The Attack on Ukraine: Over the past week, the Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent forces to violently and forcefully invade Ukraine, deepening the trajectory of a world war. BBC reports that by air, land, and sea, catastrophic attacks have been launched on Ukraine which is populated by 44 million people. After destroying a peace deal and claiming false allegations against the political and social climate of Ukraine, Putin ordered forces to the north, east, and south borders of the country and Russian troops are now closing in on Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital (Kirby).

What Putin really wants is to ensure Ukraine is never accepted into NATO, the West’s military alliance, as it would expand the organization further into the east and would, as he has claimed, threaten Russia’s “historic future as a nation.” More than that, Putin has accused Ukraine of being controlled by extremists after its pro-Russian President was driven out of office in 2014, retailing by taking over the southern region of Crimea, inciting a rebellion in the east, and aiding separatists in a severely deadly war against Ukrainian forces (Kirby).

In the later half of 2021, Putin deployed a multitude of troops near Ukraine’s borders and demolished a eastern peace deal established in 2015, acknowledging rebel areas as independent. On February 24, Putin stated Russia could not feel “safe, develop and exist” due to the threat of Ukraine and has claimed that his goal is to protect those suffering from bullying and genocide, ultimately wanting the “demilitarisation and de-Nazification” of the country (Kirby).

However, there has been no genocide in Ukraine and is led by a president, Voldyymr Zelensky, who is Jewish. Further, the country’s chief rabbi and the Auschwitz Memorial have completely rejected Putin’s claims. All Ukraine has done is establish a democratic system not in favor of Russian interest and deepen their relationship with the western world and as an outcome, they have been hit with mass civilian casualties and full-scale threats and invasions at the hands of Putin (Kirby).

The first attack was on airports and military headquarters and from there, tanks and troops entered Ukraine from Russian-annexed Crimea and the allied Belarus. A collection of CBS News reporters explains that on Friday, rocket strikes were heard in Kyiv. Video-based evidence proves gunfire and air raid sirens were heard in the capital and Russian tanks drove through residential cities. Zelensky stated in an address the same day that Russia is trying to “destroy our resistance” overnight and “all of us should understand what is awaiting us this night. We have to hold out. Ukraine’s destiny is being decided right now” (CBS News).

Since the invasion began, the Council on Foreign Relations finds there are more than 50,000 casualties in Ukraine, 1.5 million people displaced, the conflict status has steeply worsened, and there is severe impact on US interests (“Conflict in Ukraine”). These are horrific times for Ukrainians and the overall continent of Europe who are watching a major power invade its neighbor for the first time since World War Two (Kirby).

Patricia Roberts Harris: Politics is a testy, uncharted territory for Black women as they have been pushed down, belittled, and halted for their skin color and gender. Becoming a major leader in the political world is not easy as is but adding on society’s racist and sexist ideologies certainly makes it exceptionally more difficult. Thus, the successes of women such as Patricia Roberts Harris are not only inspiring and influential but crucial to the future power of Black women in government.

Patricia Roberts Harris, according to Historic America, was born on May 31, 1924 in Mattoon, Illinois where she lived out her youth (Brandis). The National Museum of American Diplomacy expands that she was raised by her mother and harbored an inherent exceptional drive for success resulting in five scholarship offers to college. 

In the end, she chose to attend Howard University in Washington, D.C. (“Patricia Roberts Harris: Ambassador”), serving as the Vice-Chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and securing membership into Delta Sigma Theta, a historically Black sorority. Away from just the parameters of college life, she attended one of Washington’s first restaurant sit-ins in 1943 (Brandis).

She graduated  Summa Cum Laude in 1945 but her academic career was far from finished. She moved back to Illinois, fully ready to attend the University of Chicago, the civil rights movement brewing in Washington influenced her transfer to American University where she would receive her Master’s Degree. She then attended the George Washington University Law School, graduating top of her class in 1960. Her rise in government began when she became an attorney for the appeals and research section of the criminal division of the Department of Justice and was then appointed by President John F. Kennedy to be the co-chairman of the National Women’s Committee for Civil Rights (Brandis).

1965 marked the start of Harris’ historically groundbreaking positions as she was chosen by President Lyndon Johnson to become the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg, the first African American woman to do so. Further, she served as an alternate delegate to the 21st and 22nd General Assembly of the United Nations amidst her diplomatic career. Post-employment of these positions, she continued to defy the standards and limitations set upon Black women by becoming the first African American dean of a U.S. law school: Howard University (“Patricia Roberts Harris: Ambassador”).

Afterwards, she returned to the life of a corporate attorney and joined the International Business Machines Corporation, becoming the first Black woman to sit on the board of directors at a  Fortune 500 company. Simultaneously, she established a leadership role within the Democratic Party and became a prominent member-at-large of the Democratic National Committee (Brandis). Her rank was so impressive that in the 1970s, she was elected Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development by President Jimmy Carter. Thus, she became the first African American woman to serve as a cabinet secretary (“Patricia Roberts Harris: Ambassador”).

Through this position, she boarded the ability to address run-down neighborhoods and work to bring them aid as well as receive businesses in impoverished areas. With high effectiveness and sheer commitment, she was able to reconstruct communities rather than destroying them like her predecessors (Brandis). Carter, in 1980, then made her the first secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services  until he was eventually voted out and denied re-election (“Patricia Roberts Harris: Ambassador”).

Nevertheless, her career continued to thrive and she joined the staff at the George Washington University National Law Center. Unfortunately, breast cancer took her life on March 23, 1985, (“Patricia Roberts Harris: Ambassador”) but her legacy lives on forever, valiantly remembered as a pioneer for Black women everywhere.

Works Cited 

Brandis, Alex. “A Woman of Many Firsts: Patricia Roberts Harris.” Historic America, 13 Apr.

2021,

www.historicamerica.org/journal/2021/3/1/a-woman-of-firsts-patricia-roberts-harris.

CBS News. “Gunfire and Explosions Reported in Kyiv as Ukraine’s Leader Accuses Putin of

Waging ‘War against Europe.’” CBS News, 25 Feb. 2022,

www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/russia-ukraine-invasion-donbas-troops-today.

“Conflict in Ukraine.” Global Conflict Tracker,

www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/conflict-ukraine. Accessed 25 Feb. 2022.

Kirby, Paul. “Why Is Russia Invading Ukraine and What Does Putin Want?” BBC News, 26 Feb.

2022, www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56720589.

“Patricia Roberts Harris: Ambassador.” National Museum of American Diplomacy, 2018,

diplomacy.state.gov/people/patricia-roberts-harris.