KAMALA HARRIS

Born on October 20, 1964 in Oakland, California, Kamala Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican father and Indian mother. After her parents divorced, Kamala and her younger sister Maya were raised by their mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris. While growing up in Oakland, she was immersed in both Indian, Black and Caribbean culture. Kamala’s mother took her to spend time with her grandparents in India during the summer but also made sure her girls were connected to their Black roots. Kamala noted in her autobiography, “My mother understood very well that she was raising two black daughters...She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as black girls and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud black women." After high school, Harris matriculated to Howard University, a HBCU in Washington, D.C. She then received her law degree from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco and began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office. In 2003, Kamala was elected as the District Attorney of the City and County of San Francisco. On January 20, 2021, Kamala D. Harris became the first woman, the first Black woman, the first Indian-American, the first person of Asian-American descent, and the first graduate of an HBCU to be sworn in as the Vice President of the United States of America. As she said in her election acceptance speech, she “may be the first, but [she] will not be the last.” To learn more about Kamala, check out the YouTube video below about her background and career in politics.