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Kamala Harris speaks during a television interview after the second night of the first Democratic presidential debate on June 27, 2019 in Miami, Florida. A field of 20 Democratic presidential candidates was divided into two groups of 10 for the first debate of the 2020 election, which will take place over two nights in the Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami-Dade County, hosted by NBC. News, MSNBC and Telemundo. Photo by Cliff Hawkins / Getty Images
- Born to an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, Kamala has changed the course of history and opened the door to other women.
- It is common knowledge that women who look like Kamala are often undervalued and marginalized.
- So when one manages to break through the barriers to become the right hand man to the president of one of the most powerful nations in the world, a standing ovation seems not to be enough of a gesture to express the emotion of the women across the border.
“We did it. We did it, Joe.” – Kamala’s phone call with Joe Biden started trending on social media when it was confirmed that the Democrats had won the US election. With her characteristic laugh, Kamala congratulated her running mate and president-elect of the United States. And, in fact, they did. She did, for all the black women who were ever led to believe they weren’t enough.
Kamala is black, and hers was not a life on a silver platter, despite having well-educated parents. As most blacks can attest, no level of success or education protects you from the harsh realities of blackness.
It is reported that in their childhood, after their parents’ divorce, when the vice president-elect and her sister visited their father, other children in the neighborhood were not allowed to play with them because they were black.
Despite this, she graduated with a BA in political science and economics from Howard University, as well as a law degree from Hastings College and became a lawyer.
Kamala Harris and Joe Biden arrive to deliver remarks at Alexis Dupont High School on August 12, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. Photo by Drew Angerer / Getty Images
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Kamala has had many firsts before becoming vice president-elect of the US, such as becoming the first woman and the first African-American to serve as California attorney general. She was also the second black woman elected as a United States senator.
Kamala has had setbacks in the race for elections, such as when he sought the Democratic presidential nomination for these last elections, only to withdraw when his camp began to lose momentum.
After being named a running mate of Joe Biden, her campaign was not filled with rose petals, as she endured sexist and racist comments from many naysayers, including Donald Trump, who called her “this monster” on at least two occasions, and insisted that it is “totally disgusting.”
The New York Times reports that there was even a member of Trump’s campaign advisory council who called her an “insufferable lying bitch.”
.@Joe Biden knows that it doesn’t matter where we come from or where we live, it doesn’t matter our race or gender, origin or faith; it doesn’t matter how we identify ourselves or who we love; no matter what language your grandmother speaks, what we have in common is much stronger than what divides us.
– Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) November 3, 2020
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Her legitimacy as Joe Biden’s running mate was also marred by controversy with some questioning whether she was black or born in the US, and her name was mispronounced by numerous prominent people. However, he stayed in the race and won. As much as one might want to say the race was fair, it wasn’t, it had much more extraordinary odds against Kamala.
However, as he said in a tweet, “this choice is so much more than Joe Biden or me.” It is a moment in history that will help change the stereotypes and narratives that little girls will find about themselves as they grow up in a world that now understands that women can be leaders of powerful nations.
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This American choice is one that is boldly spoken: Women don’t just deserve a seat at the table; they have earned it.
And none of that is an overnight success. It took decades of past generations lending their voices and lives to change the narrative. During her acceptance speech to the Democratic National Convention in August, Kamala attested to this.
She spoke of how the influence of those who had dedicated their lives to ensuring equality had affected her life, saying, “That I am here tonight is a testament to the dedication of generations before me. Women and men who believed so fiercely in the promise of equality, freedom and justice for all “.
And, depending on the fate, future women leaders will echo her words referring to her.
This victory is much more than a foot in the White House for a black woman, it is the door (and windows) of the White House, and any other house that matters, wide open for black women to enter.
SOURCES: Britannica, The Washington Post, CNN, The New York Times
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