Kirsten Anderson - Who Is Kamala Harris?

Kamala Devi Harris was born in Oakland, California, on October 20, 1964. Her name means lotus flower, an important symbol in Indian culture.

Kamalas father, Donald Harris, came from Jamaica to study economics at the University of California, Berkeley. Shyamala Gopalan, her mother, came to Berkeley from India. She studied nutrition and endocrinology. She later became a breast cancer researcher. Both of Kamalas parents were involved in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and thats how they met. Kamala remembers riding along in her stroller at protests and marches. Friends from the civil rights movement became as close as family, and Kamala grew up listening to them discuss the fight for racial justice and how they could change the world.

Kamalas sister, Maya, was born in 1967. When Kamala was only seven years old, her parents decided to get divorced. Her father remained involved in her life. But it was her mother who raised Kamala and her sister. The three became very close.

Shyamala knew that most Americans would think of Kamala and Maya as Black women. She made sure that they were proud of their identity and that they were part of the Black community in Oakland. They spent a lot of time at Rainbow Sign, a cultural center that featured Black performers, speakers, and thinkers. They visited their fathers family in Jamaica as well.

But Shyamala also kept Kamala and Maya in touch with their Indian roots. Family members from India came to visit them in California, and the girls also traveled to India a few times. Kamalas grandfather had been part of the fight for Indias independence from Britain and had held high-level government posts. When she visited him in India, she would listen as he and his friends talked about politics. Her Indian grandmother worked to improve the lives of women in rural villages.

Shyamala and the girls settled into an apartment in Berkeley, a city on the border of Oakland. Their neighborhood was mostly made up of working-class Black families. Kamala rode a bus to Thousand Oaks Elementary School, which was located in a wealthier part of Berkeley. She didnt know it at the time, but the bus ride was part of a national effort to integrate local schools. Integrate means to blend together. The idea was to bring kids from different races and classes together in schools. Because of the busing plan, Kamala went to a school with students from many types of backgrounds. She got to know people she might not have met without this plan.

After school, Kamala and Maya often went to a neighbors house until their mother came home from work at her research lab. Kamala took piano lessons and went to dance classes as well. At night, her mother loved to cook. She experimented with different recipes and found ways to make food fun. Kamala learned from her and became an excellent cook herself.

When Kamala was twelve, Shyamala was offered an important job in Montreal, Canada. Kamala didnt want to leave her friends and neighborhood in Berkeley. But it was an exciting opportunity for her mother. They all bought winter coats, boots, and gloves and set off for Canada.