Huge congratulations to Kamala Devi Harris who has become the 49th and current vice president of the United States on 20 January 2021. She is the United States’ first female vice president, the highest-ranking female elected official in U.S. history, the first African American vice president, and the first Asian American vice president.
She was born in Oakland, California, on October 20, 1964 to an Indian mother and Jamaican father. ‘My mother had a saying: Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you’re not the last’.
Brought up primarily by her scientist mother, Kamala and her younger sister Maya grew up with both African and Hindu roots singing in African American church and in temples.
She finished her high school from Canada where she and her family took up her best friend from high school to live with them to escape her abusive stepfather. My mother would say: Don’t sit around and complain about things. Do something. So I did something. She visited her hometown frequently in Tamil Nadu in India and is still in touch with her Indian cousins. My mother instilled in my sister, Maya, and me the values that would chart the course of our lives. She taught us to put family first—the family you’re born into and the family you choose—but to also see a world beyond ourselves. She gave a shout out to her ‘chithis’ ( aunt in tamil) during her VP speech.
To Her Stepchildren, Kamala Harris Is “Momala“. They didn’t like the word ‘stepmom’. “They are my endless source of love and pure joy,” she said.
Harris joined Howard University, a historically black college, in Washington, D.C. in 1982 and graduated with a degree in political science and economics. “Howard taught me that while you will often find that you’re the only one in the room who looks like you, or who has had the experiences you’ve had, you must remember: you are never alone.”
Harris then did law school at the University of California, where she was president of its chapter of the Black Law Students Association. She graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1989 and joined California Bar in June 1990.
In 2003, she was elected district attorney of San Francisco and then Attorney General of California in 2010 where she was re-elected in 2014. She was the junior United States senator from California from 2017 to 2021.
During a Vice Presidentship debate with Mike Pence, When Vice President Mike Pence interrupted during a segment Kamala Harris turned to Pence and said, “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking.” When he continued to talk over her, she, with a smile, repeated once again, “I’m speaking.” I’m speaking. I’M speaking. I hope every little girl heard that’ “I’m speaking. This should be a 101 taught to all young girls. Nobody taught us this in the ’80s.
Kamal Harris was sworn in as Vice President of USA on January 20, 2021 and her first tweet read- “Ready to serve,”
‘What I want young women and girls to know is that you are powerful and your voice matters’
Her win is a milestone achievement for women all around the world. The future of women in politics seems bright, and Kamala will serve as a role model to young girls globally!
