Former Vice President Kamala Harris on her book tour in Jackson, with moderator Rita Brent (Photo from Rita Brent on Facebook)
- Kamala Harris spoke Wednesday night at the renovated Thalia Mara Hall. Jackson Mayor John Horhn also presented her with a key to the city.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris (D) made a stop in Jackson Wednesday night promoting her book, 107 Days, about the highs and lows of her 2024 presidential campaign.
Walking on stage at the renovated Thalia Mara Hall, Harris was greeted with roaring applause from the several hundred people in attendance. Harris told the audience early in the question-and-answer forum that it was “very important” to her to include a stop in Jackson during the book tour.
“America’s history was made in Jackson,” she said.
Before the forum began, Jackson Mayor John Horhn (D) presented Harris with a key to the city along with a proclamation declaring January 14, 2026, Kamala Harris Day in the Mississippi Capital City.
Looking at the proclamation, Harris said, it was a “great way to start.”
Over the next hour, Harris and moderator Rita Brent discussed her 107-day run for President in 2024, from the campaign’s impact on her personally to the importance of youth voting and the temperature of the current political mood in the U.S.
Harris, speaking on combatting misinformation in politics, said voters need to question sources and think critically. Harris told the audience, “There are people who benefit from trying to divide us as Americans.”
She said voters look at politics as “transactional.” Harris told the crowd that voters are saying to candidates, “You got to earn my vote,” and after elected officials “earn” that vote, voters want to see tangible results.
Harris, who was the first black, Asian American and female to serve as Vice President, said the hardest chapter to write in her book was on losing the 2024 election to President Donald Trump. She said she mourned for the country.
“When I got the results, I had no words but to say over and over again, ‘My God. My God. My God,’” she said. “I knew what it meant for the people of this county.”
Mississippi voters resoundingly chose Trump over Harris in November 2024, with Trump winning nearly 61% of the vote. Harris came in second at 38%.
From start to finish, audience members were engaged in the conversation as Harris spoke. For many in attendance, Harris represented future possibilities for their own lives. A sixth grader from Jackson, just elected class president, asked Harris, what does it take to make a good leader.
“When you choose to step up and put yourself out there, to lead, there are going to be so many people who encourage that,” the former Vice President said smiling. “One of the things I think we could all ask each other much more often than we do — ‘How are you doing?’”
She said good leaders then listen to the response.
Before wrapping up the event, Harris left the audience with a piece of advice. Even when politics seem to be at its lowest levels, people should not quit.
“It doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. And it doesn’t mean the fight doesn’t take a while. But we cannot give up,” she said.
Her book has spent 15 straight weeks on the New York Times Bestsellers list, with more than 600,000 copies sold, her publishing company, Simon & Schuster noted.
After her stop in Jackson, Harris headed to Memphis where she will speak as her book tour continues.
