TThe mood on Howard University’s campus was calm and sober as people waited for Vice President Kamala Harris’ concession speech on Wednesday afternoon. An area that is usually the central hub of campus life, the Yard, was largely filled with Harris campaign staff, media and members of the public.

Harris appeared about 25 minutes after her scheduled time and opened with a message about unity, building community and coalitions. “My heart is full today,” Harris said. ‘Full of heart for my country and full of determination.

“Hear me when I say that the light of America’s promise will always burn bright. As long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.”

Harris encouraged young people to recognize their power and believe in the impossible. “At this time, it is imperative that people do not become complacent,” she added, “but commit to organizing and mobilizing.” Harris encouraged her supporters to embrace “the light of optimism” and of service.

“Hear me when I say that the light of America’s promise will always burn bright. As long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.”

Harris’ supporters were shocked, saddened and disappointed as they reflected on the harrowing hours since the election was called for Republican candidate Donald Trump. Rather than feeling incentivized to build resistance movements, voters said they needed time to rest and reset before thinking about next steps after the election.

“It revealed to me the heart of us as a nation,” said Janeen Davis, 47, a provincial government employee. “It takes away my pride. As an indigenous person it hits me hard. Our democracy was built on our Indigenous ancestors… and so much has been torn from the Indigenous community, and now that that’s at stake, it’s like there’s nothing left.” Davis said she feared political violence from Trump supporters if his opponents now oppose his presidency. “My personal opinion has to do with the way the transition took place in the last election,” Davis said. “The best we can do now is be quiet.”

Patricia McDougall, a 63-year-old Howard University employee, said she felt sad. She believed that if Harris had won, she would have supported immigrants and helped fight for women’s reproductive rights. “As an immigrant (from Belize), I feel sorry for the people left behind,” McDougall said. “I thought she would move the needle and help people.”

As ambassador to the United Nations, McDougall expressed concern about Trump’s foreign policy going forward, adding that his “mouth is destroying him.

“We’re all on edge to see what he’s going to do and how he’s going to do it.”

Davis also worried that Trump’s presidency could spell disaster for foreign relations. As exit polls showed how divided the electorate is, Davis warned: “A divided nation cannot stand, so it will make us more vulnerable to outside threats.”

Despite her defeat, voters said they were proud of Harris and her campaign team for what they had accomplished in the months since they inherited Joe Biden’s campaign after he dropped out of the race over the summer. Nadia Brown, a professor of political science at Georgetown University and fellow Howard University alumna, had watched the election results pour in from campus on election night. Returning to the scene after Harris’ crushing defeat was sobering, but she was in a place of acceptance and felt no sadness.

For Brown, she said the election results raised “bigger questions around what the Democratic party needs to do to preserve the core voting bloc.” She noted that the concerns of young people and progressives who oppose Israel’s war on Gaza, where more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since October last year, were not taken seriously. Brown also questioned the Democratic party’s strategy, saying, “The base was not strengthened until the switch was made to swing voters, who were the Republicans who were never Trumpers.”

Looking to the future, Brown said the Democratic party needs to rethink its outreach strategy. “Black women in particular have done a great job. “I have no regrets or resentment for the way Black women showed up,” she said. “But now it’s about how (the party) reaches some other people.”

Read more about the Guardian’s 2024 US election coverage