Women Wore ‘Chucks’ & Pearls on Inauguration Day

You may have noticed  women across the country donning pearls and Converse All-Star shoes to watch Vice President-elect Kamala Harris take her oath of office.

Being called "Chucks & Pearls Day" the event has been supported by several Facebook groups created to show support for the first female Vice President on the day of her inauguration. Hope Aloaye, who started one of the groups, says she chose pearls for a very special reason.

"I equated the pearls to women (because) we go through a lot of things, but we still come out shining," Aloaye, a 46-year-old veteran in Orange Park, Florida told Today. "Pearls are every color, shape, size. It doesn't matter. ... I just thought that was a beautiful thing."

It also made sense since the new Vice President has a huge love of pearls. Harris has noted that pearls are a nod to her her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA). AKA happens to be one of the nation's oldest Black sororities with some big name members such as Maya Angelou, Coretta Scott King and Rosa Parks. AKA's founders are referred to as the "twenty pearls," and today, pearls represent solidarity that exists between AKA sisters.

Harris also has one amazing collection of Converse All-Stars shoes, also known as “Chucks". Often she's been spotted sporting them with just about anything...dress or casual. In a interview with Complex Harris talked of her love of her Chucks saying, "Chucks—whatever your background is, whatever language your grandmother spoke—you know, we all at some point or another had our Chucks".

Since the page was started in early December, the "Wear Pearls on Jan 20th, 2021" group has grown to more than 430,000 members, and has inspired several other Facebook pages as well all supporting the incredible milestone in women's history being made. Here's to women everywhere!

Check  out some of our listeners rocking their Chucks & pearls.