"My mother would look at me and she'd say, 'Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you are not the last.' That's why breaking those barriers is worth it. As much as anything else, it is also to create that path for those who will come after us."
– Kamala Devi Harris quoted during a lecture at Spelman College, recalling the motto that's guided her life.
The first, but not the last. As she mentioned in her revolutionary first speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention as VP-elect, Kamala Devi Harris is not only "the first female to be Vice president of America", she is also the "first Indian-African Vice President-Elect of America", "first Black woman Vice President of America", and the "first interracial Vice President of America" breaking several barriers built by white men in the highest level of American politics.
And in similar nature to many other journey's of successful women who have reached greatest levels of success in their respective field, the highest-ranking woman in the history of American government, Harris used her platform to play tribute with spoken words and unspoken yet significant gestures.
"There is no vaccine for racism"
– Kamala Devi Harris
As mentioned, Kamala has never been afraid to speak her mind, and the day of her speech which the world was listening, she made sure, her point was made both in words and actions. Her white suit was one of those gestures, to tribute Black women," "who are too often overlooked but so often prove they are the backbone of our democracy."
The first woman received America's love in the election and on the stage that day. But, the life of the half-Indian half-African woman hailing from California wouldn't be shaped like that without a strong woman backing her.
As she credited her mom to raise her and her and her sister to be strong black women. She proudly mentioned the beauty of her blended family. Ms Kamala is the stepmom or "momala" (pronounced comma-la) to her husband's two kids.
"Anyone who claims to be a leader must speak like a leader. That means speaking with integrity and truth."
Kamala Devi Harris
We couldn't agree more with the passionate lady's views shared on Instagram. And Kamala has shown he world time and again, how to 'speak like one'.
The Kamala Harris we see today power walking in her suits is not what she became in a couple of months or years. Two decades, yes, she has been serving the country since the past twenty years in several roles like San Francisco's district attorney and California's attorney general before becoming a U.S. senator.
There will be people who say to you, 'You are out of your lane'. "They are burdened by only having the capacity to see what has always been instead of what can be. But don't you let that burden you.
-Kamala Harris said during the 2020 Black Girls Lead conference
Amidst the galore of problems like a pandemic and the social distress due to Killings of Black policemen, Kamala Harris' battled sexism and racism as fierce combatant during the past few months. Kamala, Sanskrit for "Lotus flower" is a name which was used as an attack by Georgia Sen.
David Perdue, who mocked her name in an October rally. This, however, was well dealt off with the proud South Asians, sharing the meanings behind their names with the hashtag #MyNameIs which took off on Twitter. A modern solution to obsolete thinking. If you will.
Mr Trump was also a Republican who mocked Harris' name and he allies took it one step ahead by branding her as radical and socialist despite her centrist record, making her target of online disinformation laced with racism and sexism about her qualifications to serve as president.
"Let's speak the truth: People are protesting because Black people have been treated as less than human in America. Because our country has never fully addressed the systemic racism that has plagued our country since its earliest days.
It is the duty of every American to fix. No longer can some wait on the sidelines, hoping for incremental change. In times like this, silence is complicity,"
Kamala Harris wrote in an op-ed for Cosmopolitan.
Alumni of Howard University, one of the nation's historically Black colleges and universities, and pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation's first sorority created by and for Black women, Harris campaigned regularly at HBCUs and tried to address the concerns of young Black men and women eager for strong efforts to dismantle systemic racism.
"You never have to ask anyone permission to lead. I want you to remember that, OK? When you want to lead, you lead."
Harris said to two young women at a rally in Iowa last year.
And the 56-year-old California senator, also the first person of South Asian descent elected to the vice presidency, has been strongly influenced by her mother when it comes to her action-oriented side.
The senator took her parents actions as an inspiration who would "bring me to protests strapped tightly in my stroller, and my mother, Shyamala, raised my sister, Maya, and me to believe that it was up to us and every generation of Americans to keep on marching" as she mentioned.
"She'd tell us 'Don't sit around and complain about things; do something.' So I did something. I devoted my life to making real the words carved in the United States Supreme Court: Equal justice under law."
quoted Kamala Harris
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