On Friday,  April 17, former Vice President Kamala Harris concluded a tour promoting her recent memoir, “107 Days.” The #1 New York Times Bestseller describes Harris’ perspective of the titular 107 days leading up to the 2024 presidential election.

The finale of the tour, “A Conversation with Kamala Harris,” was held at the Savannah Civic Center in downtown Savannah. The conversation was moderated by renowned chef Mashama Bailey, a partner at the Downtown-local restaurant “The Grey.” The event was attended by Savannah Mayor Van R. Johnson II.

Bailey and Vice President Harris exchanged broad ideas about empathy, social connection, international diplomacy, and, perhaps most relevant to Armstrong students, younger generations and college life.

Harris expressed a belief that the voting age should be lowered to 16 years old. Building on this, she reasoned that today’s young people have “a level of knowledge and awareness of the world that is extraordinary,” due to a technological age of information.

Harris later spoke of the college experience: “It’s a phase of life where you are figuring out your relationship to the world … You are, for the first time, having the ability to make choices about your friendships and your surroundings.”

A heckler interjected at this time, to which an impatient crowd member yelled, “Boy, shut up!” to the audience’s amusement.

Harris recollected and finished her thought, “[students] learn how to be a responsible member of society, and a civic participant.” She then gave an anecdote about her own freshman orientation in college, where students were given toiletry bags to help establish positive choice-making patterns for their livelihoods.

The conversation reached an end with pre-submitted questions from the audience. Harris answered prompts about life experience, reaching out to voters of opposing political spectrums, and more. 

The former Vice President departed, calling Georgia to action in a fight for the “ideals of our country.”