'They were the innovators': Kamala Harris hails people of colour at Black History Month

US Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday delivered remarks at a virtually organized event to commemorate Black History Month, hosted by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. In a nationwide address, the first woman of colour and Asian, vice president Harris rolled out a COVID-19 stimulus relief package and addressed the Anne Arundel and Prince George’s County residents in Maryland about coronavirus vaccines. The Asian American politician spoke about the challenges faced by America’s multiracial community as she honoured Black excellence, and assured democracy and justice for all irrespective of skin colour under Biden administration. Harris, who was sworn in by Latinx Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, was the first Black woman who took an oath to the office on the bible that belonged to Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court justice.

Celebrating the 40th annual Black History Month, which was held remotely for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, US Vice President called the black history makers ‘visionaries’ and expressed gratitude for the representative of Maryland Steny Hoyer for hosting an event that celebrates empowerment and achievements of Black youth, and recognizes their legacies, which are full of both strength and struggles. The Black history month comprises 28 days of remembering across the United States to acknowledge the Black brilliance and values of the community. 

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"We celebrate Black History Month in January, in March, in April, and all year round. But, yes, every February we take a time, and a more formal time, to remember and honor those who came before us," the US Vice President said in her remarks streamed online. 

"And they are and were the visionaries. They were the innovators. And why do I say 'innovators,'? Because they had the ability, in their moment in time, to see what can be unburdened by what had been. They were the innovators and, of course, the barrier breakers and, of course, the history makers,” she added. 

A day after US President Joe Biden approved the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, VP Harris emphasized that the aid was an accelerator for the struggles of the Black Americans amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and it would alleviate the failures, the defects, the flaws in the system. Further, she spoke about how the pandemic had made the situation worse for the Black Americans, who, according to Harris were severed under the economic, social, and mental repercussions of coronavirus. She hailed the Black leaders who paved the way forward in the civil rights struggle "who were clear-eyed about the moment in which they lived” and said it served as inspiration to lead the response to pandemic. 

"We are looking at a country in a situation where more than two in three Black Americans personally know someone who has been hospitalized or who has died from COVID-19. Black women workers are being forced out of the workforce in record numbers, and so many Black small businesses are being forced to close their doors," Harris said.

Lifting Black kids out of poverty

"I do believe we can meet this moment and I do believe that this Black History Month, this year, and at this moment, we must be clear-eyed about the challenges in front of us," Harris said at a live-streamed address. She spoke about vaccination efforts, legislation the administration passed for small businesses, and the $3,000 per child tax credit that was included in the House bill. "By doing that, we will lift half of those children living in poverty, out of poverty. And a disproportionate number of children in America who are living in poverty are Black children," Harris told the audience. She hailed the frontline and essential workers and medics including Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett who developed Moderna and  Sandra Lindsay for Pfizer’s invention. "We know how folks were treated, historically, in terms of medical science and research. So we know it is an issue that we must acknowledge,” the US Vice President said. 

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