Standing on Shoulders:
Vice President Kamala Harris

A Woman of Firsts

On Saturday, November 8, 2020, we learned that Kamala Harris had been elected the next Vice President of the United States. She and then president-elect Joe Biden took office on January 20, 2020. 

In her acceptance speech on November 8, Kamala Harris addressed women and girls in particular: "While I may be the first woman in this office,” she said, “I will not be the last.” Many women had fought to shatter this glass ceiling. On November 8, Kamala Harris finally broke through. 

In her speech, Harris honored her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who had come to the U.S. from India at the age of 19, and who “believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible.”

Harris went on to say:

So, I’m thinking about her and about the generations of women — Black women. Asian, white, Latina, Native American women … who have paved the way for this moment tonight, 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, so often prove they are the backbone of our democracy. ….

Tonight I reflect on their struggle, their determination, and the strength of their vision to see what can be, unburdened by what has been. And I stand on their shoulders.

Harris didn’t just shatter gender barriers. In addition to being the first female vice president-elect of the United States, she is also the first Black person, the first South Asian, and first daughter of immigrants to reach the second-highest office in the land.  Harris will also be the first vice president to have graduated from a Historically Black university: Howard University.

Self Reflection:

• What is impact is VP Kamala Harris having on young girls? Why?
   
• How do you feel about this quote?: “We weren’t allowed to vote, now we’re being voted for.”
   
• What are YOUR thoughts and feelings about vice president-elect Kamala Harris as a woman of firsts?
   
• What do you feel about the quote “if you believe it, you can achieve it,” or as other people have said, “if you can see it, you can be it”?  How do these relate to  Kamala Harris?

Standing on Shoulders

Let’s take a closer look at Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech. Invite a student to read the following quote aloud:

"So I’m thinking about [my mother] … and about the generations of women—Black women, Asian, white, Latina, Native American women throughout our nation’s history who have paved the way for this moment tonight.  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, so often prove they are the backbone of our democracy.

All the women who have worked to secure and protect the right to vote for over a century.  One hundred years ago was the 19th Amendment. Fifty-five years ago was the Voting Rights Act. And now in 2020, with a new generation of women in our country who cast their ballots and continue to fight for their fundamental right to vote and be heard. 

Tonight I reflect on their struggle, their determination, and the strength of their vision to see what can be, unburdened by what has been. And I stand on their shoulders.” 

Self Reflection::

• What “struggle” is Kamala Harris referring to?
   
• Is the struggle over?  Explain.
   
• What other struggles in this country’s history and today is this struggle connected to?
   
• How is that connected to Kamala Harris’ multiple, intersecting identities?