WASHINGTONWhen VP-elect Kamala Harris strode onto the stage in Wilmington, Delaware, to deliver her acceptance speech on Saturday night (Nov 7), she wore a pantsuit in "suffragette white", a nod to the women activists who fought for the right for women to vote a century ago.
The 56-year-old California senator has made history as the first woman, the first Black woman, the first woman of South Asian descent, and the first daughter of immigrants ever elected to national office in America, as President-elect Joe Biden put it in his own speech afterwards.
Ms Harris honoured her late mother Shyamala Gopalan Harris, a breast cancer researcher and civil rights activist who moved from India to America at the age of 19, whom she called "the woman most responsible for my presence here today".
"She maybe didn't imagine quite this moment. But she believed so deeply in America, where a moment like this is possible.
"So I'm thinking about her and concerning the generations of women, Black women, Asian, White, Latina, Native American women who throughout our nation's history have paved the way for this moment. Women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality and liberty and justice for all," she said.
"Tonight, I reflect on their struggle, their determination and the strength of their vision, to see what can be unburdened by what has been. I stand on their shoulders," said Ms Harris.
Mr Biden's choice of her as his running mate was a testament to his character, she said.
"He had the audacity to break one of the most substantial barriers that exists in our country and select a woman as his VP."
She added: "But while I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last."