Billionaire businessman and philanthropist Strive Masiyiwa, a father of five daughters, says the historical swearing in of the first female and black US Vice President Kamala Harris is a great inspiration for millions of girls and women across the world.
Masiyiwa, the founder and chairman of the pan-African Econet Group, writes:
There are people who will want you to believe that it is not a big deal that a woman of colour is becoming Vice President of the United States.
It’s a REALLY BIG DEAL FOR ME, and here is why:
I am a father of five daughters, and from the moment each one of them took their first breath, I have wanted them to be successful in life. I want them to be whatever their God-given talents and grace will allow them to achieve.
But I have always known that there are barriers which must be removed for them to get there – precisely because they are woman, and also because they are black.
Each time someone out there removes a barrier that my children face, I rejoice!
How can I not rejoice because a woman and one of colour has reached this level?
When she is sworn in later this afternoon (January 20, 2021), I will sit with each of my daughters, and we will watch. And so will millions of black Americans who will see this day as a miracle. And many little girls will dream, and dream!
When my daughters were little, they would shout encouragement about each other with these words:
“Go Joanna, Go! You are a champion! Girls can do anything!”
(Joanna was the smallest of them, and she got to Yale University!).
So let’s all shout: “Go, Kamala, Go! You are a champion! Girls can do anything!”
Let us encourage others, so that we too might draw encouragement.
