History has been made in the 2020 American President Elections as Kamala Harris is voted in as the first female Vice President.
Harris will also be the first Asian-American and African American to take office as Vice President coming from Jamaican and Indian decent.
She is set to begin her duties on January 20th, 2021 alongside newly elected President of America Joe Biden after defeating the Republican party.
In her victory speech Kamala Harris says, “What a testament it is to Joe’s character that he had the audacity to break one of the most substantial barriers that exists in our country and select a woman as his vice president”.
Credit: Gage Skidmore
Born in California Harris studied law in Howard University, a historically black college and began her political career as elected District Attorney of Sans Franscico in 2003 where she then was elected as Attorney General for California.
Harris served as Junior Senator for California and defeated Loretta Sanchez in the 2016 senate elections, becoming the second African American woman and the first South Asian American woman to serve in the United States senate.
In her victory speech she mentions her mother Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who was a biomedical scientist in America. She travelled from India at the age of 19 in seek of a better life in America, and who believed in America, where a moment like that would be possible.
“I’m thinking about her and about the generations of women — Black Women”.
As senator Kamala Harris wanted to create a path for citizenship for the undocumented immigrants. She has been working on the DREAM Act which hopes to grant temporary residential conditions with the right to work. The bill is yet to still pass with the United States Congress.
She also references the women who were responsible for her being in the role she finds herself in now. “Asian, White, Latina, and Native American women throughout our nation’s history who have paved the way for this moment tonight”, Harris says.
Harris gained a national profile after questioning the Trump administration officials during Senate hearings, one of which was Trump’s second Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh who was accused of sexual assault.
Credit: Kamala Harris
“Women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality, liberty, and justice for all, including the Black women, who are too often overlooked, but so often prove that they are the backbone of our democracy”, Harris says.
She ran for the 2020 Presidential Elections and ended her campaign December 2019. She was then announced as Biden’s running partner back in April 2020 with Harris saying, “she would be honoured”.
The 2020 American elections broke records in the number of people who turned out to vote in 120 years. Many high-profile artists used their status to influence potential voters such as American singer song writer Billie Eilish. In a video message she says, “You don’t need me to tell you things are a mess – Donald Trump is destroying our country and everything in it”.
Kamala Harris says, “All the women who worked to secure and protect the right to vote for over a century: 100 years ago with the 19th Amendment, 55 years ago with the Voting Rights Act, and now, in 2020, with a new generation of women in our country who cast their ballots and continued the fight for their fundamental right to vote and be heard”.
In 2005, The National Black Prosecutors Association awarded Harris the Thurgood Marshall Award. Following this she featured alongside 19 other women in a Newsweek report acknowledging 20 of America’s most powerful women.
The New York Times also acknowledged her work and published an article highlighted her reputation as a “tough fighter”. Time magazine also named Harris as one of the most influential people in the world.
Kamala Harris “stands on the shoulders” of the giants who came before her to make history and for the first time ever, a woman of color serving as the president’s most trusted advisor.
In her televised acceptance speech Harris says, “But while I may be the first woman in this office, I won’t be the last. Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities”.
Credit: Kamala Harris
“And to the children of our country, regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message: Dream with ambition, lead with conviction, and see yourself in a way that others might not see you, simply because they’ve never seen it before. And we will applaud you every step of the way”.
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