Opinion. Anna Lee Mraz Bartra. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P]
The path carved out for an African-American woman and daughter of immigrants like Kamala Harris to be sworn in as vice president of the United States today was a path cemented by sweat, tears and blood; the product of a centuries-old, trans-generational struggle of thousands -millions- of women who, step by step, paved the way.
"Neither the states of the United States nor the Federal government may deny any citizen the right to vote on account of his or her sex," says officially the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution that was achieved one hundred years ago, on August 26, 1920.
On the road to equality, many women were arrested, booed, persecuted and judged by society. The movement, led by women, won the right to vote.
However, it should be recalled that until 1965, black people, both women and men of low income, were denied this basic right on the basis of race.
While until recently it was said that women were not considered qualified to hold political office, today things seem to be changing. A lawyer, of Indian descent, a Baptist, married to a Jew, Harris makes clear not only her leadership and political skills that have propelled her to the position she is in today, but she is opening gaps for those who come after her.
I have always thought that, not because she is a woman, a woman in a position of power will look after women's rights. The same goes for blackness, migration, poverty and other conditions of social disadvantage or vulnerability. Those who manage to get out of there and place themselves outside the structure from which they came can turn their backs on their fellow men and, worse still, close the door on them. There are plenty of examples of women who, in the past and present, have ridden the purple wave, the standard bearers of feminism, only to turn around at the first sign of change and leave their partners under the patriarchal yoke.
However, Harris may recognize the struggle of women as their struggle as well:
"Much of the reason she wanted to be a prosecutor was to protect people like her [her best friend who had been abused by her own father] and change the system. In fact, a big part of my career has been to protect women and children.
Kamala Harris
Harris is not only breaking new ground politically, but in the way he chose to lead his personal life as a second wife, without biological children and stepmother. Not having children, whether by choice or possibility, does not make you less of a woman and that is why she is another feminist baton today, because throughout history that role has been imposed on us women.
That Kamala Harris has been sworn in today in front of the Capitol, a building that only last week was flooded with a wave of hate and white supremacists scared to death of losing the privileges they hold, is a victory. And the victories show that the struggle that has been going on for a hundred years is worthwhile.
But this is no time to rest on our laurels, unfortunately the road that led Harris to the White House is still dirt road and not enough women are coming, not enough Black women, let alone Black women behind it. The fight is not over.
"This doesn't reconcile our past, but it gives us hope for the future," said Catherine Flowers, a prominent Alabama environmental justice advocate, who confessed that her eyes filled with tears when Biden announced her campaign partner. "Black women have sustained the civil rights movement and the Democratic Party for decades, but we have rarely received any credit.
Catherine Flowers
It is a complex war, with uncertain horizons and unequal trenches in each country and in each area, which women have been fighting for centuries on at least three different fronts: power, identity and talent.
All that remains is to continue to work and support women like Harris so that, as she said in her words:
"Even if I am the first woman in this office, I will not be the last," the vice president-elect said in her first address to the nation.
Kamala Harris
