The Vice President of the United States is a Black Woman. What Now?
Yesterday, January 20, 2020, Kamala Harris because the first woman to hold the role of Vice President of the United States. On a day that went gleefully well considering the insurrection that took place exactly 2 weeks prior, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn in. The steps of the Capitol was the scene of what would have been if two-time impeached former president Donald Trump were never elected.
Although this is the first time I have seen inauguration day with a bare national mall and now crowd, I still felt the nation participating in the event. President Biden spent 30 years running for president. Kamala Harris ran for president and eventually was chosen to be president and Biden's running mate. Throughout her career that she has been many first. For ambitious black women, It's being the first to do anything is familiar territory. For ambitious black women being the only one in the room is familiar territory. Much of the sentiment I felt when Barack Obama was inaugurated as president in 2009, I felt on January 20, 2021. He, also, was the first in many aspects of his career.
However, with this familiar feeling comes a warning and third eye intuition that allows me to have the foresight of knowing that representation matters but it is not the culmination or stopping point of progress. Black women and women of color have lost the most shops during the pandemic, the racial gender income gap is still wide and widening because of the pandemic, although black women are more educated than any other demographic group in The United States, we are still undervalued, under-promoted, and under hired in every field. Despite being, statistically, better at making decisions, investing, and leadership women have not been able to make it into the seat of the President of the United States. This is a giant leap for BIPOC.
Unlike 2009, we have the foresight to know that white supremacy, sexism, and racism are still very prevalent in the society of the United States. We cannot get comfortable with the figure of one person who represents a whole. We have to continue to understand that progress is continuous. The next steps will be a journey. They are very angry and disgruntled people who want to do physical and intangible harm to laborers of social progress. Black lives still matter Black Women need to be protected, the United States is still pillaging through indigenous land, It is still safer for children to go to school at home then to attend public schools, student loans have crippled an entire generation, healthcare is chosen in a market place as if it is not a human basic necessity, and corporations by politicians which advertently buys the government. There is massive mistrust in the government and its ability to handle the pandemic.We have a lot of work to do
