Vice President Kamala Harris Hosts Historic Diwali Celebration At Her Home

It sounds cliche to say that “you have to see it to be it”; it’s also not entirely true, as many of the trailblazing guests were the first to mark a certain level of achievement in their fields. But it was beautiful to turn around everywhere and see South Asians of all ages meeting and greeting each other, congratulating each other on their latest personal or professional accomplishments, and the young dancers taking it all in — all of us, quite literally, seeing it. (What happens when you empower a generation to actually believe they can achieve anything they want? I can’t wait to see.)

Zohreen Shah, a correspondent for ABC News and Good Morning America who also attended as a guest, wrote on her IG story that the celebration was “significant,” and “wasn’t just a holiday party.”

“I followed VP Kamala Harris as a senator running for President…for hours every day in 2019,” she continued. “I’ve never seen her publicly embrace her South Asian side as much as she did last night. (Not even close). It was striking.”

As someone who has followed the VP on the campaign trail as well and interviewed her for previous jobs, I can also say that I’ve never seen her quite as comfortable as she was that night. Of course, it makes sense: we were at her home, where she lives with her family. But it was also clear she felt very at home with the community of people surrounding her.

A lot of credit must be given to her staff, including Opal Vadhan, her personal aide, and the many others who decorated her home and welcomed us all in. I enjoyed meeting her young staffers, like speechwriter Alexandra Robinson, associate counsel Medha Gargeya, and the first official photo editor for the VP’s office, Polly Irungu, the founder of Black Women Photographers. Representation behind the scenes, and who you choose to give opportunities to, is just as important as any visible or public role.