When my daughter was born, we set up an email address for her with the intent of letting her login when she’s old enough. Once in a while, I send her notes, so years from now she can get snapshots of her younger life. In January of 2017, I wrote such an email, after I came home from the Women’s March. I wrote to her:Â “I hope one day when you read this that the world is a better, fairer place.” Four years later, it is.
As a woman, it was incredible to see Kamala Harris sworn in as the first female, Black and South Asian Vice President. But it was knowing what she meant to my daughter that really left me sobbing as she took that oath. As parents, we want our kids to believe they can do or be anything. But while we are the most important voice they hear, we’re not the only ones, and oftentimes it’s what they see that they internalize, more than what they are told. A child being able to see something can mean more than any platitude, and for millions of girls, Kamala Harris is something real, tangible, and powerful that tells them they can’t just aspire to the highest pinnacle, but they can also reach it.
My daughter is five. She’s just starting to understand what a government is and how voting works. We explained the election to her in simple terms: that there was a very bad man named Trump who was part of the reason for coronavirus being so bad, and I told her that there was a lady named Kamala who was trying to make him go away, with help from her friend Joe. I remember seeing her eyes light up when she realized it was a girl that was going against the bad man. That’s why it mattered.
I showed her pictures of “Kamala and Joe” and kept her as updated as a five-year-old needed to be. And when Joe and Kamala won, I made sure I was the first to tell her. And she was so happy, but the biggest moment came when we watched the victory speeches on November 7th. She usually tunes out if we have the news on, which I’m fine with, but when Kamala spoke, her eyes were locked on the screen.
“Is she president now?” My little girl asked. “Not quite, but very close,” I answered. “Can I be President one day, Mama?” The answer was very clear and felt so true: “Absolutely, baby.”
Kids need heroes. At this age, they’re still figuring out who’s real and who’s made up. (I told my daughter once that I was interviewing someone who “helped make Elsa,” and got a withering “But are you talking to Elsa?” in return). As they begin to learn about the big wide world, they need real heroes who are just as inspiring as Moana or Barbie, and now, Kamala Harris is that hero.
My daughter will grow up in a world where Kamala Harris is Vice President. Hopefully, she’ll know a world soon where a woman is President, full stop.
I mentioned Barbie above because, much to my chagrin, my daughter loves Barbie, especially her movies. I’m generally fine with that because Barbie and her pals are kind and Barbie never gives up—and she can show up as anything from a rocket scientist to a ballerina. In Barbie: Spy Squad, Barbie is recruited as a spy because she’s such a good gymnast. She has a simple mantra of “See it, then be it” that my child has adopted for when she really wants to get something right. And I love that.
On Wednesday, I made sure to sit my daughter down and have her watch Amanda Gorman recite “The Hill We Climb.” Most of it went over her head until the last line: “For there is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” She exclaimed: “See it, then be it!” It clicked. And that’s what happened this week. With Kamala Harris (and Amanda Gorman, and so many more), millions of little girls truly can see it now and know they can be it.
(image: Mark Makela/Getty Images)
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