When President-elect Joe Biden planned to choose a woman as his running mate, there were several names on his list, and when he announced Kamala as his running mate, the voting public accepted his choice. Kamala, energetic, young and affable daughter of first generation migrants from Jamaica and India, comes from an academic family, with proven record in her previous endeavor that she has enough training for the job. Raised by her Hindu single mother, Shylamaya Gopalan Harris in Oakland Califonia, Kamala said “My mother raised me and my sister Maya as two black girls. She knew that her adopted homeland would see us as such, so she taught us the culture and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident and proud black women.” In her growing years she noted that people would look at her mother and make assumption about her intelligence and her capacity to belong. She recalled many racist incidence saying, “neighbours children were not allowed to play with us because we were black.”
The amicable Senator has her undergraduate degree from Howard University and a law degree from the University of California. Her career began in Alameda County District Attorney’s office and she became the District Attorney of the City and County of San Francisco in 2003. She made a lot of reforms while in that office; she started a programme that gave first-time drug offenders the chance to get a high school diploma and get employment. She also enforced the truancy rule that made students in the County stay in school for most of the session and not jump classes or drop out. It is on record that she won a $25-billion settlement for California homeowners affected by the foreclosure crisis, defended the state climate change law, protected the Affordable Care Act and prosecuted transnational gangs that trafficked in guns, drugs and human beings among others achievements during her two terms as District Attorney.
The Vice-president elect was elected a senator for California in 2017, making her the second African-American and the first South Asian American in the country’s 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 is seen as one of the Democrats upcoming stars who can hold her own. Taking inspiration from her late mother, who was a breast cancer researcher and activist, Kamala has always fought for the rights of the people and against injustice. Motivated by the Civil Rights Movements she stands up to the powerful and gives a voice to the voiceless and defends them, “I feel a sense of responsibility to stand up and fight for the best of who we are, and I’m prepared to fight and know how to fight.” She continued to fight for the rights of her senatorial district in California through the legislations she introduced or co-sponsored. The 56-year-old senator believes that affordable healthcare is a right and the military and veteran families should be supported.
As the Vice-president elect, she would bring new energy into the White House and work together with president-elect Biden to make the right policies that would be favorable to all Americans and unite them with the world at large. Kamala is in between core progressives and the moderates. She brings to bear her experience as a District Attorney in her new role. She contested for the presidential ticket of her party with Biden among others but after she packed up her campaign she endorsed Biden’s candidacy and ultimately became his choice as running mate. Her background and identity makes her suited for this new role to represent the minorities and be their voice. She is standing on the shoulders of history and raising the banner for every Black woman especially those in the US
Known for her trademark hearty laugh and wit, she is the sunshine that beams hope for all. Every activist or young girl can see themselves in her. She married her husband Doug Emhoff in 2014 and she has two step children, Ella and Cole, who fondly call her “Momala.” Doug who is a Jew will step into the role of second gentleman, would resign his job as an attorney and support his wife in her new role. The name Kamala that has being mispronounced, misspelt and ‘difficult,’ is now on every tongue. The spotlight is on Madam Vice-president as history beckons.
