In the face of a homecoming that seems so inevitable, it might be difficult to remember the utter improbability of Harris’s campaign for the presidency, which was launched, unexpectedly, just three months earlier, from the vice president’s dining room tablewith hope and many prayers. In the final analysis, the campaign broke fundraising records and, according to some accountsvoter registration. But his greatest victory may have been in tone and tenor: the confidence and sense of stability with which he began and tried to continue, the optimistic effect he managed to evoke in a terrible and quite unstable year.

“The reason why people came out is to show that we can celebrate with joy and not with fear,” said Angélica Meléndez, another member of the brotherhood. “In 2020 we had the pandemic, so many of us couldn’t be together on election night. “Today I felt it was very important to get out of the house and be in a community.” Trinity Nevette, who graduated from Howard last year, described the reunion as “a moment for every black girl.”