation, not by spewing anger and bitterness, but by living a life of service and always pushing the doors of opportunity open for others.
She understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forwardā¦ we will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth.
If we bankrupt a businessā¦ or choke in a crisis, we donāt get a second, third, or fourth chance.
If things donāt go our way, we donāt have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further aheadā¦ we donāt get to change the rules so we always win.
If we see a mountain in front of us, we donāt expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top.
No, we put our heads down. We get to work. In America, wedosomething.
And throughout her entire life, thatās exactly what weāve seen from Kamala Harris: thesteel of her spineā¦ the steadiness of her upbringingā¦ the honesty of her exampleā¦ and yes, the joy of her laughter and her light.
It couldnāt be more obviousā¦ of the two major candidates in this race, only Kamala Harris truly understands the unseen labor and unwavering commitment that has always made America great.
Unfortunately, we know what comes nextā¦ we know folks are going to do everything they can to distort her truth.
My husband and I, sadly, know a little something about this.
For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us.
His limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who also happened to be Black.
Whoās going to tell him that the job heās currently seeking might just be one of those āBlack jobsā?
Itās his same old con: doubling down on ugly, misogynistic, racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make peopleās lives better.
You see, gutting our health careā¦ taking away our freedom to control our bodiesā¦ the freedom to become a mother through IVF, like I didāthose things are not going to improve the health outcomes of our wives, mothers, and daughters.
Shutting down the Department of Educationā¦ banning our booksānone of that will prepare our kids for the future.
Demonizing our children for being who they are and loving who they loveāthat doesnāt make anybodyās life better.
Instead, it only makes us small.
And let me tell youā¦ going small is never the answer.
Going small is the opposite of what we teach our children.
Going small is pettyā¦ itās unhealthyā¦ and quite frankly, itās unpresidential.
Why would we accept this from anyone seeking our highest office?
Why would we normalize this type of backward leadership?
Doing so only demeans and cheapens our politicsā¦ it only serves to further discourage good, big-hearted people from wanting to get involved at all.
America, our parents taught us better than thatā¦ and we deserve so much better than that.
Thatās why we must do everything in our power to elect two of those good, big-hearted peopleā¦ there is no other choice than Kamala Harris and Tim Walz!
But as we embrace this renewed sense of hope, let us not forget the despair we have feltā¦let us not forget what we are up against.
Yes, Kamala and Tim are doing great right nowā¦ theyāre packing arenas across the countryā¦ folks are energizedā¦ weāre feeling good.
But there are still so many people who are desperate for a different outcomeā¦ who are ready to question and criticize every move Kamala makesā¦ who are eager to spread those liesā¦ who donāt want to vote for a womanā¦ who will continue to prioritize building their wealth over ensuring everyone has enough.
No matter how good we feel tonight or tomorrow or the next day, this is still going to be an uphill battleā¦ so we cannot be our own worst enemies.
No, the minute something goes wrongā¦ the minute a lie takes hold, we cannot start wringing our hands.
We cannot get a Goldilocks complex about whether everything is just right.
We cannot indulge our anxieties about whether this country will elect someone like Kamala instead of doing everything we can to get someone like Kamala elected.
Kamala and Tim have lived amazing livesā¦ I am confident they will lead with compassion, inclusion, and grace.
But they are still only human. They are not perfect. And like all of us, they will make mistakes.
But luckily, this is not just on them.
No, this is up to usāall of usāto be the solution we seekā¦ it is up to all of us to be the antidote to all the darkness and division.
I donāt care how you identify politicallyā¦ whether youāre a Democrat, Republican, independent, or none of the aboveā¦ this is our time to stand up for what we know in our hearts is right.
To stand up not just for our basic freedoms but for decency and humanityā¦ for basic respect, dignity, and empathyā¦ for the values at the very foundation of this democracy.
Itās up to us to remember what Kamalaās mother told her: Donāt just sit around and complain ā do something!
So if they lie about her, and they will, weāve got to do something!
If we see a bad poll, and we will, weāve got to put down that phone and do something!
If we start feeling tiredā¦ if we start feeling that dread creeping back inā¦ weāve got to pick ourselves up, throw water on our faces, and do something!
We have only two and a half months to get this doneā¦ only 11 weeks to make sure every single person we know is registered and has a voting plan.
So we cannot afford for anyone to sit on their hands and wait to be called uponā¦ donāt complain if no one from the campaign has specifically reached out to ask for your supportā¦ there is simply no time for that kind of foolishness.
You know what we need to do.
So consider this to be your official ask: Michelle Obama is asking you to do something!
Because this is going to be close.
In some states, just a handful of votes in every precinct could decide the winner.
So we need to vote in numbers that erase any doubtā¦ we need to overwhelm any effort to suppress us.
Our fate is in our hands.
In 77 days, we have the power to turn our country away from the fear, division, and smallness of the past.
We have the power to marry our hope with our action.
We have the power to pay forward the love, sweat, and sacrifice of our mothers and fathers and all those who came before us.
We did it before and we sure can do it again.
Let us work like our lives depend on itā¦
Let us keep moving our country forward and go higher ā yes, higher ā than weāve ever gone beforeā¦
As we elect the next President and Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz!
