I Walk in Her Shoes

Image courtesy of Bria Goeller and WTF America-Good Trubble

BY CHERIE BUCKNER-WEBB

We knew she was coming. We waited. We made preparations. For generations, many laid the foundation, shared the promise of women of power, passion and purpose. No one lost hope. We kept the faith, were prayerful: we did not falter nor faint. We heard her voice in the admonitions of our mothers, felt her fervor in our DNA, tasted her freedom in our dreams. Her determination swelled in our hearts. Our destinies were woven with will and perseverance she would possess to overcome the naysayers and adversaries. We remained vigilant.

She honors the women who forged the path for herself and all of us. She epitomizes the skills and capabilities, the cherished “firsts” in the political and in life–the Honorable Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Jordon, Carol Moseley-Braun, Rosa Parks and six-year-old Ruby Bridges, the first African American child to attend a white elementary school in southern America.

While we knew not her name, we knew she would embody the whole of all women, races, backgrounds, cultures, professions. AND FINALLY, SHE IS HERE.

While we knew not her name, we knew she would embody the whole of all women, races, backgrounds, cultures, professions. And finally, she is here. We call her sister, mother, trailblazer and Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States of America.

All the while she was learning the ways of the advisory and how to best address the myriad paradoxes she would face as a woman of color in a white world. She learned the formidable lessons of diplomacy, order, tact, and finesse, while understanding that there is opportunity in chaos. She acknowledged the juxtapositions she represented, those that seemingly confounded the mainstream, dominant culture. In every endeavor of her life: educationally, personally, professionally, and politically, she was pushed back and pulled forward always heading toward the future. Our future. She did not accept either/or as the only answer. She worked, listened, and learned from those who came before and inhabited her paradox like a second skin. She is clear about being an individual and being a member of a group, always aware of her sameness and difference. Knowing how and when to challenge and when to support and serve an ideology, a person, the greater good, made her a leader. She is the first and will not be the last.

We welcome you, Kamala, at this place in our time. We knew you were coming.

Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress, representing New York’s 12th congressional district for seven terms from 1969 – 1983. Announcing her candidacy on the steps of the Brooklyn Concord Baptist Church, Chisholm said, “I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women’s movement of this country, although I am a woman… I am the candidate of the people of America.”

Congresswoman Barbara Jordan was the first African-American state senator (Texas) since 1883 and the first woman ever elected to that chamber. In 1974, with the support of Lyndon B. Johnson, she was appointed to the House Judiciary Committee, where she gave the 15-minute opening statement of the impeachment hearing for Richard Nixon. “I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution.” Jordan served in the 93rd, 94, and 95th U.S. Congress(es): 1973-1979.

Congresswoman Carol Moseley-Braun was a Democratic senator from Illinois (1993-99) who in 1992 became the first African American female elected to the U.S. Senate. “I cannot escape the fact that I come to the Senate as a symbol of hope and change.” Women across the U.S. cheered her candor. “The Senate absolutely needed a healthy dose of democracy,” she observed. “It wasn’t enough to have millionaire white males over the age of 50 representing all the people in the country.”

And not to be overlooked: Geraldine Ferraro, Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton.

It wasn’t enough to have millionaire white males over the age of 50 representing all the people in the country.

-Congresswoman Carol Moseley-Braun

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The Honorable Cherie Buckner-Webb is an Idaho State Senator, Certified Professional Coach, Consultant and Motivational Speaker