Kamala Harris
Over the course of her more than two decades in public life, notching up a long list of things she was the first to achieve: the first Black woman to be elected district attorney in California history, first woman to be California’s attorney general, first Indian American and now she is the first Asian American woman and Black woman to be selected as a major-party nominee for vice president.
What information about the woman who is about to shatter one of the biggest glass ceilings in American history should voters be aware of? A brief overview of the biography of Kamala Devi Harris, a leading prosecutor-turned-senator who may be just months away from becoming president, is provided here,
When was Kamala Harris born?
On October 20, 1964, Kamala Devi Harris was born in Oakland, California. She was the first of two children born to Indian cancer researcher Shyamala Gopalan and Jamaican economist Donald Harris.
Were Kamla Harris Parents Indian?
Her parents connected over their common interest of the civil rights movement—which was prevalent on campus—when they first met at UC Berkeley while seeking graduate degrees. Following her birth, they brought a stroller-ridden young Kamala along to demonstrations.
Who Is Kamala Devi Harris?
Her mother chose Kamala’s name as a nod both to her Indian roots—Kamala means “lotus” and is another name for the Hindu goddess Lakshmi—and the empowerment of women.
“A culture that worships goddesses produces strong women,” Gopalan told the Los Angeles Times in 2004
Kamala Parents Divorce
Harris’ parents divorced when she was 7, and her mother raised her and her sister, Maya, on the top floor of a yellow duplex in Berkeley.
Kamala Harris Schooling
Harris was transferred to Thousand Oaks Elementary School, which was undergoing its second year of integration, for his first grade education. For the following three years, she and her friends would play games like “Miss Mary Mack” and “cat’s cradle” on the bus that took them from her mostly black, lower-middle-class neighborhood to her school, which was in a wealthy, white district.
Is Kamala Devi Harris Hindu?
Harris embraced her Black and South Asian identities as a child by attending both a Hindu temple and a Black Baptist church. Afterwards, Harris stated in her autobiography, “My mother was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud black women. She understood very well that she was raising two black daughters.”
Kamala Harris Visited India
When she was a little girl, she traveled to India and was greatly impacted by her grandmother, an activist who went over the country teaching underprivileged women about birth control, and her grandfather, a powerful government official who battled for Indian independence.
Kamala Harris Middle School
Harris attended middle school and high school in Montreal after her mom got a teaching job at McGill University and a position as a cancer researcher at Jewish General Hospital.
Kamala Harris and her Sister Maya Harris
In Montreal, a 13-year-old Harris and her younger sister, Maya, led a successful demonstration in front of their apartment building in protest of a policy that banned children from playing on the lawn.
How educated Is Kamala Harris
After high school, Harris attended Howard University, the prestigious historically Black college in Washington, D.C. She majored in political science and economics, and joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
SOURCE: POLITICO.COM
Web Stories: Newstraditon