Kamala Harris just made history in her speech as the first woman to be elected vice president of the United States.
Kamala Harris said on Saturday (local time) that Americans have protected the integrity of democracy as she addressed the nation for the first time after a landslide victory in the US presidential election.
In her victory speech Saturday, Ms. Harris spoke of her mother and the generations of women of all races who paved the way for this moment. “While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last,” she told a cheering and honking audience in Wilmington, Del. “Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.”
During her speech, she highlighted the tireless work of Black women and women of color who continue to demand change within modern day politics and how her election comes 100 years after women gained the right to vote.
She also honored her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who she often credits as a major inspiration and influence in her career and personal life.
“No matter who you voted for, I will strive to be the Vice President that Joe was to (former) president (Barack) Obama — loyal, honest and prepared, waking up every day thinking of you and your families. Because now is when the real work begins. You assured a new day for America,” Harris said in a powerful, but emotional speech.
“We are so grateful to Joe and Jill for welcoming our family into theirs on this incredible journey and to the woman, most responsible for my presence here today, my mother Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who was always in our hearts,” said the California Senator.
“When she came here from India at the age of 19, she maybe didn’t quite imagine this moment, but she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible. And so I’m thinking about her and about the generations of women—Black women—Asian, white, Latina, Native American women—who throughout our nation’s history paved the way for this moment tonight.
“Congressman John Lewis wrote before his passing: “Democracy is not a state. It is an act.” What he meant was that America’s democracy is not guaranteed. It is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it—and that’s exactly what you did,” she said in her first victory speech in Wilmington, Delaware amid a huge round of applause.
