Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris is the daughter of immigrants to the United States. Her father Donald J. Harris came from Jamaica. He is an economist and Professor at Stanford University. Harris' mother Shyamala Gopalan came from India to do a Masters degree in nutrition and endocrinology at the University of California, Berkley, and she later got her PhD. Harris' parents divorced in 1970 and from then on, she and her sister Maya were raised by their mother.

Harris was bused to school as a child. This was a measure instituted to ensure integration in U.S. schools: there would no longer be separate schools for white and black children. In 1954, the United States Supreme Court ended segregation in schools with the ruling Brown versus Board of Education. This was a result of the Civil Rights Movement. The two-way busing integration program that Harris was a part of commenced in 1968. The school Harris went to used to be 94% white but became 40% black.

There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me.

Kamala Harris

Harris got a degree in political science and economics from Howard University, and went on to study law at the University of California, Hastings College of Law. She passed the bar exam in 1990.

Harris' first job was as deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California. She worked her way up to eventually becoming attorney general of California.

As a district attorney and later attorney general, Harris has had to argue many controversial cases. She has spoken out against systemic racism, against the death penalty, and in favour of LGBT rights. She has also worked to ensure consumer rights, for example privacy rights on apps.

Let’s speak the truth: people are protesting because Black people have been treated as less than human in America. Because our country has never fully addressed the systemic racism that has plagued our country since its earliest days. It is the duty of every American to fix. No longer can some wait on the sidelines, hoping for incremental change. In times like this, silence is complicity.

Kamala Harris

In 2014 Harris married lawyer Doug Emhoff and became a stepmother to his two children. He will be the first second gentleman (the wife of the vice president is called the second lady) and the first Jewish spouse of a vice president.

Harris ran for the U.S. Senate in 2016 and won. She was sworn in as one of California's two senators in 2017. During her time in the Senate she played a central role in a number of hearings, drawing on her experience as a prosecutor.

In 2020 Harris ran for president but was unable to get the funds and position necessary to win the Democratic nomination. Instead Joe Biden won the nomination, and asked Kamala Harris to join his ticket.

It was a close race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and it took days to count all the votes. President Trump had accused the Democrats of rigging the election through the use of postal votes throughout his campaign, and he refused to accept the result. As there was no evidence to support President Trump's claims of voter fraud, Joe Biden was declared the winner. Kamala Harris made history as the first woman vice president.

What I want young women and girls to know is: You are powerful and your voice matters. You're going to walk into many rooms in your life and career where you may be the only one who looks like you or who has had the experiences you've had. But you remember that when you are in those rooms, you are not alone. We are all in that room with you applauding you on. Cheering your voice. And just so proud of you. So you use that voice and be strong.

Kamala Harris