Kamala Harris Becomes Second African American Woman Elected To The Senate

Yesterday, amidst some disappointing election results, there was a bit of a bright spot. Kamala Harris became the second African American woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

Credit: FayesVision/WENN.com

Harris, the 52-year-old Oakland native, announced her candidacy for California Senate when Barbara Boxer announced that she was going to retire. Her victory last night is groundbreaking. Though 20 African American women serve in the House of Representatives, there hasn’t been a Black woman senator elected since Carol Moseley Braun was chosen to serve from 1993 to 1999.

Harris was born to an Indiana mother and a Jamaican father. Attended Howard University and pledged AKA while there. She was also a senior policy advisor for Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

As a senator, she vows to address criminal justice and immigration reform, created good-paying jobs, enacting family leave, equal pay policies, college affordability and universal pre-kindergarten for children

Congratulations to Kamala! She has a good fight in front of her.

Veronica Wells is the culture editor at MadameNoire.com. She is also the author of “Bettah Days.” You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter @VDubShrug.