VP Harris adds new meaning to Black History Month

For the first time during Black History Month many students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities can cheer on someone in the White House who shares their collegiate heritage. US Vice President Kamala Harris is the first female, Black, Indian American and the first HBCU graduate to hold the office.

Two months into her term, Joint Center or Political and Economic Studies president Spencer Overton says he isn't surprised Harris has shepherded inclusive initiatives, including meeting with Black mayors, The Black Chamber of Commerce and inspiring a meeting with HBCU presidents. Part of her legacy, he says, is that Harris is a symbol of the strength of Black political power.

"The agency (of Black female voters) and to see that agency translated into someone on the ticket who's not just, you know, a wallflower here, but is thoughtful, making significant contributions," he says, " (…)It's just inspiring from an agency standpoint."

She's been barrier-breaking for years. Harris served as the first woman District Attorney in San Francisco's history and as the first Black woman and South Asian-American woman in California to hold the office. College friend and entertainment lawyer Lita Rosario remembers Kamala Harris as the student who wouldn't back down from a challenge.

As a senior at Howard University in 1982, Rosario was the only woman on the school's debate team when she decided to offer an invitation to join to a bold freshman named Kamala. Harris was gaining a following for her debating skills at a student hangout called the Punch Out.

"She didn't back down when the fellas would get into the debates and kind of try to use their physical presence or to strengthen their voice to try to win a point," Rosario says.

As Harris said in her acceptance speech, she "may be the first" to walk in these shoes this Black History Month but she expects to not be the last. "I think this notion of being beyond firsts and saying we really do have a place at the table, we really do have a space here, you know, that in and of itself is valuable," Overton says. 

(Image Credits: AP)