TheGrio’s “Running Black” election series profiles Black candidates running for office in the 2024 elections. If successful, each candidate profiled could make history in their state. Hear from them in their own words about what’s at stake in their races, for the country, and for Black and brown communities on the political margin.
Award-winning actor and advocate Hill Harper is running for the United States Senate in the purple state of Michigan. The 57-year-old Democratic Senate candidate and single father hopes to replace retiring U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., in November. That is, if he can survive the Democratic primary on Aug. 6.
Harper, best known for his roles in “CSI: NY” and “Good Doctor,” wants to hang up his acting hat to embark on what he hopes will be a new calling in public service. After over 30 years in the television and film industry, Harper has drawn much from acting that he believes prepared him for a political career.
”I’m proud to be an actor because the one thing acting gives you is the ability to walk in someone else’s shoes,” he told theGrio. “It gives you empathy … you don’t judge a character you play. You try to understand them.”
Harper, the son of doctors — an anesthesiologist and psychiatrist — said his political activism dates back to his days as an undergraduate student at Brown University when he and others protested and advocated for divestment from South Africa over its apartheid laws. Reflecting on the state of the country and the world today, he said, “This is a matter of life and death.”
“Good common sense people have to start running for office, and unless we do, we’re giving away our democracy,” he told theGrio. “We’re seeing people literally die because of the decisions that are being made, or the lack of decisions that are being made.”
As he embarks on his new role as Senate candidate in a state he believes is a “microcosm of the…
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