In the euphoria after the announcement that President Trump was defeated in his campaign for reelection, and the defense of our most basic democratic rights in attempting to assure republicans that the election was a fair one, I fear that we may be overlooking one of the most momentous occasions in United States history.
We elected the first woman Vice President, baby!
It’s taken far too long, and the road here was certainly a bumpy one, and yes there’s still work to do. But we have made a huge step in the fight for gender equality. So let’s all take a breath and celebrate something good, the amazing Vice President Elect Harris.
She’ll become the first vice president who is a woman, a woman of color, and a Californian Democrat. Breaking down barriers is something Vice President Elect Harris is very familiar with, she boasts a storied history of firsts. She served as San Francisco’s first Black district attorney, then California’s first Black and first female attorney general. When she served as a senator for California, she was the second African-American woman and first South Asian-American senator in history.
Kamala Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. She credits her passionate pursuit of social justice to her mother, an immigrant, activist, and a breast cancer researcher who died in 2009.
She attended Howard University, a historically black college, and received her law degree from the University of California, Hastings. She then worked as a prosecutor in domestic violence and child exploitation.
And looking at her record, it’s not surprising that Kamala Harris has come as far as she has. She is a strong and determined politician who has worked tirelessly to defend the most vulnerable populations. Her impressive accomplishments demonstrate her devotion to issues like climate change, healthcare for all, marriage equality, criminal justice reform, and raising the minimum wage, to name a few.
It’s been a tumultuous couple of years, so it feels like freedom to finally be celebrating progress. After a presidential term rife with racism, xenophobia, and violent sexism, Kamala Harris’s election is exciting for women and people of color everywhere. Because, as Vice President Elect Harris put it in her acceptance speech, “While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last. Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.”