Source: Politics<\/p>\n
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 venture by a sorority rallying around the chance to send one of its own to the White House.<\/p>\n
AKA is part of a collective of the country\u2019s oldest and most prestigious sororities and fraternities known as the \u201cDivine Nine,\u201d whose network of more than 2 million alumni represents a massive political force among a constituency that both parties are hoping to mobilize ahead of November\u2019s election.<\/p>\n
When Harris was announced as Joe Biden\u2019s running mate back in 2020, their campaign was flooded with thousands of donations of $19.08<\/a> \u2014 a reference to the year of Alpha Kappa Alpha\u2019s founding.<\/p>\n In office, Harris hosted a visit of the Divine Nine leaders at the White House, the first time they had all been invited there to meet with a president or vice president, POLITICO reported in 2021<\/a>. Leaders of the Divine Nine have visited the White House or met with Biden or Harris routinely since then \u2014 including as recently as May<\/a>, as Biden sought to shore up his support among Black voters.<\/p>\n Last month, after Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris, every Divine Nine president pledged in a statement to \u201cmeet this critical moment in history with an unprecedented voter registration, education and mobilization coordinated campaign.\u201d The statement did not mention specific candidates or parties.<\/p>\n The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority PAC, Inc., or AKA 1908 PAC, will be able to accept donations of up to $5,000 from members of the sorority and their families to support federal campaigns and political parties. Kiahna Davis, a regional director at AKA for the Central region, is listed as the PAC\u2019s treasurer. Neither Davis nor the PAC responded to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Harris has long spoken fondly of AKA \u2014 whose members she has likened to \u201cfamily\u201d<\/a> \u2014 along with the other Divine Nine sororities and fraternities.<\/p>\n The vice president\u2019s first public event after becoming the de facto Democratic nominee was an appearance at a national gathering for another Divine Nine sorority, Zeta Phi Beta, and she addressed Alpha Kappa Alpha\u2019s gathering, or Boul\u00e9, earlier this summer. And a rally she held in Atlanta shortly afterward featured just a small sampling of Divine Nine alumni<\/a> in political power.<\/p>\n AKA isn\u2019t the only Greek organization with a federal fundraising operation. Phi Beta Sigma, a Divine Nine fraternity, operates a PAC, and fraternity and sorority leaders founded the Fraternity & Sorority Political Action Committee in 2005 to support candidates \u201cwho defend and enhance the fraternity and sorority experience.\u201d<\/p>\n