There is something to be said about the visit of United States Vice President Kamala Harris to the Philippines.
Touted to be the "first highest -level visit" to our little cluster of islands in the South Pacific by a US administration official, this event has led our eyes to two paradoxes at once: First, that she is here to deepen security relations in light of China's "growing influence" in the region; and second, that it is a woman whom fate had sent for a pacific message in this increasingly volatile world.
Not to get into the gender issue here — it is simply that in her talk with China's President Xi Jinping at the APEC Summit in Thailand recently, VP Harris told him, "We welcome competition but we do not see conflict, we do not seek confrontation," as she revealed in a media conference afterward.
Again, forgive the gender reference here, but it is true that women tend to advocate the peaceful side, to deliver a soft approach to a potentially raging issue.
This is not to say that Ms. Harris is a softie, far from it.
Raised by socially aware parents, Kamala and her sister Maya grew up knowing their own minds. In their youth, they reportedly initiated a successful protest against an apartment owner who refused to let children play in the yard.
Her parents were intellectual people: mom Shyamala Devi was born in India and a renowned breast cancer researcher. Her father Donald was from Jamaica and taught economics at Stanford University. Kamala and her sister moved to Montreal with their mom after their parents separated, but she returned to California some years later to study law after taking up political science and economics in college.
Needless to say, her career was marked by significant "firsts."
She became the "first black woman" to become a San Francisco District Attorney. She, of course, is known to be the "first woman of color to serve as the Vice President of the United States." (An aside: I am proud to claim that the Philippines had the first woman to serve as President of the Philippines and say what you will about it, but it paved the way for various transformations related to the perception of gender roles.)
Vice President Harris may perhaps be the first to say that her journey was not paved in silk. Hers is a story I would so love to hear from her in person, but alas, she is in Palawan, sending another "a pointed symbolic message to China" when she meets with members of the Philippine coast guard.
I suppose her presence there would be either reassuring or insignificant, depending on where your biases lie. For me, Kamala Harris being present amid a storm just waiting to blow in the middle of the ocean is very telling. One hopes she spreads calming influences instead of sparking volatility.
For me, that is a role into which women are typecast, but I do not mind. There is nothing to be gained from inciting anger and controversy. If we think about it, we are all the same, anyway. We live on one planet, and we all want basically the same things (and I will say them at the risk of sounding like a Hallmark card): Peace and harmony in our world, assurance of a good future, and joy in our lives.
All this is true, and yet we spend so much time whining about everything or everyone, or reveling in dramas of our own making. We think happiness comes from ensuring that we get what we want first, right now, discounting truths that the pandemic would have hopefully taught us.
Yet that is neither here nor there. I would like to know more about this US leader, a woman who is, yes, as imperfect as anyone, but having gone through a lot more because of her heritage and early circumstances, she could teach us about gaining strength in a world that weakens one because of the kind of people in it.
