Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s history-making vice-presidency for the 2020 elections, comes from a family of immigrants whose roots and political views strongly shaped them.
Here’s what we know about the California Senator’s family.
Her parents were civil rights activists
Harris grew up in a household with a Jamaican father and Indian mother. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, emigrated from India in 1960 to study at the University of California, Berkeley and pursue a doctorate in endocrinology. Her father, Donald Harris, emigrated from Jamaica in 1961 to also attend Berkeley. Both of her parents were actively involved in the Civil Rights Movement.
“It is because of her and the people who also took to the streets to fight for justice that I am where I am. They left the path for me, like only the second Black woman ever elected for the U.S. Senate, “Harris proudly shared on Instagram in June.
Her parents divorced when Harris was seven years old. Harris wrote in her memoir, “The Truths We Hold” that “they did not fight for money. The only thing they fought for was who got the books.” Although her father remained a part of her life, Harris and her sister lived with her mother who she said “was the one who was most responsible for shaping us into the women we would become. ”
Her father, Donald Harris, was a professor at Stanford University, where he taught economics. According to his bio on Stanford’s website, his career took him all over the world and he worked as an economic adviser to the Government of Jamaica. He retired from Stanford in 1998.
While the nominated vice president does not talk much about her father, she often mentions her mother, a accomplished scientist of breast cancer who died in 2009 of colon cancer. “I’m the daughter of a mother who breaks all kinds of barriers. Shyamala Harris was no more than five feet tall, but if you ever met her, you would think she was seven feet tall. She had such a spirit and commitment and I am grateful every day that they were raised by them, “she wrote on Instagram in May.
“My mother taught us the importance of a good education. She taught us the good old-fashioned value of hard work. He She taught us that no one tells you who you are. You tell her who you are. He She taught us to not only dream, but to do. ” She taught us to believe in our power to make amends for what is wrong, ‘she wrote in another post.
Two days after announcing she would be Biden’s choice, Harris reminded her mother on social media, “I really wish she were here with us this week.”
She is close to her relatives in India
Harris’ mother often took her to India to visit her family. “When I was a young girl visiting my grandparents in India, I would join my grandparents and his buddies on their morning walk along the beach, as they would talk about the importance of fighting for democracy and civil rights. , “she wrote on Instagram.
“I come from a family of fighters,” she said last year at the New Hampshire Democratic Party convention.
In a recent interview with Reuters partner ANI, Harris’ maternal uncle, Gopalan Balachandran, said Biden’s announcement was a ‘historic day for the Indian community’.
“Our family feels happy and I feel happy that my sister, Shyamla, her mother, would have been very happy and proud of her daughter,” said Balachandran from his home in New Delhi. “It is a historic day in various ways for the Indian community to get into a high political position for the first time.”
Her sister is a close political adviser
Maya Harris, Kamala’s younger sister, is “incredibly proud” of her sister’s achievements. The 53-year-old has been on her ‘side of her political journey.
She was the president of the campaign for Harris’ presidential bid and the two are very close.
“I think most people who know Maya will tell you that they are one of the smartest people they know,” Kamala said in an interview with Politico. “The fact that she has volunteered for this campaign at such a high level, and she’s just who she’s always been – she works around the clock and she’s probably the hardest, if not one of the hardest working people in the campaign – I feel very blessed. “
Following Biden’s announcement, Harris’ younger sister pointed out the role her mother played in her life. “You can not know who Kamala Harris is without knowing who our mother was,” she tweeted.
Earlier this year, Maya announced that she had been battling lupus for the past three decades. She has one daughter, who often shares photos of her aunt, and two grandchildren.
Her husband is a lawyer and she is a stepmother
Harris met Douglas Emhoff on a blind date, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and they were married six years ago in the Santa Barbara Courthouse. The 55-year-old is an entertainment lawyer and partner at the DLA Piper Law Firm, where he represents clients in “complex cases, real estate and intellectual property litigation,” according to his company bio.
Emhoff has spent his entire political career supporting his wife and praying for the White House.
After Harris announced she would end her presidential campaign, Emhoff shared a photo titled, “I Have You. Like Always.”
If Biden wins the election, Emhoff will be the nation’s first second lord, whom Biden addressed on Wednesday at his first appearance with his VP pick. “Doug, you’ll have to learn what it means to be a barrier breaker in this job that you’re about to take on,” Biden said during his speech in Delaware.
The Brooklyn-born lawyer has two children, Cole and Ella, named after jazz legends John Coltrane and Ella Fitzgerald, from a previous relationship with Kerstin Emhoff, whom Harris calls a “dear friend.” The children call the vice presidential candidate “Momala,” and Harris said she is her “endless source of love and pure pleasure.”
“They’re brilliant, talented, funny kids who have grown up to be remarkable adults,” Harris said in an interview with Elle Magazine. “I was already hooked on Doug, but I believe it was Cole and Ella who got me into the game.”
Cole is a graduate of Colorado College, and according to his LinkedIn profile, he is an executive assistant at Plan B. His sister, Ella, is a student at Parsons School of Design and she is an avid knitter according to her Instagram account.
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