Kamala D. Harris
American Politician and Lawyer
2020- First VP-Elect Asian American, African American, and female of U.S.
Kamala Devi Harris (/ˈkɑːmələ/ KAH-mə-lə) born October 20,1964 is an American politician and attorney who was the vice president-elect of the United States. A member of the Democratic Party, she is set to assume office on January 20, 2021, alongside president-elect Joe Biden.
Her father, who was Jamaican, taught at Stanford University, and her mother, the daughter of an Indian diplomat, was a cancer researcher. 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.
In 2017, Kamala D. Harris was sworn in as a United States Senator for California, the second African American woman and first South Asian-American senator in history. She serves on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on the Budget.
She has spent her life fighting injustice. It’s a passion that was first inspired by her mother, Shyamala, an Indian American immigrant, activist. (and breast cancer researcher)
Growing up in Oakland, Kamala had a stroller-eye view of the Civil Rights movement. Through the example of courageous leaders like Thurgood Marshall, Constance Baker Motley, and Charles Hamilton Houston, Kamala learned the kind of character it requires to stand up to the powerful, and resolved to spend her life advocating for those who could not defend themselves.
After earning an undergraduate degree from Howard University and a law degree from the University of California, Hastings, she began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office.
IN HISTORY TODAY:
Harris will be the first Asian-American, the first African-American, and the first female vice president in U.S. history, and thus, the highest-ranking female elected official in United States history. Being of both Indian Tamil and Afro-Caribbean ancestry, Harris is a multiracial American.
To find out more about African American history order the new curriculum, "BH365: An Inclusive Account of American History" at www.blackhistory365education.com.
Biographical Information: harris.senate.gov, WK, BRITANNICA