Kamala Harris Makes History
My daughter doesn't want to. I hope she doesn't have to.
An Indian-Australian peacefully settled in Melbourne doesn’t need to be overly excited about the American election. The truth is the world was and is watching how the drama is playing out, including my 9-year-old.
My 9-year-old had walked up to me saying I really hope Trump doesn’t win. Her response to why do you care: Too many silly ads about Trump when I watch youtube and it needs to stop. It consumes my screen time.
We were convinced the logic was valid. It was impacting her life per se.
To me, the Biden-Harris win was more about Kamala than Biden.
Kamala Harris becomes first female, first Black, first South Asian US vice president-elect.
Kamala Harris Makes History.
My social media is suffused with parents like me going teary-eyed and rejoicing in the fact that Kamala Harris becomes the first female vice president-elect of America.
Her speech embodied this milestone for our gender paving the way for the little souls watching history being made.
Like every parent, I was thrilled to let my daughter soak this event in.
Me: K, you know Biden won and Kamala Harris becomes the first female vice president-elect. She made history baby. She made history. You can make history too.
K: Mom, what if I do not want to make history?
My 9-year-old stumped me.
It was a moment of epiphany where my thoughts reassembled and I hoped she doesn’t have to make history. Instead, becoming anyone or anything should seem natural and not a milestone for an entire group of population.
She and our future generations will be able to stand on the shoulders of all the women and men who paved way for these achievements to be individual goals based on merit and not communal goals.
We are in 2020 celebrating this win and this is exactly why we need Feminism.
We are still stats.
We are still making history.
We are still being First in industries and places that have been around forever.
We are still teary-eyed when glass ceilings are shattered.
We are still running Gender Diversity programs.
We are still not the norm.
Making history has a zing to it. But we would rather be the norm.
The fact that social media is as inundated with Biden win as with Kamala’s win is a testament to the fact that there is work to be done. It is only our genuine efforts as adults, as parents, as communities, as countries that we will be able to create a world where opportunities are not defined by gender/race/orientation/ethnicity or any other label that as humans we have chosen.
These labels have turned into identities.
This is why it is important that every kid out there, every person out there knows about milestones like these. No matter how young, no matter how old it is events like these that help in shaping perspectives.
We all need to applaud and shout from rooftops about this chapter in history even if we do not identify as female, Black, or South Asian.
We owe it to everyone who paved the way for us and for everyone who is depending on us.
Let the Kamala Harris chapter take over our conversations and social media.
