Kamala Harris, who has made history by becoming the first woman, the first Black person and the first Indian-American to become US Vice President, spoke about how she will not be the last woman in the office. She also paid tribute to her mother during her speech.
She had started her speech with a tribute to the late Georgia congressman John Lewis, a civil rights leader, who said democracy is not a state but an act.
“I’m grateful to the woman most responsible for my presence here today, my mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris. When she came here from India at the age of 19, she maybe didn’t imagine this moment. But she believed so deeply in America where moment like this is possible,” Kamala Harris said in her first address to the nation as Vice President-Elect.
“I am thinking about her… and I am thinking about the generations of women, black, white, Asian, Latina women, who throughout history have paved the way tonight,” she said.
“While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last,” she said. “Every little girl watching tonight sees this is a country of possibilities.”
She said: “What he meant is America’s democracy is not guaranteed. It is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it.”
Mrs Harris said that at this election “the very soul of America was at stake” and the “world was watching”.
She continued: “I know times have been challenging the last few months… but you chose hope and unity, decency, science and yes, truth.”
