By Emily Rice, Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — Kamala Devi Harris made history Wednesday when she was sworn in as the first female, Black and South Asian vice president of the United States.
Emotion flooded Bluefield Vice Mayor Barbara Thompson-Smith’s voice as she spoke to the Daily Telegraph Wednesday afternoon, after Harris was sworn into office.
“I am 71 and when I went to school it was segregated, and to come to where we are now, I did not think I would live to see it, but I praise God and I praised God all morning to say thank you,” Thompson-Smith said. “Love will always beat out hate. I feel in my heart that unity is coming. I know Joe Biden is 78, only seven years older than I, so I know he knows where we have come from.”
Thompson-Smith said that while the United States has come a long way, the country still has a lot of work ahead.
“To see her there as an African American and Asian woman, my heart says thank you Jesus,” Thompson-Smith said. “I am sure she is going to make all of us proud. Today is a day that I have been waiting on for years and years and years. The stories we could tell, I don’t even like talking about the trials and tribulations that we’ve gone through, but it was worth it if it leads us to a day like today. I know deep in my heart, that we all just need to set our ugliness aside and listen. And if we agree? Okay. And if we disagree? Okay. Why be hateful because we disagree?” …
