Alpha Kappa Alpha, the historically black sorority that counts Vice President Kamala Harris among its most famous alumnae, has formed a political action committee, an unusual move for a sorority to band together for the chance to send one of its students to the White House.
AKA is part of the oldest and most prestigious sorority and fraternity in the United States, known as the “Divine Nine.” The organization’s network of more than 2 million alumni represents a formidable political force among voters that both parties are looking to mobilize ahead of the November elections.
When Harris was announced as Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020, their campaign received thousands of donations totaling $19.08, the same year Alpha Kappa Alpha was founded.
POLITICO reported that Harris visited the Divine Nine leaders at the White House in 2021 while in office, the first time any of them had been invited to meet with a president or vice president. The Divine Nine leaders have visited the White House or met with Biden or Harris regularly since then, most recently in May when Biden was trying to expand his support among Black voters.
Last month, after Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris, all Divine Nine presidents pledged in a statement that they would “meet this pivotal moment in history with a coordinated campaign to register, educate, and mobilize voters like never before.” The statement did not mention any specific candidate or party.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority PAC, Inc., or AKA 1908 PAC, can accept contributions of up to $5,000 from sorority members and their families to support federal campaigns and political parties. Kiahna Davis, AKA Central Region Regional Director, is listed as the PAC’s treasurer. Neither Davis nor the PAC responded to requests for comment.
Harris has long referred to AKA members as a “family,” and has spoken fondly of other Divine Nine sororities and fraternities as well.
The vice president’s first official appearance as the de facto Democratic nominee was at the national convention of Zeta Phi Beta, another Divine Nine sorority; she spoke at Boulé, Alpha Kappa Alpha’s fraternity, earlier this summer. And at a convention she held in Atlanta shortly thereafter, she introduced only a select few of the Divine Nine alumni who have political power.
AKA isn’t the only Greek organization that raises money for the feds. Phi Beta Sigma, a Divine Nine fraternity, runs a PAC, and fraternity and sorority leaders formed the Fraternity & Sorority Political Action Committee in 2005 to support candidates who “defend and enhance the fraternity and sorority experience.”
