Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is the first woman, the first Black person and the first Asian American elected to the second highest office in the United States.
Harris, the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father, has risen higher She spoke often on the campaign trail of those who had come before her, of her parents, immigrants drawn to the civil rights struggle in the United States — and of the ancestors who had paved the way.
As she took the stage in Texas shortly before the election, Harris spoke of being singular in her role but not solitary.
“Yes, sister, sometimes we may be the only one that looks like us walking in that room,” she told a largely Black audience in Fort Worth. “But the thing we all know is we never walk in those rooms alone — we are all in that room together.”
With her ascension to the vice presidency, Harris will become the first woman and first woman of color to hold that office, a milestone for a nation in upheaval, grappling with a damaging history of racial injustice exposed, yet again, in a divisive election. Harris, 56, embodies the future of a country that is growing more racially diverse, even if the person voters picked for the top of the ticket is a 77-year-old white man.
During both her primary run and as the vice presidential nominee, Harris touched on the legacy of Black women who paved the way for her. She gave her acceptance speech during the Democratic National Convention around the time of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Harris noted, however, that right came much later for most Black women, who helped secure that victory but were still barred from voting.
Black and female lawmakers Saturday noted the trailblazing moment.
Andra Gillespie, an associate professor of political science at Emory University, told NBC News in a phone interview that Harris' election shows Black women taking their "rightful places of leadership within the party, given how important they are to Democratic victories around the country."
"I think that's actually really important because it is centering women of color in the history and story of women in the United States in ways that they haven't been before," she said.
Gillespie added, "Now it becomes a question of, who else does she open doors for?" Vice President-elect Kamala Harris posted a video of herself talking to President-elect Joe Biden Saturday.
“We did. We did it Joe,” Harris said while on the phone with Biden. “You’re going to be the next president of the United States,” she added laughing.
While states are still continuing to count votes, HotMess, along with other national media outlets, have called Nevada and Pennsylvania in favor of Biden — giving the former vice president the necessary Electoral College votes needed to claim the White House.
Despite the call for Biden, President Trump has refused to concede and promised to take legal action on Monday. On Saturday, Trump took to Twitter to voice his frustration and tweeted, “I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT! :
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