Kamala Harris biography, age, ethnicity, views, stepdaughter, husband, career path 2024

Biography of Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris is an American politician, senator, and the right-hand of the 46th President of the USA, Joe Biden. She is the first Black woman to be appointed Vice President of the USA.

Childhood and Family

Kamala Devi Harris was born in Oakland, California. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was born in British India, in Madras. She grew up in a civil servant's family and, after finishing college, applied to the University of California, Berkeley. At 19, she moved to the U.S. to study and earned a Ph.D. in endocrinology in 1964. At the university, Shyamala met a Jamaican immigrant and economics graduate student, Donald Jasper Harris, and they married in 1963.

Kamala became the first daughter of the young scientists. She was born on October 20, 1964, and two years later, her sister Maya was born. In the late 1960s, the Harris family went to Zambia, where Donald was offered a consultancy job with the government. After returning to the U.S., the Harris family settled in a Black neighborhood in Berkeley, in a duplex.

Due to their background, Kamala and her sister attended both an African American church and a Hindu temple. Kamala initially attended a specialized school for Black children, but as part of the desegregation plan (ironically opposed by Joe Biden early in his political career), she was transferred to a school with predominantly white American children.

In 1971, Donald and Shyamala divorced, and the girls stayed with their mother in a house on Bancroft Way until 1976. Kamala and Maya spent the next five years in Montreal, Canada, where their mother took a teaching position at McGill University and a research job at the Jewish General Hospital.

Education

In Montreal, Kamala finished school and then returned to the United States. In 1982, she enrolled at Howard University in Washington, graduating in 1986 with a degree in political science and economics. After this, Harris entered Hastings College at the University of California and earned her law degree in 1989.

Legal Career

In 1990, Harris joined the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, where she worked for eight years. In early 1998, Harris became an assistant district attorney for San Francisco.

During her two years in this position, Harris investigated cases of murder, sexual harassment, and robbery, and clashed with another assistant district attorney, Darrell Salomon, who proposed trying juveniles in the Superior Court instead of Juvenile Courts. Thanks to Harris, Salomon's amendment was not adopted, but the conflict led to her demotion. She later contested it, and Salomon was fired.

In 2000, Harris moved to the San Francisco City Hall, becoming an assistant to prosecutor Louise Renne. Kamala handled cases of child abuse and led the Family and Children's Services Division.

In 2003, Harris won the race for San Francisco District Attorney, defeating better-known and more experienced contenders Bill Fazio and Terence Hallinan. Undoubtedly, both opponents lacked Harris's determination, and voters agreed on the necessity of the crime-fighting measures she proposed.

Kamala Harris at the beginning of her career

Harris served two consecutive terms as district attorney, until 2010. She was elected as Attorney General of California in 2010 and was re-elected after her term ended. During her tenure, Harris implemented significant reforms in criminal justice, punishment systems, crime prevention, and privacy protection, earning a reputation as one of the most effective prosecutors in San Francisco's recent history.

Politics

In 2015, Harris announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat from California. With the support of the Democratic Party, President Barack Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden , she defeated her main opponent, Democrat Loretta Sanchez, in 2017, receiving over sixty percent of the total votes.

As a senator, Harris established herself as a decisive and resilient politician but faced some criticism for her "prosecutorial" style of communication. Among Harris's achievements was the development and implementation of the Housing Act, which allocated approximately 100 billion dollars for the repair and modernization of federal housing and the construction of affordable housing for low-income individuals, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

Harris also authored and co-authored many reforms in the areas of ecology, education, healthcare, and human rights, including women's rights and LGBTQ+ rights.

Vice President

After the tragic death of George Floyd in early 2020, racial tensions in the US became a serious issue. The Democrats urged Joe Biden, the main figure in the 2020 presidential election, to consider Kamala Harris for the vice president position, not so much because of her skin color, but due to her determination and belief in a just America.

Thus, in November 2020, after Biden's election victory, Kamala Harris became the first Black woman elected as Vice President of the United States.

In many interviews, Kamala says her mother raised her and her sister to be strong women, who their adopted homeland would always see as Black. Therefore, from a young age, she aimed to become an independent and proud Black woman. The first Black American of Indian descent representing California in the US Senate, she grew up believing in America's promises and ready to fight to ensure these promises were fulfilled for all citizens, regardless of skin color, gender, or sexual orientation.

Views

Overall, Harris's views can be described as liberal and progressive, with a focus on social justice, minority rights, and environmental issues.

Supports a healthcare system that offers Americans a choice between private and public health insurance.
Advocates for a woman's right to abortion and opposes restrictions on it.
Supports undocumented immigrants, especially those brought to the U.S. as children, but calls for adherence to immigration laws.
Supports LGBTQ+ rights, including same-sex marriage and transgender rights.
Advocates for federal marijuana legalization.
Supports reforming the bail system, reducing the number of prisoners, and eliminating private prisons.
Supports U.S. international alliances, opposes authoritarian regimes, and advocates for human rights protection worldwide.
Supports the "Green New Deal" and measures to combat global warming.
Advocates for "reasonable restrictions" on gun ownership.

Personal Life of Kamala Harris

Harris grew up embracing her Indian culture while proudly living an African-American life. She often accompanied her mother on trips to India and visited her father's homeland, maintaining connections with all her Jamaican relatives. Kamala's mother passed away from cancer in 2009, and her father, after retiring, focused on developing reform projects that promote economic growth and social justice.

Kamala Harris with her husband Douglas Emhoff

In the early '90s, Harris had a relationship with Willie Brown, a politician who was the Speaker of the California Assembly at the time. In 2001, Kamala briefly dated TV host and actor Montel Williams. There is no reliable information about other pre-marital relationships of Harris.

In the summer of 2014, Harris married successful lawyer Doug Emhoff. They dated for about six months before their wedding, having met on a blind date. Both Douglas and Kamala were 49 years old when they met, and according to Kamala, she was immediately charmed by this open and friendly man. Kamala has no children of her own, but she has warm familial relationships with her husband's adult children, Cole and Ella.

Kamala Harris Now

On July 21, 2024, President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election and named Kamala Harris as his successor.

The politician commented on his decision as follows:

On behalf of the American people, I thank Joe Biden for his extraordinary leadership as President of the United States and for his decades of service to our country. I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination. I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party—and unite our nation—to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda.

In the first day of the campaign, Harris's team raised $81 million in donations and secured the votes of 2,538 delegates (with a minimum of 1,976 needed).

Paul Avalos editor