Over the weekend, dozens of Santa Clarita Valley residents took to the streets amid rain showers to celebrate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ projected win in the 2020 election.
“I don’t care if it’s cold and rainy, this is a cause for celebration,” Saugus resident Randy Lewis said, as he held a Biden-Harris sign on the corner of Valencia Boulevard and McBean Parkway Sunday. “This is an important moment.”
He and about two dozen others were gathered on the corner at sunset in support of both the projected winner of the election and the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I’m breathing a huge sigh of relief right now,” added Valencia resident Wendy Quinn. “As a Black woman, I can’t tell you how hard the last four years have been, especially the last few months.”
For 30-year-old Quinn, who grew up in the SCV, she’s had mixed feelings of her community’s reactions through both the BLM protests and Trump rallies, but said one thing is for certain: Today she’s proud.
“I’m proud to be standing here a little bit more certain of our future,” she said. “We’re headed in the right direction, and I whole-heartedly hope this helps to fix the division in our nation and in our local community.”
On Saturday morning, the Associated Press, along with several other news agencies, announced Biden is projected to have secured 290 electoral votes to surpass the 270-vote threshold needed to win the election, though President Donald Trump has yet to concede, alleging vote fraud.
In Biden’s first address to the nation, it was Quinn’s sentiment that Biden echoed, calling it “a time to heal in America.”
“I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify, who doesn’t see red states and blue states, only sees the United States,” Biden said. “I’ll work with all of my heart, with the confidence of the whole people, to win the confidence of all of you.”
Ten-year-old Emma Uffe and her mother attended Saturday’s rally, proud to support the first female vice president’s projected win.
“I want to be her someday, so it was fun to cheer her on,” Emma said via phone Sunday as she reflected in her participation in Saturday’s rally.
“Being out there yesterday with my little girl, celebrating for women everywhere, is a memory I will cherish forever,” Emma’s mother Ruby added.
Harris spoke to American children, like Emma, in her speech, saying, “While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.”
