As we launch "Know Your Value" and Forbes’ fourth annual "50 Over 50" U.S. list (which may be our most impressive one yet), I think it’s important to note that our headliner for the very first list four years ago was Vice President Kamala Harris. And today, Harris at 59 years old is seen as the young, fresh face of presidential politics. Isn’t life sweet?
When I first launched this list, I thought I would be paving the way for women in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and well beyond to validate their place, role and impact in today’s society. What I discovered is that we are catching up with a well-established successful global movement. Women over 50 are thriving, impactful, paving a long runway for the next generation.
And now our young “50 Over 50” listee is leading the way for women at a time in U.S. politics when our health is at stake — literally. Vice President Kamala Harris is an internet sensation and has turned the race around breaking fundraising records in just one week. For women, her breakout campaign is just in time.
There is already so much suffering at the hands of Trump Republicans. There are women across the country who need abortion health care to either survive, be able to have babies again, or to save themselves and their families from trauma who are left with no options.
Take Samantha Casiano, of East Texas, who found out at her 20-week ultrasound that her baby had a rare and fatal condition that prevented the skull and brain from fully forming. She was told her baby was going to die — but abortion laws in the state forced her to give birth anyway. Four hours after giving birth, Casiano’s daughter, Halo Hope, died in her arms.
Or what about Deborah Dobert in Florida, who was forced to carry her son, Milo, to term — even though he had no kidneys and would die soon after birth. Not only did Milo die, doctors told Dobert that her pregnancy put her at high risk of preeclampsia, which can be fatal.
And what about Christina Zielke, who was in Ohio when she started to miscarry. Because of the state’s six-week abortion ban, the ER wouldn’t treat her miscarriage even though she was bleeding profusely. Can you imagine “passing blood clots the size of golf balls” and being told by the hospital that it needed proof there was no fetal development and to come back in two days?
It is as if we are living in the dark ages.
So Kamala Harris is our first best hope of saving health care for women in America.
It took just one generation for Harris (the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants) to reach the highest levels of government and to make history in America as the first Black, Asian and female candidate to lead a major party’s ticket.
And that, my friends, is what America is all about. The excitement we are seeing and feeling about Harris is because she channels all of our dreams about this country — that literally anything is possible. And it comes at a time when the Republican nominee and his misogynistic running mate are campaigning on what is not possible.
They’re against abortion health care. They’re against a deal on immigration unless it serves them politically. They’re against saving Ukraine — and therefore peace in the world. They are against commonsense, gun safety measures. The list goes on and on.
The emergence of Harris on the presidential campaign stage feels like the sun coming out after a long, dark storm. And it is so wonderful to be releasing a list that celebrates women at their most powerful stage in life, where their wisdom and life experience come together as they firmly reject the notion that their best years are behind them.
And I simply think it’s absolutely amazing that Harris is the fresh, young face poised to fight for our freedoms and our future.
