More history will be made on Inauguration Day (Jan. 20) when Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, the nation’s first Black, South Asian and woman vice president, will be sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the high court’s first-ever Latina justice.
According to ABC News, Harris chose to take her oath of office from Justice Sotomayor because she was inspired by her background. Both are former prosecutors. The historical significance of Harris and Sotomayor sharing the stage on Wednesday is not being overlooked.
Harris will take her oath with two Bibles – one of them belonging to late civil rights leader and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who became the first Black justice on the Supreme Court in 1967.
Harris considers Marshall one of her personal heroes. Last July, she released a video on Twitter where she called Marshall a “fighter” and a “boxer in the courtroom.”
“The work that [Marshall] did is really one of the main reasons I wanted to be a lawyer,” Harris says in the video.
https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1278779742158757896“
This is the second time Sotomayor will participate in a presidential inauguration. In 2013, she swore in Joe Biden as vice president for his second term. It was the first time a Latina justice had administered an inaugural oath of office in United States history and only the fourth time a female justice had done it. As memorable as that moment was eight years ago, emotions will run high as all eyes will be transfixed on Harris and Sotomayor when they make history Wednesday.