Today In Black History
Kamala Harris, 1st African American and Asian American to be elected U.S. Vice President
Issue #531 Today In Black History, Wednesday, March 13, 2024
Today’s Black History WOW!
Kamala Devi Harris was born in Oakland, California, on October 20, 1964. Her first name is pronounced “comma-la.” Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was a Tamil Indian biologist, whose work on the progesterone receptor gene stimulated advances in breast cancer research. She moved to the United States from India as a 19-year-old graduate student in 1958, and she received her PhD in endocrinology from the University of California, Berkley, in 1964.
Kamala Harris's Jamaican American father, Donald J. Harris, is a Stanford University professor of economics (emeritus) who arrived in the United States from British Jamaica in 1961, for graduate study at UC Berkeley, receiving a PhD in economics in 1966.
Donald Harris met his future wife Shyamala Gopalan at a college club for African-American students (though Indian American, Gopalan was allowed to join).
Both of Kamala Harris’ parents were active in the civil rights movement and instilled in her a commitment to build strong coalitions that fight for the rights and freedoms of all people. They brought her to civil rights marches in a stroller and taught her about heroes like Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and civil rights leader and federal judge Constance Baker Motley.
When she was twelve, Harris and her sister moved with their mother to Montreal, Quebec, where Shyamala had accepted a research and teaching position at the McGill University Hospital.
Harris attended a French-speaking primary school and Westmount High School in Westmount, Quebec, graduating in 1981.
Kamala Harris went on to graduate from HBCU Howard University and the University of California Hastings College of Law, where she served as president of its chapter of the Black Law Students Association. She graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1989 and was admitted to the California Bar in June 1990.
In 2014, she married Douglas Emhoff, a lawyer. They have a blended family that includes Emhoff’s children, Ella and Cole.
Harris started her career as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California, where she focused on prosecuting child sexual assault cases. She then moved on to serve as the district attorney of San Francisco, becoming the first woman, first African American woman, and first Indian American woman to hold the position. During her time as district attorney, she focused on prosecuting crimes related to domestic violence, child exploitation, and sexual assault.
In 2010, Harris was elected as the Attorney General of California, becoming the first woman, first African American woman, and first Indian American woman to hold the position. During her time as Attorney General, she focused on issues such as criminal justice reform, protecting consumers, and fighting for the rights of immigrants. Harris pledged never to seek the death penalty and to prosecute three-strike offenders only in cases of violent felonies.
Harris made history once again in 2016 when she was elected as the first African American woman to represent California in the United States Senate. During her time in the Senate, she was a vocal advocate for issues such as healthcare, immigration reform, and criminal justice reform. She was a fierce critic of the Trump administration, often questioning and challenging their policies and decisions.
Harris assumed office as vice president of the United States on January 20, 2021. She is the United States' first female vice president, the highest-ranking female elected official in U.S. history, and the first African-American and first Asian-American vice president.
Harris is also the second person of color to hold the post, preceded by Charles Curtis, a Native American member of the Kaw Nation, who served under Herbert Hoover from 1929 to 1933. She is the third person with acknowledged non-European ancestry to reach one of the highest offices in the executive branch, after Curtis and former president Barack Obama.
On November 19, 2021, Harris served as acting president from 10:10 to 11:35 am EST, while President Biden underwent a colonoscopy. She became the first woman, and the third person overall, to assume the powers and duties of the U.S. presidency under Section 3 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment.
In 2005, the National Black Prosecutors Association awarded Harris the Thurgood Marshall Award. That year, she was also included in a Newsweek report profiling "20 of America's Most Powerful Women.”
A 2008 New York Times article also identified her as a woman with the potential to become president of the United States, highlighting her reputation as a "tough fighter.”
In 2013, 2020, and 2021, Time included Harris on the Time 100, Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2016, the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center awarded Harris the Bipartisan Justice Award. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were jointly named Time Person of the Year for 2020.
Harris was selected for the inaugural 2021 Forbes 50 Over 50; made up of entrepreneurs, leaders, scientists, and creators who are over the age of 50.
Harris is a Baptist, holding membership in the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco.
In addition to her political career, Harris is also the author of two books, "Smart on Crime" and "The Truths We Hold: An American Journey."
Today In Black History
- In 1861, Confederate States of America President Jefferson Davis authorized the use of slaves in the Confederate Army.
- In 1862, Congress forbade Union officers and soldiers from aiding in the capture and return of fugitive slaves.
- In 1869, the Arkansas legislature passed an anti-Klan law.
- In 1932, the Atlanta Daily World, founded by William A. Scott, became the first published Black daily newspaper.
- In 1946, Lt. Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. assumed command of Lockbourne Air Force Base in Ohio after leading the Tuskegee Airmen fighter pilots from 1944 through 1946.
- In 2018, National Geographic magazine admitted that some of its past coverage was racist.
- In 2020, African-American medical technician Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by Louisville, Kentucky, police who executed a no-knock warrant on the wrong apartment.
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