JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
If Vice President Harris is going to win in November, she needs high turnout from Black voters in key states. Yesterday, she was in the Atlanta area and attended services at two Black churches as part of a time-honored tradition known as souls to the polls. NPR's senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith has this postcard.
JAMAL BRYANT: Get on your feet.
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: At New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, Pastor Jamal Bryant and thousands of worshippers gave Vice President Harris a rock star welcome.
BRYANT: Would you scream for Vice President Kamala Harris?
KEITH: Politics and religion have long been entwined at Black churches, and for Democratic politicians, going to swing state churches on Sundays in October is a must.
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Good morning, church. Good morning, New Birth. Good morning.
KEITH: Harris held back on her increasingly sharp criticism of former President Trump, not even saying his name.
HARRIS: Question - what kind of country do we want to live in - a country of chaos, fear and hate, or a country of freedom, compassion and justice?
(APPLAUSE)
HARRIS: And the great thing about living in a democracy is that we, the people, have the power to answer that question.
KEITH: Pastor Bryant didn't hold back.
BRYANT: If God has anointed us to flip the state once, we can do it again because if God be for us, who can be against, us? This is an idea that cannot be stopped.
KEITH: Georgia was thought to be a solidly red state until it went for President Biden four years ago. Harris' hopes for a repeat at least partially rest with the people filling these pews. Jonesboro, Georgia, was Harris' second stop. At Divine Faith Ministries International, there was a very special guest.
STEVIE WONDER: (Singing) Oh, (inaudible). Yes, they rob I - took us to the merchant ship.
KEITH: None other than Stevie Wonder serenaded worshippers, adding his own lyrics to Bob Marley's "Redemption Song."
WONDER: (Singing) We need a landslide to unite the world and this nation. So I want all y'all to handle your business.
(LAUGHTER)
WONDER: I love you. God bless you.
KEITH: And by handle your business, he meant get out and vote. In her pitch at the Jonesboro Church, Harris took aim at apathy.
HARRIS: We have to remind people the power they have in spite of those that would try to diminish and make people feel powerless, in spite of those who would try and suggest that, oh, if you vote, nothing will happen. For sure...
KEITH: As Harris finished, Wonder stood up and belted out a bar from his hit "Higher Ground."
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing) Keep on learnin (ph).
HARRIS: Keep on voting.
KEITH: Harris suggested a new lyric as the whole room broke into song.
HARRIS: I'm not going to sing it here (laughter).
KEITH: Tamara Keith, NPR News, Jonesboro, Georgia. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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