HELLO, MADAM VICE PRESIDENT!
Welcome to the NEW, America!
Hey Sis (and the Brothers who love us)!
Forgive us for busting all up in your inbox like this, but the history we’ve wanted for so long finally happened and we are excited!
Just before noon on Jan. 20, 2021, Kamala D. Harris stepped over the remnants of the glass ceiling she shattered to take the oath of office as Vice President of the United States. The first woman elected to national office, she will serve beside President Joe Biden, also a history maker who was elected to the U.S. Senate at age 29, served as vice president to first Black President Barack Obama and now, at 78, is the oldest American president.
All across America, sisters tuned in, or logged on, and exulted in the moment when Harris stood before Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, placed her hand on Thurgood Marshall’s Bible and became our first Madam Vice President.
Once the pomp and circumstance was done, Harris got down to business.
“Ready to serve,” she tweeted, and made her way to the Senate to preside over the Republican-to-Democrat transition of the chamber’s leadership. She made more history there, swearing in Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, Georgia’s first Jewish and first Black senators respectively. Giggling over what she called a “weird” experience, Harris also swore in her own successor, Alex Padilla, California’s first Latino senator.
Harris spoke to the nation at the end of her historic first day, during the Presidential Inaugural Committee’s virtual celebration. She called for unity, urging Americans to gather “the courage to see beyond crisis, to do what is hard, to do what is good.”
“Believe in our country,” she said. “Believe in what we can do together.”
To be honest, the whole “Celebrating America” virtual event was an awesome feel-good experience. We were riveted from Tom Hanks’ opening speech to the ex-presidents’ remarks and the fireworks at the end. If you’ve got about 90 minutes to spare, you can watch it right here:
Forever FLOTUS Michelle Obama:
SLAY LADY, SLAY!
First, giving honor to the gods of fashion, let us pause here to give Barack and Michelle Obama some props. They strutted stepped onto the dais with the strong inaugural drip!!
Especially Mrs. Obama. The former first lady slaaaaaayed in this plum and burgundy ensemble by South Carolina-born designer Sergio Hudson.
Click the video and follow the drip …
Hudson, 36, also designed the black sequined dress and tuxedo coat ensemble that Madam VP wore to the Celebrating America festivities.
WAIT. Where Was Stacey Abrams?
We wondered that too. Certainly The Queen of Getting Souls to the Polls should be at the party that she made happen, right?
We weren’t able to spot Sister Stacey from our socially distanced DC perch. But if you’re wondering “who all was over there?”, The New York Times has thoughtfully created this interactive photo of the inaugural stage that gives a close-up view of the folks on the stage, and where they sat.
We kinda expected that many political dignitaries chose to stay home since the global COVID19 pandemic is still raging, and Biden encouraged the public to sit this one out. So we have to assume our dear Ms. Abrams honored that request.
Abrams was included in the Presidential Inaugural Committee’s virtual salute to diversity the day before the inauguration, and she stayed on top of the ceremony as it unfolded. She took to Twitter to congratulate Biden and Harris as well as Ossoff and Warnock, who she called “my Senators and my friends.” And she
tweeted some love to poet Amanda Gorman.
Speaking of Gorman … She brought the thunder with her masterful prose, “The Hill We Climb.” At 22, the Los Angeles resident is the youngest inaugural poet ever. Not to be missed: the beautiful gifts that Oprah sent: earrings and a ring that Gorman paired with her bright yellow blazer and red satin Prada headband.
If you missed Gorman’s reading on the inaugural stage, don’t worry. We got you!
Oh, those AKAs!!!!
For America, Jan. 20, 2021 was Inauguration Day. For the ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., it was Soror Kamala D. Harris Day.
To say this sisterhood is ecstatic to see one of their own make history would be an understatement. AKAs worldwide marked the occasion by wearing pink and pearls. Some wore Chuck Taylor sneakers (Harris’ fave), either plain or festooned with pearls, and convened virtual watch parties so they could cheer their sister on, together.
A few of Madam Vice President’s line sisters have been speaking about their shared AKA sisterhood experience in the days leading up to the inauguration and gamely taking questions such as, why do y’all wear pearls? Check out how AKA sister Jill Louis explained this to Robin Roberts on Good Morning America:
A few days before her official swearing in, Harris reunited with her line sisters to share memories of their college days during a virtual Founders’ Day celebration. Alpha Kappa Alpha was established at Howard University on Jan. 15, 1908.
AKAs from many walks of life — the clergy, Congress, the military, the arts — commended Harris for her historic accomplishment.
Among those congratulating Harris was actress Phylicia Rashad, who made history in 2004 as the first Black actress to win the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. Rashad, a 50-year member who, like Harris, joined AKA at Howard, praised Harris for embodying the sorority’s highest ideals: sisterhood, knowledge, strength, endurance, justice and service to all mankind. “In doing so, you have become a woman for all seasons for all women, everywhere, all the time,” Rashad said. “With great love and appreciation, we salute you!”
Watch the AKAs rain love on their sister Kamala here:
Are We Finished, Or Are We Done?
Of course not!
There is so much to unpack about our history maker Kamala and the new Biden administration, it couldn’t be contained in just one newsletter! We’ll be back with much more to say in our next edition, so watch this space!!
