On November 7, 2020, Kamala Harris has been elected as vice president of the United States — the first woman and woman of color to be elected in American history.
The California senator was born to immigrant parents in Oakland, California on October 20, 1964. Her parents met while studying at the University of California, Berkeley. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, immigrated from India to the U.S. to pursue graduate studies, and her father, Donald Harris, was a British Jamaican-born completing his doctoral studies in economics.
Harris represents the multiculturalism that defines America but is largely absent from Washington’s power centers.
In a tweet after the race was called, the vice president elect states: “This election is about so much more than @JoeBiden or me. It’s about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let’s get started.”
And, she is right.
We must not become complacent, rather we stick together to continue making change and fighting for fundamental rights.
“Protecting our democracy takes struggle. It takes sacrifice. But there is joy in it and there is progress, because we the people have the power to build a better future,” Harris said during her victory speech in Wilmington, Del.
Harris also praised “women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality and liberty and justice for all, including the Black women who are often, too, often overlooked — but so often prove they are the backbone of our democracy.”