Inauguration day in the U.S. was an especially big deal in 2021, with Kamala Harris being sworn in as the first Black, South Asian and female vice-president. And many kids who shared one or more of those identities were delighted to see someone who looked like them in such an important role.
Mindy Kaling was not home to see her daughter Kit’s reaction, but she was thrilled to learn that the 3-year-old mistook the new VP for another very important person. “I was at work, but apparently she said, ‘Is that Mommy? It looks like Mommy,’” the actor and writer shared in an Instagram post, adding “Best compliment I ever got. It matters.”
Kaling’s daughter was not the only one glued to her screen. Pakistani-born U.S. Human Rights lawyer and Democratic activist Qasim Rashid shared a poignant black-and-white image of his daughter following inauguration day on TV.
“My daughter, an American of South Asian descent, watching the inauguration of Madam Vice President, an American of South Asian descent. Representation matters,” Rashid wrote.
“Today history was made,” wrote vlogger Tiffany Darlyn, as she shared a photo of her daughter, beaming, in front of the TV during the inauguration.
“My daughter and every other little girl gets to see that the sky is the limit for their dreams. The possibilities are endless.”
Dennis Owusu-Ansah, a New York-based Ghanaian artist, captured the significance of the day, in a powerful pop-art image, captioned “SHE COULD BE NEXT.”
Many girls (and women) got dressed up on inauguration day in an homage to VP Harris too. A whole class of girls showed up at Miniature Minds Private Day School in pearls and Harris’s signature Converse Chuck Taylors .
“What a momentous day this is for little girls of color. Their VP looks like them. My 66 year old mother cried when I sent her this picture. She said they represent our future: bright,” the image caption said.
“Kissing that glass ceiling goodbye. Still over here celebrating HERstory being made!,” wrote Instagram user @veighway to accompany this cute #chucksandpearls photo shoot:
And the hashtag #myvplookslikeme was trending too, thanks to sweet and inspiring images like these:
At LeBron James’s I PROMISE School, spirits were high among female students on Jan. 21. “That feeling knowing the first female Vice President and woman of color is sworn into office today. 🥰👏🏾” was the caption for a group shot of gleeful girls and a happy-dance video.
And here in Canada, at Westmount High School, in Quebec ― the school Harris attended in her teen years ― some of the staff and students made a video to record how “seeing one of our own alumni” become vice president of the U.S. had motivated them to dream big.
See the full video below.
“To see a woman of power in your position, and a woman of colour at that, it’s truly inspiring,” said Grade 10 student, Maya Bunbury, directly addressing vice-president Harris in the video.
It’s a sentiment that summed up the mood on a glass-ceiling shatterer of a day.
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