Raising a daughter in 2021

“You can be whatever you want to be.” “If you can dream it, you can be it.” Those phrases a lot of our parents tried to instill in us will always ring true but every so often there’s a corner of the world who gets to witness that affirmation actualize in their lives. For women, for women of color, that once in a blue moon moment happened on January 20, 2021.

Even in the weeks leading up to Kamala Harris’ swearing in as the Vice President of the United States, you could find people stating that the executive office was a “man’s job” or that they “can’t see a woman holding high office” because of *insert absurd excuse*. At the time, many of us may have fervently disagreed, some conceding that, “well it hasn’t been done before” and a few quietly agreeing with such sentiments. Fast forward to today and it would be comical to hear someone say they could not imagine a woman serving as the Vice President because, unless they have an ocular disability, they need only turn their gaze to our 49th Vice President. 

Now, our parents were not lying when they promised that the world was only waiting for us to realize our dreams but there will be a difference at bedtime for me. When I tell my daughter that there is nothing she cannot do or be, I’ll have just one more person to name. Not to dream or imagine, but a person I can point to. 

Every time someone becomes “the first,” in this imperfect country we all take a small step toward fulfilling a vision of a more perfect union. When politicians, Supreme Court Justices, poets, artists, entrepreneurs step boldly into positions no one “like them” has held it makes the world better and it makes all of us a little better too.