Kamala Harris is sworn in as vice president as her husband, Doug Emhoff, holds the Bible.

Kamala Harris is sworn in as vice president as her husband, Doug Emhoff, holds the Bible.

Vice President Kamala Harris made history on Wednesday 20th january 2021 when she was sworn in as the first female, the first Black and first South Asian vice president of the United States.

After a tumultuous year that began a new chapter of the civil rights movement as Americans took to the streets to protest against racial injustice and police brutality after the death of George Floyd, the swearing in was a remarkable achievement for a country that has often struggled to live up to its ideals of equality for all.

Biden noted the historic nature of Harris' swearing in during his speech.

"Here we stand looking out on the great Mall, where Dr. (Martin Luther) King (Jr.) spoke of his dream. Here we stand where 108 years ago, at another inaugural, thousands of protesters tried to block brave women marching for the right to vote. Today, we mark the swearing-in of the first woman in American history elected to national office, Vice President Kamala Harris," Biden said.

Harris was sworn in on two Bibles -- one that belonged to former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, one of her heroes who inspired her to pursue a career in the law, and that of Regina Shelton, a neighbor who cared for Harris and her sister Maya when they were growing up and attended church with her.

In soaring tones before a bipartisan audience -- that symbolized a moment of democracy restored after the turmoil of recent weeks -- Lady Gaga performed the National Anthem and Jennifer Lopez sang a medley of American musical selections including "This Land is your Land" and "America the Beautiful."

Speaking at the ceremony as the nation's first youth poet laureate, Amanda Gorman recited a poem about bridging divides that she finished on the night that Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol.

"Somehow we've weathered and witnessed a nation that isn't broken, but simply unfinished," Gorman said in the poem she read after Biden's speech. "We've seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it. Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy. And this effort very nearly succeeded. But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated.