Kamala Harris: The Many Firsts

Guest Post by Kristine Schwartzman

Moments like these don't often come along. But, the election of Kamala Harris as Vice President is full of historic firsts that will forever change the political landscape in the United States.

Vice President-elect Harris will not only be the first woman to serve in that capacity, but also the first Asian American, and first Black Vice President. The significance of her candidacy and election inspired women and girls across the country.
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Five-year-old Andrea Richardson-George watched Kamala Harris, wearing a white Suffragist suit, give her victory speech after the election. According to her mother, Ashley Richardson-George, Andrea ran into her bedroom and came back wearing a white dress and sweater. "So, for her," Ms. Richardson-George said, "she was like, 'I can be president.' So to see that glimmer in her eyes as a parent, it really is powerful to me as her mom." Source: AP News, "Kamala Harris win inspires women and girls nationwide"

It's not just younger women who are inspired. Women of every age, many of whom waited a long time for this moment are moved by Harris's historic win.
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“I never imagined as a child growing up in the ‘50s, that I would see a woman of color as a vice presidential nominee,” 75-year-old New Yorker Judith Komaki explains. “To actually see Kamala, a woman and a person of color, ascend to this position—it opens up a dream that I had never anticipated or aspired to. It just makes my heart sing.” Source: Time Magazine, "The Historic Barriers Kamala Harris Overcame to Become the First Female, First Black and First Asian American Vice-President Elect"

Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, right, takes a picture of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris posing for a photo on Sept. 22, 2020 with Egypt Otis and her nine-year-old daughter Eva Allen in front of their downtown Flint, Mich., bookstore, the Comma Bookstore & Social Hub. For countless women and girls, Harris' achievement of reaching the second highest office in the country represents hope, validation and the shattering of a proverbial glass ceiling that has kept mostly white men perched at the top tiers of American government. “My daughter is going to be a part of history because she had the opportunity to have a conversation with our first Black woman vice president,” said Otis. “It just shows you how important representation is." (AP Photo/Katrease Stafford)

Note from Kristine: Thank you for reading. My latest blog post, "I am Speaking," discusses the significance of Kamala Harris's election and other historic firsts of the new administration.