On Saturday night Vice President-elect Kamala Harris delivered a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, acknowledging her victory with President-elect Joe Biden.
Harris took to the stage to introduce Biden, but not before she thanked Black women, saying they are “too often overlooked, but so often prove that they are the backbone of our democracy.”
“While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last,” Harris said. “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 yourself in a way that others might not see you, simply because they’ve never seen it before. And we will applaud you every step of the way,” she said.
The victory means that Harris is the first woman, the first Black person and the first South Asian elected vice president.
During her emotional speech, Harris paid tribute to her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who immigrated to the United States from India as a teenager. Her mother passed away in 2009.
“When she came here when was 19, she could not have imagined this moment,” Harris said. “But she believed in an America where moments like this are possible. I’m thinking about her and about the generations of women — Black women, Asian, White, Latina and Native American women — throughout our nation’s history who have paved the way for this moment tonight,” she said. “Women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality, liberty and justice for all, including the Black women, who are too often overlooked, but so often prove that they are the backbone of our democracy.”
