LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It was the deep breath taken around the world, Kamala Harris inhaled as she began to take her oath on Jan. 20, 2021.
Harris was sworn in as vice president, breaking historic gender and racial barriers in American politics. The moment in Washington ushered in a new generation, one that can say they saw history as the first woman took the oath of office one heartbeat away from the Oval Office.
For young women and girls witnessed that moment, it was the culmination of something generations before could only dream about.
She was "us" to them. This new generation watched on screens like the students at Grace James Academy in Louisville.
"All the students, we were in, we were watching it and we were all so happy and so joyful," said student Nissi Tatason.
Claudia Garcia also took part in a video conference watching the historic moment.
"Like, fate was just there...you can't change it," Garcia said.
The sky was the limit, a glass ceiling shattered, voices raised and the hope of a new generation projected from the steps of the Capitol by poet Amanda Gorman.
"While we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us," Gorman said.
And the eyes of a generation of women saw Vice President Kamala Harris do something no one had ever done before, something so many of her gender feared would never be a reality.
"Things are going to be different," said Kimani Bussey, a student at Grace James Academy. "Things are going to change for the better. Well, at least I think for the better."
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