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See Kamala Harris' powerful tribute to barrier-breaking women on Inauguration Day

Harris has often spoken about the importance of paying homage to the trailblazing women who made her success possible.
/ Source: TODAY

Kamala Harris is taking time to honor the women who have made her historic inauguration possible, just hours before she'll be sworn in as the first Black, South Asian and female vice president of the United States.

On Wednesday morning, the former California senator shared a video on Instagram that echoed what she's said many times before: She wouldn't have achieved such success without the women who've paved the way, like Shirley Chisholm, Hillary Clinton and her own mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris.

The clip, created by the Biden-Harris transition team, began with several photos of a young Harris and her mother as Harris' acceptance speech after she and Joe Biden won the 2020 election played in the background.

"To the woman most responsible for my presence here today — my mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who is always in our hearts," she said. "When she came here from India at the age of 19, she maybe didn’t quite imagine this moment, but she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible."

Image: Joe Biden
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and husband Doug Emhoff attend Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle during Inauguration Day ceremonies in Washington.Evan Vucci / AP

As the video turns to clips of Harris throughout her career, from when she was sworn in as district attorney of San Francisco with her mother by her side, to various snapshots from the campaign trail, Harris' voiceover continues: "So, I’m thinking about her and about the generations of women — Black women, Asian, white, Latina, and Native American women throughout our nation’s history who have paved the way for this moment.

"Women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality, liberty and justice for all, including the Black women, who are often too often overlooked but so often prove they are the backbone of our democracy. All the women who worked to secure and protect the right to vote for over a century: 100 years ago with the 19th Amendment, 55 years ago with the Voting Rights Act, and now, in 2020, with a new generation of women in our country who cast their ballots and continued the fight for their fundamental right to vote and be heard.

"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," Harris concluded.

Harris has often spoken about her mother and other women who broke barriers throughout history. When she officially accepted her vice presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention she spoke in detail about being raised by a single mother.

"Even as (my mother) taught us to keep our family at the center of our world, she also pushed us to see a world beyond ourselves," Harris said at the time. "She taught us to be conscious and compassionate about the struggles of all people, to believe public service is a noble cause and the fight for justice is a shared responsibility."