Who is Kamala Harris: Biograpgy, Early Life, Family, Education and Career

Who is Meena Harris: Activities, Business, Biography, Family and Personal Profile

Kamala Harris, from California, has made history again as become the first female elected-vice president and woman of color in the White House.

Kamala Harris

Who is Kamala Harris: Biography

Harris was born on October 20, 1964, in Oakland, California, USA. She is an American politician who was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 2016 and began her first term representing California that same year.

Biden chose Harris to be his running mate on August 11, 2020. He said, "I know a thing or two about being vice president." I know it can't be a political choice more than anything else. It must be a decision made by the government. People will give me and Kamala the job of president and vice president for the next four years, but we will take over a country that is in crisis, a country that is divided, and a world that is in chaos. We don't have time to waste. That is what made me find Kamala Harris.

Then, on November 7, 2020, Kamala Harris made history by becoming the first Black woman to be elected as vice president of the United States. She broke down barriers that had kept men, mostly white men, at the top of American politics for more than two hundred years.

The 20th of October 1964 saw the birth of Kamala Devi Harris in Oakland, California. She grew up in a mostly African American neighborhood in Berkeley and was taken to civil rights marches as a toddler. She also sang in a Baptist choir.

Shyamala, Harris' mother, moved to the U.S. from India to go to college at Berkeley, where she met Donald, Harris' father, who was born in Jamaica. Donald became a professor of economics at Stanford University, while Shyamala became a well-known breast cancer researcher. Her mother also made sure that Harris and her sister Maya stayed connected to their Indian roots by teaching them Hinduism and taking them to her home country every couple of years.

Harris's parents split up when she was seven years old. When she was 12, she moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada with her mother and sister. During her time in Quebec, she picked up some French and led a protest against a building owner who wouldn't let kids play on the lawn. This showed how politically aware she was becoming.

Harris went to high school in Quebec at Westmount and started a dance group with a friend there. After going back to the United States to attend Howard University in Washington, D.C., she joined the debate team and was elected to the liberal arts student council. She went on to earn a B.A. in political science and economics. Harris then went to the Hastings College of the Law at the University of California and got her J.D. in 1989.

Kamala Harris' Family

Her father, Donald Harris, from Jamaican, taught at Stanford University; and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, the daughter of an Indian diplomat, was a cancer researcher. The two met as graduate students at the University of California, Berkeley. But her parents divorced when she was 7 and her mother was granted full custody of Kamala and her sister Maya. Thus, she also grew up in Oakland and Berkeley attending predominantly Black churches. Her downstairs neighbor, Regina Shelton, often took Kamala and her sister Maya to Oakland's 23rd Avenue Church of God in Oakland. Harris now considers herself a Black Baptist.

Her younger sister, Maya, later became a public policy advocate. After studying political science and economics (B.A., 1986) at Howard University, Kamala earned a law degree (1989) from Hastings College.

Kamala Harris: Husband and Children

Photo: The New Idian Express

Harris met her husband, Los Angeles lawyer Douglas Emhoff, on a blind date in San Francisco. Not a believer in long engagements, Harris and Emhoff held their ceremony in 2014 around four months after their engagement at the Santa Barbara Courthouse, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.. At their wedding, the couple smashed a glass to honor Emhoff’s upbringing (a traditional Jewish wedding custom).

It was Harris’ first marriage and his second.. Emhoff married his first wife, Kerstin, who went on to co-found the production company Prettybird. Though they divorced 16 years later, they remain close—she even volunteered to help with Harris's presidential bid.

Together, Emhoff and Kerstin have two children, Cole and Ella (named for John Coltrane and Ella Fitzgerald.) Cole is a graduate of Colorado College and Ella studies Fine Arts at Parsons School of Design.

Harris' Career

Photo: Business Insider

The Oakland native went to Howard University and the University of California (1986–1989) Hastings College of Law. She began her career as a prosecutor in Alameda County and then moved on to work for the city attorney's office in San Francisco, where she specialized in cases of child sexual assault.

After that, from 1990 to 1998, she was a deputy district attorney in Oakland. As she prosecuted cases of gang violence, drug trafficking, and sexual abuse, she became known for being tough. Along the way, Harris worked his way up and became district attorney in 2004. She became the first woman and African American to hold the position of attorney general of California when she narrowly won the election (2010) by less than 1%. When she took office the next year, she showed her political independence by, for example, refusing to give in to pressure from Pres.

Harris gave a memorable speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2012, which made her more well-known across the country. After two years, she married lawyer Douglas Emhoff. Many in her party saw her as a rising star, and they asked her to run for the U.S. Senate seat that Barbara Boxer was leaving. Harris announced her candidacy early in 2015, and while she was campaigning, she called for changes to the immigration and criminal justice systems, higher wages for everyone, and protection of women's rights to have children. The 2016 election was easy for her to win.

The first month Harris joined both the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Judiciary Committee was January 2017. She was criticized by Republican senators for questioning witnesses in a way that sounded like she was a prosecutor during hearings. They would sometimes cut her off.

Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris to be his running mate in August 2020. Harris is the first Black and South Asian American woman to run for president on a major political party's ticket.

Harris's time as vice president will go down in history, no matter what happens next. She will be the first Asian American and the first black American to hold the second most important job in the country. It's tough to say enough about how powerful that is after four years of Trump.

FAQs

What does Kamala Harris's first name mean?

Kamala Harris's first name, which is pronounced "comma-la," means "lotus" in Sanskrit.

Where did Kamala Harris go to college?

She studied political science and economics at Howard University and got her bachelor's degree there in 1986. After that, she went to the University of California Hastings College of the Law and got her law degree there in 1989.

Is Kamala Harris married?

Yes; Kamala Harris married attorney Douglas Emhoff in 2014.

How tall is Kamala Harris?

Kamala Harris stands 5 feet 2 inches (1.57 metres) tall.

Who Is Kamala Harris Married to?

Doug Emhoff and Kamala Harris have been married since 2014. He used to be a lawyer who specialized in entertainment and intellectual property law and court cases. After the 2020 presidential election, he quit his job to teach at Georgetown University and take on his duties as second gentleman.

How Much Is Kamala Harris Worth?

Kamala Harris's net worth was an estimated $6.75 to $15.29 million as of March 2023, according to Yahoo! Finance.24

Where Was Kamala Harris Born and Raised?

Her parents came to the United States from India and Jamaica and settled in Oakland, California, where Kamala Harris was born. Her early years were spent in Berkeley, California, and her teenage years in Montreal, Canada. After that, she came back to the United States to attend Howard University.

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