In her speeches, Kamala Harris often cites her Indian mother as an example. She, on the other hand, declared that she was not close to her father.
Kamala Harris is the first Black and South Asian woman to seek the US presidency. Born on October 20, 1964, the former attorney general of California comes from a multicultural family. His father, Donald Harris, is Jamaican. His mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, is Indian. In her speeches and her memoir published in 2019, “The Truths we Hold”, Kamala Harris gives an important place to her mother figure. She often cites her mother as an example, and even calls her the best source of inspiration,” says Politico.
Shyamala Gopalan arrived in the United States at age 19, with a degree from Delhi University barely in her pocket. She was admitted to Berkeley University, California, to pursue a doctorate in nutrition and endocrinology. Shyamala Gopalan then met Donald Harris, with whom she married in 1963. She obtained her doctorate at the age of 25, in 1964, the year her first daughter Kamala was born. Two years later, she gave birth to Maya Harris, a lawyer and civil rights activist. During her life – she died in 2009 from colon cancer – Shyamala Gopalan worked as a researcher on breast cancer, details USA Today.
“Become self-confident and proud black women”
The two spouses divorced in 1971. Kamala and Maya live with their mother, who has a great influence in their lives. “She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as black girls, and she was determined to ensure that we became confident and proud black women,” the Democrat wrote. in his memoir. However, the two sisters did not grow up far from their Indian roots. In Sanskrit, Kamala means lotus flower, relates the New York Times.
If their father was part of their childhood and adolescence, the Harris girls only saw him “on the weekends” or during the summers, spent in Palo Alto, California, details Kamala in her book. “But it was my mother who took charge of our education. She was the one who contributed the most to making us the women we would become.”
Unlike her mother, the Democratic candidate speaks little about her father figure. During her inauguration speech at the Democratic National Convention last August, Kamala Harris only mentioned her father in this memory: “My first memories of our parents together are very joyful. A house filled with laughter and music: Aretha, Coltrane and Miles. At the park, my mother would say: ‘Stay close to me’, but my father would say, smiling: ‘Run, Kamala, don’t let anything stop you.’ . From a young age, he taught me not to be afraid.”
“My father is a good person, but we are not close”
Donald Harris was born in 1938 in Jamaica. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of London, and then moved to the United States to complete a doctorate in economics at the University of Berkeley. During his life, he held several teaching positions: at Northwestern University, at Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois, and at Madison, University of Wisconsin. In 1972, he was hired as a professor of economics at Stanford, becoming the first black researcher to be tenured at the economics school, reports USA Today. He retired in 1998. Since then, he has become an expert on economic growth in his home country of Jamaica, reports the Washington Post.
“My dad is a good person, but we’re not close,” Kamala Harris said in 2003, reports Fox News. Donald Harris himself is discreet about his daughter’s career. He only spoke publicly about Kamala Harris in 2019, after the politician joked that she was not opposed to marijuana legalization because “half of [sa] family is originally from Jamaica.” “My deceased parents must be rolling over in their graves,” responded Donald Harris. “On behalf of myself and my immediate Jamaican family, we wish to categorically dissociate ourselves from this travesty.” He returned later on his statement, and announced to stay away from “all the political hubbub”, details The Root. Kamala Harris indicated in 2021 that she and her father are on good terms.