Striking photo shows Barack Obama greeting Vice President Kamala Harris at the inauguration
- A striking photo captured Barack Obama joyfully greeting VP Kamala Harris.
- The photo was taken by Reuters photojournalist Jonathan Ernst at the inauguration.
- The two are the only Black Americans elected to the White House in US history.
Reuters photojournalist Jonathan Ernst captured a striking photo of former President Barack Obama passing on the torch of national office to newly sworn-in Vice President Kamala Harris.
Obama joyfully greeted Harris with a COVID-19 appropriate fist bump at Wednesday's inauguration of President Joe Biden, who served as Obama's vice president, and Harris, on Capitol Hill.
Like Obama 12 years ago today, Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian heritage, made history when she was sworn in as the first female, Black, and Asian vice president. Obama, born to a Kenyan father and American mother, was the United States' first Black president.
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Harris and Obama are the only two Black individuals to serve as president or vice-president out of over 90 Americans who have held those positions in US history. Harris is the only woman.
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina to serve on the court, swore in Harris on two Bibles, one belonging to her a family friend, Regina Shelton, and the other belonging to Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court Justice and an icon of civil rights law.
