At the time I’m writing these words, history has been made, yet again. Kamala Harris was just sworn in as the first woman, the first Black person, and the first woman of Asian descent to serve as Vice-President in the United States of America. This is history being made right in front of our eyes. As I picked up my children from school, my daughter couldn’t keep her excitation in as she announced she and her entire class had watched the presidential inauguration. Her face lit up as she proudly exclaimed: “ I saw the Vice-President, I saw her!”
In my lifetime, as an immigrant, I have had the opportunity to witness the first American Black president Barack Obama, and now the first woman of color Vice-President. Yet, even more importantly, I’ve had the opportunity to witness my own children witnessing these historical achievements. It’s the opportunity to see them not only take in what is happening, but never have to doubt again that seeing a Black president, or a woman vice-president, can exist.
The wall of firsts has effectively been shattered, and with it the door of opportunity open for generations coming behind. Such is the power, yet also the burden, of being the first.
The first to break barriers.
The first to enter the room.
The first to create change.
The first to open the door of Change…
Today, Kamala Harris is the first to walk through the doors of the White House as the first one to be called “Madam Vice-President”. What she’s also doing is demonstrating the power of being the first, and making the seemingly impossible possible. What she’s doing is planting the seed of Possibility in the hearts of women and little girls everywhere, and dispelling the myth and fear attached with being the first.
Many of us are called to be firsts, in an official sense. However, all of us have the ability to open doors for other women coming alongside or behind us, in our own unique way. It may be in our unique way of handling an issue, in our innovative manner of tackling a problem, in the diversity of thought and creativity we bring to the table, in just being authentically ourselves.
What Kamala Harris, and all the other women whose shoulders she stands on, really did, doesn’t solely consist in showing us what is possible and opening the door for the rest of us. Most importantly, it’s normalizing for all of us the ability to open doors for any woman coming alongside or behind us, in our own capacity, position and ability.
The Corporate Sister.
