A Time to Heal
By: Luciana Lambert
Tags: Kamala Harris, Politics, Election 2020, Joe Biden, Voting

A Time to Heal

Preparing ourselves for the new times ahead.

Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris. Image captured from ABC7NY live stream.

A victory for the people

In Joe Biden’s victory speech on the evening of November 7, he invited the American nation to start healing. “Too many dreams have been deferred for too long,” he said. Some in the audience could not hold back their tears of joy. Four years ago, our tears were of heartbreak and fear, while Hillary Clinton delivered a concession speech to astounded viewers. Since that very day in 2016, we need healing.

The past few years have been extremely painful to this nation and to the world. The surge of unethical leaders who cared little about the people and the planet put us in a fragile condition. The more vulnerable among us, the poor, refugees, minorities, and the planet have suffered immensely. As a nation, America watched helplessly as their President sneaked past any accountability for his actions, becoming someone we had to endure in hopes to see him gone after the 2020 Presidential election.

Penalized in the Democratic Primaries for his message of unity with the Republican Party, Biden came out first anyway, thanks in part to the Black community, whose fear of four more years of Trump motivated them to pick the moderate candidate as opposed to someone whose policies were more openly progressive and inclusive, and whose message was of creating a change that would benefit struggling Americans regardless of the Republican Party’s approval.

President-elect Joe Biden. Image captured from ABC7NY live stream.

Recognizing Black American voters

Black Americans, the backbone of the modern Democratic Party, were strategic in their choice. In January, the White House will be represented by someone whose career is known and respected, and whose friendly personality was a staple of the great Obama years.

“I’ll have the honor of serving with a fantastic vice president who you just heard from, Kamala Harris, who makes history as the first woman, first Black woman, the first woman from South Asian descent, the first daughter of immigrants ever elected in this country.” “I’m proud of the coalition we put together. The broadest and most diverse coalition in history. Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Progressives, Moderates, Conservatives, young, old, urban, suburban, rural, gay, straight, transgender, white, Latino, Asian, Native American. I mean it. Especially those moments — and especially those moments when this campaign was at its lowest ebb, the African-American community stood up again for me. You always had my back and I’ll have yours.”

Biden’s win signifies that unity while Harris is the image of inclusiveness, opportunity, and change. As the first woman of color in the VP position, she is known for her strong but joyful approach to public service. Alongside Biden, Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris is a great inspiration for healing: a former prosecutor in the ticket that is about to replace a highly unethical and, at times, criminal administration. In her speech, Kamala Harris spoke to women.

“All the women who have worked to secure and protect the right to vote for over a century 100 years ago with the 19th Amendment, 55 years ago with the Voting Rights Act and now in 2020 with a new generation of women in our country who cast their ballots and continued the fight for their fundamental right to vote and be heard. Tonight, I reflect on their struggle, their determination and the strength of their vision to see what can be unburdened by what has been. And I stand on their shoulders. And what a testament it is to Joe’s character that he had the audacity to break one of the most substantial barriers that exists in our country and select a woman as his vice president. But while I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last. Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities and to the children of our country regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message: Dream with ambition, lead with conviction and see yourselves in a way that others may not simply because they’ve never seen it before.”

A new time

In the years ahead, we can restore our ability to dream. We can hope and work for a better America, rebuilding our character, fixing injustices, rescuing the planet, and caring for the people who inhabit our land, either by birth or by choice.

Starting now, we can plan our post-pandemic lives, stay involved in the causes that matter to us, and wake up every day knowing that we put the darkest of our recent times behind us. It’s a new moment. Let’s make the best of it.