"Kamala Harris: A Journey of Resilience and Leadership
"Kamala Harris: A Journey of Resilience and Leadership"
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00:00In August 2020, Kamala Harris was announced as Joe Biden's vice presidential running mate
00:05in the election.
00:06The announcement instantly pulled Harris further into the spotlight, as it signified a historic
00:11first for the country.
00:12Here's the stunning transformation of Kamala Harris.
00:16Harris was born in 1964 in California to immigrant parents, according to the Los Angeles Times.
00:22Her mother was a scientist from India, and her father was an economics professor originally
00:26from Jamaica.
00:27The two met while studying at Berkeley, where they both took part in the Civil Rights Movement.
00:31As Berkeleyside explained, Harris and her sister Maya grew up in a segregated Berkeley
00:36due to racist housing policies, otherwise known as redlining.
00:40One Berkeley historian described the community as,
00:43"...an integrated community with families of various races, both middle class and poorer
00:48residents."
00:49However, Harris' parents ensured that she was raised in a counterculture environment
00:53that embraced diversity.
00:54For instance, she and her sister were exposed to the Civil Rights Movement from an early
00:58age, which Harris believes helped her to become the politician she is today.
01:03Even before Harris was born, her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was both active in the Civil Rights
01:08Movement and interested in learning about Black culture, according to the Washington
01:11Post.
01:12A family friend of Gopalan explained,
01:14"...her Indian culture, she held on to that, but I think they grew up as Black children
01:18who are now Black women."
01:20In Harris' autobiography, The Truths We Hold, she explained her Black sense of identity
01:25in more detail, saying,
01:27"...my mother understood very well that she was raising two Black daughters.
01:31She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as Black girls, and she was determined
01:36to make sure we would grow into confident, proud Black women."
01:39"...she'd tell us, don't sit around and complain about things, do something.
01:45So I did something."
01:47Harris' parents divorced in 1971 when Harris was still fairly young.
01:52After the divorce, Gopalan was granted custody of the couple's two daughters after a hard-fought
01:56custody battle, as Donald Harris revealed in an article for Jamaica Global Online.
02:02Kamala stayed in touch with her father, and even visited his family in Jamaica.
02:05However, the majority of her sense of self comes from her mother.
02:08According to Outlook, Harris once said,
02:10"...she was the one most responsible for shaping us into the women we would become."
02:15While Gopalan was always keen to give her daughters a strong foundation in Black culture,
02:19she was also careful to raise them with an understanding of their Indian heritage.
02:23Harris visited India, where she was greatly influenced by her mother's father.
02:27In September 2019, Harris wrote in an Instagram post,
02:30"...morning walks with him made me who I am today, and it's why I'm proud to launch our
02:35South Asians for the People community."
02:38As a child, Harris was raised not only to appreciate her biracial heritage, but also
02:43to understand the importance of education.
02:45Harris told Berkeleyside,
02:46"...growing up, the first question asked of me at the dinner table was, what did you learn
02:50at school today?"
02:52Harris went on to explain that her first-grade teacher made a significant impact on her approach
02:56to learning.
02:57She revealed,
02:58"...Mrs. Wilson had a profound effect on all of us and was deeply committed to her students."
03:03In a November 2019 Instagram post, Harris revealed that she kept in touch with Mrs.
03:07Wilson, and even invited her to her law school graduation.
03:12Later in 2019, the senator announced on Twitter that she was part of a mural of women at Thousand
03:17Oaks Elementary School, where she was once taught by her beloved first-grade teacher.
03:22Apparently, Harris got her start in politics at a very early age, and the story is captured
03:27in a children's book.
03:29The book is by Nina Harris, Kamala's niece, and is called Kamala & Maya's Big Idea, inspired
03:35by real events from Kamala and her sister Maya's childhood.
03:38According to She Knows, the two sisters had the idea to build a play area in the courtyard
03:42of their apartment building.
03:43When the landlord refused, Kamala wrote a letter and organized a troupe of volunteers
03:48from the neighborhood children.
03:49Eventually, the girls were successful.
03:51Maya spoke to Glamour about their shared childhood, saying,
03:54"...we were always taught to stand up for ourselves, to stand up for others, to speak up."
04:00Harris eventually chose Howard University in Washington, D.C., for her undergraduate
04:04degree.
04:05According to The Washington Post, Harris chose Howard because,
04:08"...she wanted to be surrounded by Black students, Black culture, and Black traditions at the
04:12crown jewel of historically Black colleges and universities.
04:16It was there that Harris no longer felt part of a minority."
04:19She explained,
04:20"...when you're at a historically Black college or university, and especially one with the
04:24size and with the history of Howard University, it just becomes about you understanding that
04:29there is a whole world of people who are like you.
04:32It's not just about there are a few of us who many find each other."
04:36At Howard, Harris joined Alpha Kappa Alpha, the oldest historically Black sorority.
04:40There, she made friends with people who became like family, as she told USA Today.
04:45As she once said,
04:46"...Howard very directly influenced and reinforced, equally important, my sense of being and meaning
04:52and reasons for being."
04:54After graduating from Howard University, Harris went on to obtain another postgraduate degree
04:59in law.
05:00She attended the University of California's Hastings College of Law, according to Forbes.
05:05Harris once recalled how she was leading a sort of double life at the time.
05:08Apparently, she was living with her sister Maya, who, at the time, was raising her newborn.
05:13While Harris has no children of her own, this experience of working full-time and helping
05:18to raise her niece may have helped her to understand the struggles that single mothers
05:22face.
05:23She gave Maya a shout-out for Mother's Day on Instagram, saying,
05:26"...one invaluable gift she's given me is to show me what a phenomenal mother looks
05:30like."
