Ahead of becoming the first female, Black and Asian Vice President of the United States, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, remembered her Indian mother, Shyamalan Gopalan Harris, just before the inauguration ceremony.
Harris posted a video on Twitter, captioned: “I’m here today because of the women who came before me.”
In the video, Harris could be heard repeating her opening remarks after she and Joe Biden were projected as the winners of the presidential elections in November.
“To the woman most responsible for my presence here today: my mother, Shyamalan Gopalan Harris, who is always in our hearts.
“When she came here from India at the age of 19, she may be didn’t quite imagine this moment.
“But she believed so deeply in an America, where a moment like this is possible,” she said.
The video showed several pictures of the Vice President-elect’s mother.
“So I am thinking about her and about the generations of women, Black women, Asian, White, Latina, Native American women, who throughout our nation’s history have paved the way to tonight.
“Women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality and liberty and justice for all, including the Black women who are often, too often overlooked but so often proven they are the backbone of our democracy,” she added.
Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan emigrated from India’s Tamil Nadu and was a cancer researcher, while the former Senator’s father, a Jamaican, taught at Stanford University.
Kamala Harris’ election as Vice-President is of great significance to Indians, particularly the diaspora in the U.S. and is a reflection of the success of the community and the respect it has attained.
