Who is Kamala Harris

Kamala Devi Harris has been a popular topic of conversation since August 11, 2020, when it was announced she is Joe Biden’s running mate in the 2020 presidential election.

Harris was born on October 20, 1964 in Oakland, California. Her parents are Donald Harris, an economist who went to Stanford University, and Shyamala Gopalan Harris, a cancer researcher at the University of California at Berkeley. At the age of 7 her parents got divorced, then at the age of 12 she moved with her mother and aunt to Quebec where she attended Westmount High School. While there she was on the debate team which might have influenced her future in politics.

For college she attended Howard University. She specifically attended this university because she wanted a different experience. Howard University is a Historically Black University, which was quite different from her past experiences at primarily white schools. Howard University is known as the “Black Harvard.” At Howard, she majored in both economics and political science.

After Kamala graduated from Howard in 1986, she went to University of California’s Hastings College of the Law, which led to her becoming a lawyer in 1990. 

 According to Biography.com, “She became managing attorney of the Career Criminal Unit in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office in 1998, and in 2000 she was appointed chief of its Community and Neighborhood Division, during which time she established the state’s first Bureau of Children’s Justice.”

In 2003, Harris became the district attorney of San Francisco. Then in 2010, became the California attorney general, making her the first African-American and the first female in that position. As attorney general she, “officiated the first same-sex marriage in California.” 

Harris then became a U.S. Senator and gained attention on the Judiciary Committee with her questioning of Brett Kavanaugh, who was facing sexual assault accusations after being a nominee for the Supreme Court in 2018.

  On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, she first announced her bid to run for president. While she started off strong, her campaign came to an end in late 2019. Biden, who first criticized her healthcare plan and then her record as the California attorney general, picked her as his running mate. 

“I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked Kamala Harris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate,” Biden said in a tweet, “Back when Kamala was Attorney General, she worked closely with Beau. I watched as they took on the big banks, lifted up working people, and protected women and kids from abuse. I was proud then, and I’m proud now to have her as my partner in this campaign.”

Harris then stated, “I’m honored to join him as our party’s nominee for Vice President, and do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief,” Harris said.

Next in line for Harris is the vice presidential debate scheduled for October 7th, where she will face off against Mike Pence.