Madam Vice President - it's a phrase that we as Americans aren't quite used to saying, but that is the new title of Kamala Harris as she was sworn in on Capitol Hill.
Harris holds a number of firsts for the office - not only the first woman, but also the first African-American and Asian-American to be the vice president.
She is also an Alpha Kappa Alpha alum, and women throughout the country were watching Harris being sworn in decked out in their chucks and pearls.
It was a sight that these women say feels surreal, but so very wonderful.
"It’s definitely a dream come true: the vice president looks like me, and in my lifetime it’s something that I could never imagine that’s actually happening," said Courtney Owens. "The world gets to see our culture on a platform, and with her being in the sorority, AKA, that’s just a beautiful thing. It’s just showing that everything is united, it’s just a spirited thing, and it reminds me of a saying of Maya Angelou - 'we are the hope and the dream of the slave'."
And with such a big change in the office of vice president, it could lead the way for others. Ohio Northern University political science professor Rob Alexander says that women in American politics have historically lagged behind the men, but recently that's a trend that has been changing over time.
"It’s important that there’s areas to recruit qualified women and qualified men, young people, minorities, all folks," said Alexander. "It’s really important to kind of develop that bench in state and local levels, and I think we’ve seen that more and more in that over the years."
Prior to the vice presidency, Harris served in Congress for the state of California from 2017 to 2021.
