11 Things You Need To Know About Kamala Harris
Born in Oakland, California the new Vice President-elect is the first African-American, first South Asian-American and first female to be elected to the office
The wait is over. History or shall we say, herstory, has just been made.
On November 7 Joe Biden was officially declared the 46th president-elect of the United States and with him, Senator Kamala Harris as vice president-elect. After four grueling days of meticulous counting, the race was finally over.
In a viral phone call heard round the world, Harris relayed the good news with her signature laugh. “Joe, we did it.”
Like the fabled white knight come to save the damsel, Harris dressed accordingly for her victory speech–except she was the one doing the saving. Surrounded by masked revelers, Harris delivered loving words, honoring the tribulations of generations past for the triumph of today.
“While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last–every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities, and to the children of our country, regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message: Dream with ambition, lead with conviction and see yourselves in a way that others may not, simply because they’ve never seen it before — but know that we will applaud you every step of the way,” she said.
Here are 11 little known facts about the United States’ first Madam Vice President-Elect, Kamala Harris.
1. Daughter of an Indian-American biomedical scientist and Jamaican-American professor of economics, Harris is the first woman of colour to be elected to office of American Vice President
2. After her parents divorced when she was seven, Harris remained close to her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, until her passing in 2009. A leading researcher in breast cancer, Gopalan named Kamala—meaning “lotus” or “pale red” in Sanskrit. She was a no nonsense sort of woman, which Harris appreciated. “She was the kind of parent who if you came home complaining about something, she’d say ‘Well what are you gonna do about it?'”
You can’t know who @KamalaHarris is without knowing who our mother was. Missing her terribly, but know she and the ancestors are smiling today. #BidenHarris2020 pic.twitter.com/nmWVj90pkA
— Maya Harris (@mayaharris_) August 12, 2020
3. As a child, Harris grew up wanting to be a lawyer. “They were the heroes growing up. They were the architects of the civil rights movement. I thought that that was the way you do good things and serve and achieve justice. It was pretty simple,” said Harris. A lofty dream she smoothly executed. Harris earned her undergraduate degree from Howard University, a historically Black university in Washington, and a law degree from the University of California.
4. In 2003, Harris became District Attorney of the City and County of San Francisco where she started a programme to help first-time offenders continue their education and find employment.
5. Later on as California’s elected attorney general, Harris succeeded in making efforts to curtail police corruption with an online platform to make criminal justice data available to the public.
6. Married to corporate lawyer Douglas Emhoff, Harris is cutely referred to as “Momala” by her two stepchildren, Cole and Ella. Fashion runs in the family–Ella is currently a textiles and apparel student at Parsons School of Design in New York City. Her knitwear featured on her Instagram account is worth taking a peek at.
7. After Harris’ first date to Emhoff, (now referred to as Second Gentleman of the United States) he boldly emailed her a list of his available dates so they could be sure to keep in touch.
The morning after our first date, @DouglasEmhoff emailed me a list of his available dates for the next couple of months: 'I want to see if we can make this work.' And we did.
Dougie, happy birthday. I could not imagine anyone else I’d rather be with on this journey called life. pic.twitter.com/fh94VL4Uzk
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 13, 2020
8. Harris has a love for the unassuming and ever the classic, Chuck Taylor lace-ups. “I run through airports in my Converse sneakers. I have a whole collection of Chuck Taylors: a black leather pair, a white pair, I have the kind that don’t lace, the kind that do lace, the kind I wear in the hot weather, the kind I wear in the cold weather, and the platform kind for when I’m wearing a pantsuit.”
9. In 2016, Harris was elected state senator where she “introduced and cosponsored legislation to raise wages for working people, reform our broken criminal justice system, make healthcare a right for all Americans, address the epidemic of substance abuse, support veterans and military families, and expand access to childcare for working parents of California.”
10. No stranger to the hustle and bustle of politics, sister Maya Harris was one of Hillary Clinton’s policy advisors for her 2016 presidential campaign. A renowned civil rights lawyer we no doubt will be seeing more of her.
11. After a long day at work, Harris’ unwinds in comforting ways just like the rest of us. “If I’ve had a particularly crazy day, I try to squeeze in a nice hot bath before I go to bed. And I have a hot cup of tea, usually some kind of chamomile. One of the things that I do to relax at the end of the day is I read recipes. I have a whole collection of cookbooks, so if I’m at home, I read them.”
Vice President Auntie pic.twitter.com/TWgUjyaltk
— Meena Harris (@meenaharris) November 8, 2020
Lead image courtesy of Instagram/@kamalaharris