Beyoncé Frenzy at Kamala Harris’ DNC Conference Reaches Climax

CHICAGO, Ill. — Nearly everyone at the Democratic National Convention is eagerly awaiting the thrill of a Beyoncé bombshell, especially Kamala Harris’ college sorority sisters, who are getting VIP treatment at the historic event.

“We love Kamala and are here for HER,” Cynthia Cramer Osaghae told The Daily Beast in a text message, emphasizing her as the woman they consider to be the star of the show. But in reality, they would all like to see Queen Bey as well.

The entire convention is abuzz with rumors and high hopes that the global megastar will make a spectacular appearance Thursday night when Harris accepts her party’s nomination to be the first black woman president. And if it’s in the books, it’s the most confidential information, especially since the Chicks are scheduled to sing the national anthem for Thursday night’s kickoff and Pink has already been announced as the closing night performer.

Even DNC convention chair Minyon Moore acknowledged she was in the dark along with everyone else: “I think everything could be a surprise, even to us sometimes,” Moore told MSBNC earlier this week when asked about the rumors.

White House policy director Emmy Ruiz added to the hype Thursday when she tweeted a bee emoji, a symbol long used by Beyoncé fans online.

A senior DNC source told The Daily Beast that the only DNC official who would know for sure whether a global superstar like Beyoncé would attend Kamalapalooza would be Ricky Kirshner, the award-winning producer of the live television event who is orchestrating the entire production in Chicago.

And whether Taylor Swift, who has time off until her next Eras tour concert on Oct. 18 in Miami, should fulfill the Democrats’ wildest dreams, again, only Kirshner would know. A DNC official familiar with the event’s planning and who spoke on condition of anonymity (because he would risk his life to speak freely about the forum’s most sensitive topic) said he could “neither confirm nor deny” whether Beyoncé would grace the convention with her presence Thursday night. Questions about the Swift rumors weren’t even addressed.

Duane Cramer

“If Beyoncé, the Queen Bee, performs on Friday, it will be a fitting gift, a gift from one queen to another,” said Cramer Osaghae, a former classmate of Harris. “But a democratic gift.”

Osaghae, a sales professional who lives in Washington, D.C., graduated from Howard University with Harris in 1986. At her mother’s house in Chicago, her sister, Imelda Cramer Brown, hosted more than two dozen former classmates who were members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority with Harris this week. Brown was Harris’ “senior pledge” at Howard.

Guests included Valarie Pippen, Monique Poydras, Carla Stern Manning, Joelle Bowers Oxley and Paulette Murphy, who was the “dean of song and dance” during her lineage the year she was initiated. A current AKA member and Howard University journalism student joined the graduates to interview them about their connections to Harris.

Cynthia Cramer

Moore, the convention chairwoman who is also an AKA alumna, said there will be a special section set aside inside the convention arena for the so-called “divine nine” — historically African-American sororities and fraternities — “because they’ve been a part of its history, a part of its journey, so you’ll see all the colors of all the sororities and fraternities coming together.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Black women mobilized almost immediately for Harris’ presidential bid after Joe Biden bowed to intense pressure and withdrew on July 21. They contributed to record fundraising, massive crowds and star power.

Beyoncé celebrated by endorsing Harris and using her 2016 hit “Freedom” as Harris’ official campaign song. Donald Trump then raised the prospect of legal wrath when his campaign brazenly stole the song for a social media video.

The chant of “Freedom” echoed through the United Center Monday as Harris took the stage. And many Democrats at the convention made it clear they were hoping to see Beyoncé by donning colorful cowboy hats and “Cowboy Kamala” scarves, a nod to the country-influenced superstar’s latest album. Carter the cowboy.

Even the most slovenly US senators have raised the possibility.

“Words cannot express how proud we are of her accomplishments,” Cramer Osaghae said of her friend and sorority sister who she will watch make history Thursday.