JANUARY 20: Kamala Harris is sworn in as U.S. Vice President by U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor as her husband Doug Emhoff looks on at the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. During today's inauguration ceremony Joe Biden becomes the 46th president of the United States.
Vice President Kamala Harris set the tone for her inspiring and incredible inauguration by swearing-in on a Bible that belonged to Thurgood Marshall, the prominent civil rights figure who was the first Black Supreme Court Justice.
In addition, Harris was also sworn into office by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina woman to be nominated to the Supreme Court by former President Barack Obama.
Harris also swore over a bible that belonged to Regina Shelton, a neighbor in Harris' childhood, that she also reveres as a second mother who embodied "southern grace and hospitality." With that, Harris never faltered from carrying the memory of Shelton throughout the course of her life. Harris even used the Bible during her swearing-in for the Senate and as the California Attorney General.
READ: Why Vice President Kamala Harris's inauguration outfit meant so much to me
We have to address the significance of her stunning outfit.
"Some of my greatest heroes were lawyers: Thurgood Marshall, Charles Hamilton Houston, Constance Baker Motley—giants of the civil rights movement… and I saw the law as a tool that can help make things fair," Harris stated in her memoir, "The Truth's We Hold."
Harris also gave credit to her education at Howard University to Marshall, who was also an alum at the historically Black university.
Symbolically, Harris merging her appreciation for Marshall's contributions to U.S. history to her inauguration as the first South Asian and Black female vice president is particularly magnetic. Especially in light of the tumultuous four years we've had in an administration that seemed to condone prejudices. Prejudices that go against women's betterment and marginalized groups who were historically blocked from carrying out and achieving their wildest dreams.
Moreover, I believe that Harris swearing-in over Marshall's Bible while expressing her oath to the office is an example of continued resilience and new heights the U.S. will embark on.
And I'm here for every bit of it.
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