'Tears of joy': Immigrants, children of immigrants moved by Biden and Harris speeches
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The words of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and President-elect Joe Biden on Saturday night carried a special meaning for immigrants and children of immigrants, who said the victory speeches filled them with pride, inspiration and hope.
Eric Mavakala, a 29-year-old master's student from Paris who studies cyber security at Marymount, was a part of a jubilant gathering in the streets of Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C. There, music played as some in the crowd pulled away to watch the speeches on their cell phones.
Mavakala said it has been harder for him to get into the country under the Trump administration, and he had been hassling his friends to vote because he cannot.
“He did it,” Mavakala said. “It’s beautiful and I wanted to show some love.”
In her speech, Harris — the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants — highlighted the work that Black women specifically have put into this nation's democracy. Black voters, particularly Black women, helped propel the Biden and Harris victory.
She also spoke of her late mother, who came to the United States at the age of 19, saying she might not have imagined this moment but that she "believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible."
On social media, immigrants and children of immigrants shared their emotional reactions as Harris and Biden celebrated their election.
"Watching my mother, an immigrant to this country, cry tears of joy as she watched those speeches makes me want to hug every single person who voted to make this happen," tweeted author and TV producer Elan Gale. "Thank you thank you thank you all."
Others shared similar responses:
As a daughter, a mother to a little girl, an immigrant, and a proud American, this moment in U.S. history is incredibly meaningful. https://t.co/9TDvOlECvu
— Weijia Jiang (@weijia) November 8, 2020
Pour one out to the first generation immigrant kids whose parents just told us to work hard so we could make it in America. pic.twitter.com/mTKGlJ1sFd
— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) November 8, 2020
As a child of immigrant parents, a mother of a little girl and a proud Canadian ... it’s impossible to underestimate the significance of this moment. #MadamVicePresident https://t.co/UA35n6mz8r
— Zuraidah Alman (@ZuraidahCTV) November 8, 2020
Dear daughters of immigrants: YES, you can too!
And this has inspired me anew, as a woman of colour in ministry, to keep advocating for gender equity and paving the way for our daughters. No matter how hard.
Because our future needs them and is brighter with them at the helm! https://t.co/0sbK3mQqmh— Aimee Esparaz 郭恩慈 (@Mama2GreatKids) November 8, 2020
It’s a bit difficult for me to express myself right now, but let me just throw a few words into the social media ether.
I didn’t expect to, but I found myself overwhelmed with emotion during Kamala Harris’s speech this evening. pic.twitter.com/DbwVaKSWje— Jackie Childers (@jl_childers) November 8, 2020
I’ve always felt that in my heart and soul as I’ve navigated my own life, as a first generation college student, daughter of an immigrant and woman in STEM. To see a woman, finally, enter the executive branch of this country, fills me with an enormous sense of pride & inspiration
— Jackie Childers (@jl_childers) November 8, 2020
As the son of an immigrant and a person of color with a daughter, seeing our madam vice president up there meant the world to me. It's hard to put into words.
— InCuBuS_141 (@InCuBuS_141) November 8, 2020
Contributing: Jordan Culver and Rebecca Morin USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Immigrants, children of immigrants moved by Biden and Harris speeches