THE BIG STORY

Kamala Harris’s speech made clear how important her identity is going to be for the rest of the campaign

Sen. Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president at the Democratic National Convention in a speech that blended a vision of the American ideal with specifics of Harris’s own life.

She introduced herself to millions of Americans with a simple phrase: “The daughter of immigrants. The daughter of Shyamala.”

In her political career, those personal pieces have sometimes taken a back seat, or been overlooked. Harris is the first Black and South Asian woman to appear on a major party’s presidential ticket. Yesterday’s speech left little doubt about the importance that her identity will hold this election.

She’s a banner carrier for a party whose base is made up of people of color — in a country mired in a reckoning over racial justice, during a pandemic that has disproportionately affected Black and brown Americans.

Read Molly Hensley-Clancy on the significance of Harris’s speech.

Also from the convention:

👉 Barack Obama’s convention speech was more an attack on Donald Trump than a case for Joe Biden, while Hillary Clinton asked voters not to give up on America.

👉 An 11-year-old girl whose mom was deported in 2018 delivered a powerful message.

👉 DeAndra Dycus, a mom whose son was shot in the head, spoke against gun violence.

👉 Former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was shot and almost killed during a 2011 mass shooting, delivered a moving speech about resilience.

👉 Jennifer Hudson did that thing with her voice that only Jennifer Hudson can do, and here’s the video.

Olivier Douliery / Getty Images

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is in serious condition after apparently being poisoned

Navalny, a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is in serious condition after being poisoned, according to his press secretary Kira Yarmysh.

The 44-year-old Russian opposition leader and perennial Kremlin foe fell ill on a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk to Moscow, Yarmysh said.

Russia’s TASS news agency reported that the Omsk Emergency Hospital had confirmed Navalny’s admission and that his condition was serious.

Navalny, a lawyer and prominent anti-corruption campaigner, has been a thorn in the side of Putin and the face of the Russian opposition for a decade.

SNAPSHOTS

Donald Trump just praised QAnon, which the FBI has called a domestic terror threat. Trump crossed a line even he hasn’t approached before, praising the sprawling and baseless QAnon conspiracy theory. “I don’t know much about the movement,” he said, “other than I understand that they like me very much, which I appreciate.

A Trump ethics board just voted to block most fetal tissue research. According to a new report, a Trump administration fetal tissue ethics panel voted to scrap 13 of 14 National Institutes of Health medical research proposals already approved for federal funding by scientists.

Solidcore employees say their CEO created a toxic culture, and are calling for her to step down. A group of coaches at the boutique fitness company launched a petition calling for Anne Mahlum to resign or be removed by the company's board after allegations of verbal abuse and sexual harassment.

STRONGER THAN YESTERDAY

Britney Spears is fighting against her dad having control over her life and career. The ACLU wants to help.

First, a bit of background: Jamie Spears was appointed the conservator of his daughter Britney Spears in 2008 following her public breakdowns, giving him control over her personal life, career choices, and finances.

On Tuesday, Britney asked a California court to remove her father as sole conservator of person, and instead have Jodi Montgomery serve permanently in that role. Montgomery was appointed Britney's conservator of person temporarily late last year, after Jamie Spears stepped away due to health issues.

Britney has been offered help with her case from an unexpected source: the American Civil Liberties Union.

“People with disabilities have a right to lead self-directed lives and retain their civil rights,” the ACLU tweeted. “If Britney Spears wants to regain her civil liberties and get out of her conservatorship, we are here to help her.”

WOKE ABOUT POSTAGE

It started as a joke but Gen Z is trying to sexualize the USPS to save the agency from being defunded

Members of Generation Z are so passionate about saving the US Postal Service that they're turning a joke about sexualizing the agency to save it from potential defunding into serious activism.

TikTok user Siete White went viral for twerking on a mailbox to “WAP” in a sexy mail carrier outfit — a sentence that would make absolutely no sense just five years ago. Nonetheless, here we are.

White told us the bag she purchased from the official USPS website for the joke sold out within a day of her video coming out.

Spend a few minutes getting in touch with your priorities today,

Elamin