Beyoncé returned to her hometown of Houston over the weekend to appear at a campaign rally for Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, telling the crowd “I’m here as a mother.”
The 43-year-old mother of three said she was endorsing Harris and supporting her presidential campaign not as a celebrity or a politician, but as a parent who “cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided.”
“Imagine our daughters growing up seeing what’s possible with no ceilings, no limitations,” she continued. “Imagine our grandmothers, those who have lived to see this historic day. Even those who are no longer physically with us. Imagine all of their sacrifice. The sacrifices made so we can witness the strength of a woman. Stand in her power. Reimagine what leadership is.”
“We must vote, and we need you. It’s time to sing a new song. A song that began 248 years ago.”
Beyoncé took to the stage alongside her Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland. She introduced themselves as “proud, country Texan women,” before praising Harris as “a woman who has been pushing for what [America] really needs right now — unity.”
“We are at the precipice of an incredible shift, the brink of history.”
She also explained the importance of the state of Texas in the upcoming election, saying that it “plays a pivotal role to change the course” of the country’s future.
Harris began using Beyoncé’s track Freedom as her campaign anthem in July during her first official public appearance as a presidential candidate in Delaware. The song features Kendrick Lamar and samples John and Alan Lomax field recordings of Jim Crow-era folk spirituals of Southern Black churches and work songs of Black prisoners from the 40s and 50s.
In July, Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles publicly endorsed Harris for president.
In 2016, Beyoncé was one of several celebrities who supported Hillary Clinton in her campaign to become the first female president of the US. In January 2013, she performed the national anthem at President Barrack Obama’s Presidential Inauguration.