05:32Harris has always been proud of her Black heritage, but it took her a little while to
05:35speak publicly about her mother's Indian heritage.
05:38As The Washington Post pointed out in 2019, many of Harris' close friends didn't initially
05:43realize the senator was of Indian descent.
05:45The executive editor of India Abroad explained,
05:48"...it's only been in the last year or so that she's really come out and embraced this part
05:52of her heritage."
05:53One activist for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders also commented on how Harris began
05:58to really embrace her Indian roots in 2018 and 2019, saying,
06:02"...I'm so glad she has discovered her Indian-ness.
06:06It's sudden, but I absolutely love that it's happening.
06:09It's not something she has exhibited over the years."
06:12Harris met fellow lawyer Douglas Emhoff on a blind date that was set up by a mutual friend,
06:17according to NBC News.
06:19According to her autobiography, Emhoff was pretty much head over heels after the first
06:23date.
06:24She explained,
06:25"...the morning after our first date, Doug emailed me with a list of his available dates
06:29for the next couple of months."
06:30According to Harris, Emhoff's email said,
06:33"...I'm too old to play games or hide the ball.
06:35I really like you, and I want to see if we can make this work."
06:38And it worked.
06:39In 2014, the couple got married.
06:41Harris went on to describe the multicultural ceremony in her book, writing,
06:44"...in keeping with our respective Indian and Jewish heritage, I put a flower garland
06:48around Doug's neck.
06:49He stomped on a glass."
06:51When Harris and Emhoff got married in 2014, he already had two children from a previous
06:56marriage, and Harris became their stepmother, as she explained to Elle.
06:59Cole and Ella, Emhoff's children, were welcoming and friendly to Harris from the beginning.
07:04Harris shared,
07:05"...they are brilliant, talented, funny kids who have grown to be remarkable adults.
07:09I was already hooked on Doug, but I believe it was Cole and Ella who reeled me in."
07:13According to Harris, the children decided to call her Momala instead of Stepmom.
07:18"...and certainly Vice President will be great, but Momala will always be the one that
07:25means the most."
07:26Over the years, the family has reportedly become incredibly tight-knit.
07:30Harris is now friends with Emhoff's first wife, and they even used to attend Ella's
07:34swim meets and basketball games together.
07:36In terms of Harris' career, she's risen through the ranks pretty quickly.
07:40After becoming a lawyer in 1990, she became an assistant district attorney in the Alameda
07:45County Prosecutor's Office.
07:47In 2003, she became the district attorney of San Francisco, becoming the first Black
07:51woman to ever have the role.
07:53In 2010, she won the election for California attorney general by a margin of just 0.8 percent,
08:00according to Politico.
08:01During her time as district attorney and attorney general, Harris received both praise and criticism
08:05for her approach to the criminal justice system.
08:08As Vox points out, her prison diversion program and her racial bias training program for police
08:13officers were one-of-a-kind reforms.
08:15However, law professor Laura Bazelon claimed in The New York Times,
08:19"[Harris did not barter or trade to get the support of more conservative law-and-order
08:23types.
08:24She gave it all away."
08:25Still, Vox explained,
08:27"[Harris' supporters argue that these criticisms sell her short.]
08:30In 2016, Harris became the first Indian-American United States senator, beating out the experienced
08:37Loretta Sanchez, according to Business Insider.
08:40The Los Angeles Times commented that her win was a hugely significant step towards equal
08:44representation in U.S. Congress.
08:47Her victory came at a monumental time in U.S. politics.
08:50At her victory party, her supporters were apparently watching the TV as Trump edged
08:55his way closer to presidential victory.
08:57Harris used her victory speech as an opportunity to rouse her supporters for the coming years
09:01under President Trump.
09:03She said,
09:04"[When we have been attacked, and when our ideals and fundamental ideals are being attacked,
09:08do we retreat or do we fight?]
09:10I say we fight."
09:11This moment in Harris' past marked only the beginning of her campaign against Trump.
09:17Just three short years after becoming a U.S. senator, Harris began a campaign to become
09:21the president of the United States.
09:23According to CNN, her campaign started off promising, but turned difficult when she failed
09:27to gain traction with voters, lagging behind other candidates in both fundraising and the
09:32polls.
09:33Joe Biden ultimately succeeded in becoming the party's presumptive nominee, and later
09:37in 2020, Biden announced that Harris would be joining him as the Democratic vice presidential
09:41nominee.
09:42Now let me introduce to you, for the first time, your next vice president of the United
09:47States, Kamala Harris."
09:50The announcement signified yet another monumental achievement for Harris, and another first
09:54for America.
09:56Harris became the first person of Asian descent, and the first black woman to appear on a presidential
10:01ticket in the country's history.
10:03As The New York Times noted, the historical announcement was reportedly well-received
10:07by Jamaicans and Indians around the world.
10:10For instance, one Indian political commentator said that Biden's choice for VP was a, quote,
10:15"...triumph of diversity and democracy."
10:18While Harris' presidential campaign for 2020 was unsuccessful, her place on the Democratic
10:23ticket shows that her political career is just getting started.
10:27Several political commentators have already suggested that Biden is gearing up for a 2024
10:32campaign that sees Harris at the helm of the Democratic ticket.
10:35Some have even compared the vice presidential nominee with another history-making politician,
10:39Barack Obama.
10:40However, according to The Washington Post, Harris has no wish to be compared to former
10:44President Obama.
10:45In fact, she apparently once said in an interview that she would prefer to be judged on her
10:49own merits.
10:50Looking back at Harris' powerful, progressive upbringing, it's clear where her fierce sense
10:55of identity comes from.
10:56One thing's for sure, as her career continues, she's sure to continue making history and
11:01creating her own legacy.
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