Harris is inspiring Black women
New vice president represents dreams of being acknowledged
NEWARK – It’s obvious the inauguration of Kamala Harris to vice president of the United States is a very big deal to women of color. It’s a bigger deal than any male or white American can probably comprehend.
Harris’ achievement represents the realization of a long-awaited dream that had seemed a long ways away for many women of color. That recognition and acknowledgment they can do the job at the highest levels of government becomes a reality on Wednesday.
The nation’s first female, first African-american, first Asian-american and first Indian-american to become vice president will be sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court’s first Latina justice.
Dr. Talya Greathouse, a Licking Memorial Hospital physician and Community Alliance for Racial Justice board member, put the inauguration into historical perspective.
“We have had no women ascend to the office of presidency or vice presidency,” Dr. Greathouse said. “With the election of Vice President Kamala Harris, that all changes. This moment in history is pivotal in that we see glass ceilings being shattered by not just people of color, but women of color specifically.”
Jamie Holderman, co-founder and executive director for the Community Alliance for Racial Justice, said she was very emotional when it became clear Harris had been elected to the office of vice president.
“I remember sobbing with tears of joy when she came onto the stage to make her acceptance speech,” Holderman said. “Through my tears, I kept saying in awe, ‘she looks like me.’ As a little girl, I had big dreams, but many seemed unrealistic because there wasn’t a seat for girls like me in many spaces.
“Vice President Harris has shattered the glass ceiling for women of all races, which is a unique accomplishment. Now, I can look at my two girls and honestly say that whatever they want to achieve is possible, because many before them have laid the groundwork to clear a path.”
Dr. Greathouse said credit goes to people like Shirley Chisolm, the first black female elected to Congress in 1968, and first black woman candidate for a major party’s nomination for president in 1972.
“When I think of the many women before her that forged this path for her, I can’t help but wonder how momentous this day would be for them to witness; the fruits of their labor finally realized,” Dr. Greathouse said.
“Thanks to former President Barack Obama and now Vice President Kamala Harris, now little brown boys and girls can absolutely visualize themselves as president and vice president of the United States, a concept that was unheard of even 15 years ago. Vice President Kamala Harris may be the first, but she most certainly will not be the last.”
Dr. Janae Davis, an OBGYN at LMH and board vice president for the Community Alliance for Racial Justice, compared awaiting the election results to an anxious feeling as a young student.
“I wanted to be all by myself when I saw it finally announced,” Davis said. “I didn’t even realize that I had been holding my breath. It felt almost like when your fourth-grade love interest dropped a folded note in your lap as he walked by and you had to act like it didn’t matter. That’s how I felt.”
She said it was like sitting alone under the bleachers with sweaty hands slowly unfolding that note to see one sentence written in pencil: “I like you.”
Harris’ win brought tears, rapid breathing and tingling around her mouth and fingers, Davis said.
“This physiologic response happened as we Black women collectively held our damp pieces of paper under any bleacher we could find,” Davis said. “Holding our breath that this time when we opened our note it would say, ‘You were right, we misjudged you. You are right, we underestimated you. You were right, I didn’t treat you fairly, and I now see you and who you really are.’ For Black women, that note has been a long time coming.”
Of course, the reason women of color achieve firsts so much later than everyone else is they were bypassed for positions in the past. That reality has been cruel in a country that shouts its support for equal rights.
Greathouse points out that of the 2,000 members of the U.S. Senate to date, only 10 have been black, and only two have been black females.
“For people of color, the experience of living in this country has been a painful one,” Dr. Greathouse said. “Equity and equality seemed to be a dream that only a few of us have been able to realize as our reality.
“Historically, as black women, we are caste at the lowest level of societal hierarchy, often dismissed and far too often overlooked. Our voices silenced, our votes disenfranchised, and our very right to vote oft challenged. We have shown time and time again, that we are the backbone of this democracy, and when operating en masse, can be a formidable force to be reckoned with.”
Angie Jenkins, president of Reynoldsburg City Council and retired in 2018 as executive assistant to the CEO in the IT department at the Ohio attorney general’s office, said she is especially moved by the significance of Harris’ achievement, as the first female African-american on Reynoldsburg City Council.
“To see Kamala Harris is very important and very significant to women like myself, and little girls who can see themselves like Kamala,” Jenkins said. “A lot of African American women can see themselves in her. She represents all women. It gives us all hope.
“I was always overlooked, I felt, when I applied for positions. I did all the things I needed to do in the workforce. I applied for hundreds of jobs. I felt overlooked. It’s a horrible feeling.”
Bryanna Stigger, the Licking County NAACP president, said she is inspired and proud to see Harris inaugurated, calling black women the nation’s “unsung heroes.”
“Black women have historically been unseen, unheard, and overlooked,” Stigger said. “Now is our time to shine and lead unapologetically and authentically. Black woman such as Kamala Harris and Stacey Abrams motivate me to become a better president, leader, and advocate for racial justice and equality for all.
“I am confident and hopeful that we are collectively moving towards a bright new world. A better future starts now.” newarkadvocate.com
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