Kamala Harris Changed the Narrative. Soon She Will Make History.

This column is part of HuffPost’s “She the People” series: stories by Black women exploring Kamala Harris’ historic candidacy. To read more, visit our hub.

It’s been almost two months since President Joe Biden announced he would not seek a second term in the Oval Office, and Vice President Kamala Harris has been busy. She consolidated the support of Democratic Party leaders in a single day, injected extraordinary enthusiasm into the base overnight, and ― in a few short weeks ― changed the narrative in a race that many viewed as Donald Trump’s to lose.

In the process, Harris also put to bed a narrative about herself. Once labeled a political under-performer whose main weakness was an inability to forge a connection with voters, she has proved that, given the chance, she is a charismatic campaigner whose personality resonates with Americans across the country. With each passing rally and viral meme, voters are responding to the vice president’s joyful, authentic, formidable presence. The doubts about likability seem unhinged in retrospect. She looks equal to this task ― comfortable, even. The underdog is on the verge of becoming a movement candidate. The vibe shift is real, and it’s heading for the glass ceiling.

Which should leave us all to ask: How did everyone so gravely underestimate this groundbreaking vice president, the first woman to serve as California’s attorney general, the winner of multiple high-profile elections? As one Indian-American mother ― and accomplished biomedical scientist ― might say, to answer this question we must look beyond the coconut tree and into the context of all in which we live and what came before us.

I happen to know something about the context in which Harris’ career has flourished.