Kamala Harris was sworn in as the new vice president — becoming the first woman, first Black person and first person of Asian descent to hold the office.
Harris took her oath of office from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. She was escorted to the inauguration ceremony by the Howard University’s distinguished marching band, the Showtime Marching Band.
Harris, 56, is the daughter of immigrant parents. She was born in Oakland, California, to her mother, a cancer researcher who migrated to the U.S. from India, and her Jamaican economist father, Donald Harris.
“While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last. Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities and to the children of our country regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message: Dream with ambition, lead with conviction and see yourselves in a way that others may not simply because they’ve never seen it before. But know that we will applaud you every step of the way,” she said in November.
Harris’ new role will undoubtedly raise the aspirations of millions of children of color around the world.
“Watching this with my 6-year-old daughter who has known Kamala her whole life, is more moving than I thought it would be,” said Laphonza Butler, a former senior aide to Harris via The LA Times. “To see Maya in the background, to see Doug standing with pride, makes me think of the sacrifices of so many, past and present, on whose shoulders she stands.”
