Kamala Harris makes history by swearing in as the first vice president of the United States

By Dartunorro Clark and Char Adams - NBC News

Kamala Harris, the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, both immigrants, broke a nearly two-century barrier in American politics, long dominated by white men, after taking office Wednesday as the country's first female vice president.

His swearing in was intertwined with the historical nature of this day.

[Kamala Harris wins vice presidency, a historic triumph that opens the door to more women in politics]

Her oath was taken by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina to serve on the court.

Harris swore on two Bibles, one that belonged to Regina Shelton, a close friend of his family, and another that belonged to Thurgood Marshall, the first black Supreme Court justice.

Harris often mentions that Marshall inspired her to become a lawyer.

Harris also wore an outfit designed by Christopher John Rogers and Sergio Hudson, both black from the south, a key region in the Biden-Harris formula victory.

(Rogers is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Hudson is from North Carolina.)

Her choice of clothing is based on the value that, Harris says, her mother taught her:

“You may be the first to do a lot of things.

Make sure you are not the last. "

The moment when Kamala Harris makes her entrance to the swearing-in ceremony

Jan. 20, 202103: 08

Harris honored his mother, Shyamala Harris, who passed away in 2009, in a video uploaded to Twitter Wednesday morning:

"I'm here for the women who came before me."

“To the woman with the greatest responsibility for my presence here today: my mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who is always in our hearts,” Harris says in the video.

“When you came from India at the age of 19, you may not have imagined this moment.

But she believed so deeply in an America where such a moment was possible. "

Harris's political career has included many moments that have broken barriers, such as when she served as California's first black woman attorney general, and the second black woman elected to the Senate.

Her rise to the vice presidency, however, comes at a time of great impact for the nation that is dealing with black and Hispanic neighborhood policing, institutional racism, exposing sexism and harassment against women in various industries, and facing a pandemic that has disproportionately affected minority communities.

[Biden and Harris pass review of military troops]

Political analysts have commented that Harris's place in the electoral formula resonated with minority voters, and was also an indication of the

power and influence

that black women have as a voting bloc in the country, and in particular in the Party. Democrat.

Yet Harris's record as a prosecutor, especially on issues such as marijuana-related offenses and truancy enforcement, was seen as an asset and a burden, both during his own failed run for the Democratic nomination, and when Biden chose her to be his running mate.

His experience as a prosecutor helped him campaign and when he participated in debates, but his record was a source of

concern to younger and more progressive

voters, particularly black voters.

Vice President Kamala Harris greets a person after taking office on Wednesday, January 20.

Before breaking down historical barriers in the marble corridors of Congress, and in her Democratic presidential race, she dug into her heritage at

Howard University

, one of the most prestigious historically black universities in the country.

The university, whose Washington campus served as the backdrop for her inauguration, was the stepping stone from youth to adulthood for the future legislator.

While there, he honed his keen debating skills and understanding of his multiracial heritage.

She also became a member of

Alpha Kappa Alpha

, a historically black sorority, making her the first vice president of a historically black Greek letter society.

What does it mean to have a woman as vice president for the first time?

Jan. 20, 202 105: 46

Harris has spoken of her mother, a

civil rights activist

who came to the United States to pursue a doctorate in nutrition and endocrinology at the University of California, Berkeley, as a role model for her and her sister despite challenges. that the Indian immigrant faced as a single mother, forging a life for herself and her family in the United States.

[Kamala Harris, the woman who boasts the title of 'Momala']

Shyamala Gopalan met Donald Harris, also a Berkeley student and now a retired economics professor, at civil rights protests.

They

divorced

when Kamala was a child.

Her mother was aware that most people would view her daughters as black, and was "determined to ensure that we grow up as proud, confident black women," Harris wrote in her autobiography,

The Truths We Hold.

Gopalan also strove to educate his daughters about their Indian heritage.