This week, we celebrated a lot. We honored women trailblazers of history and modern innovators on STEM Day and World Science Day for Peace and Development. We looked at the prospect of more women cabinet members as President-elect Joe Biden plans his administration. But perhaps the most exciting topic on everyone’s mind was the groundbreaking accomplishment of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. She will be not only the first woman vice president, but the first vice president who is Black, Asian, a woman of color, and so much more. As more people are able to see themselves represented at the highest levels, Harris has shattered so many barriers that outlets are covering it in a variety of ways. Read on to see just a few that we liked.
Here’s What Kamala Harris Faces as a ‘First’, from Politico—“So many firsts. First woman. First Black vice president. First Black woman vice president. First South Asian American. First South Asian American woman. First VP whose parents come from India and Jamaica. First VP who counts Prince and Bootsy and hip-hop among her musical loves. First VP who’s a stepmom. First VP to be a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha. First HBCU grad. First vice president married to a man …Kamala Harris, who made her acceptance speech Saturday night in suffragette white, may claim more “first evers” than any other politician sworn into national office.”
Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris Shattered the Glass Ceiling for All Women. It’s About Time., from NBC News—“It will be tempting for many to brush off Harris’ vice presidency as another exercise in representational politics. But she is more than a symbol to women, to Black people and to South Asian people: She is a woman who has risen to the top despite all that racism, sexism and the combination thereof have thrown at her. It is amazing to think that, finally, many Americans can look at the second-in-command of this country for the first time and say: ‘I see you. I feel you. I am like you.’”
Harris Bursts Through Another Barrier, Becoming the First Female, First Black and First South Asian Vice President-Elect, from CNN—“Indeed, Harris’ bid was a pure distillation of the complex joy of representation. Often in her Converse sneakers, the former prosecutor made space for women of color to tell their lived experiences during campaign events on the trail. She made a point to prop up women of color small business owners, frequently telling them to say their companies’ names clearly in front of the press so they could be included in news stories. Certain voters felt, in today’s parlance, seen. And come Inauguration Day, that visibility will extend to the White House and, likely, alchemize into substantive representation.”
What Kamala Harris Means to a New Generation of Black Female Leaders, from ABC News—“‘She will bring and push for the intersectionality of the policies that they will center — the approaches and the vision they will center to ensure that there’s a racial lens and a gender lens,’ said [CEO and founder of Higher Heights Glynda] Carr. ‘And that is going to be the legacy of having a woman and a woman of color as a vice president.’”
Kamala Harris May Finally Change How Corporate America Sees and Treats Black Women, from USA Today—“‘Black women face a particular set of stereotypes and a particular double-edged sword where they are more often caricatured as angry and hostile when they are demonstrating assertiveness and confidence,’ said Emily Martin, vice president for education and workplace justice at the National Women’s Law Center. ‘That set of race and gendered stereotypes undermines Black women’s leadership in a lot of important ways.’”
