The upcoming month of April brings the end of Women’s History Month, which began in 1987 when 14 states announced that the month of March would celebrate women.
A theme is chosen every year, this year being “Valiant Women of the Vote: Refusing to be Silenced.”
One woman who has been celebrated over and over again this month is the vice president, Kamala Harris.
Harris was elected the first female vice president of the United States and her election is a big event for women across America.
Harris was sworn into office by Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first female of color to serve on the court.
According to a White House article, “Vice President Harris was born in Oakland, California, to parents who emigrated from India and Jamaica.”
Harris was called to civil service in her early childhood. Her parents took her to civil rights demonstrations and introduced her to role models such as Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
Harris has been first quite a few times in her life. According to the California Office of the Attorney General, in 2004-2010, Kamala Harris served as the first woman district attorney in San Francisco’s history, and as the first African American woman and South Asian American woman in California to hold the office.
She also became the first African American senator for the state of California in 2017.
During this time, she fought for better protections for DREAMers and called for better oversight of substandard conditions at immigrant detention facilities, the attorney generals’ site said.
Now, along with being the first woman, Harris became the first African American and Asian American vice president. “While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last,” Harris said.
Harris ran for president in the 2020 race but was beat in the Democratic primaries by Joe Biden. It is unclear whether she will attempt to run again in 2024.
A record number of women ran for president in 2020, some of the biggest names included Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand and Tulsi Gabbard.
According to the Center for American Women and Politics, or CAWP, at Rutgers University, there has never been more than two women competing at the same time in the Democratic or Republican primaries.
In the future, we may see more women running for positions of power. Kamala Harris laid down the foundation for women to rise up and take charge.