By Samantha Ruenzi
Kamala Harris became the 49th Vice President of the United States of America on January 20th, 2021. Unlike the past 48 Vice Presidents, Kamala Harris is the first female, first black American, and first South Asian Vice President. She has been active in the political field for more than 30 years, inspiring so many young female Americans. Once a San Francisco District Attorney, Attorney General of California, California Senator, and previously a Presidential Candidate herself, her role as Vice President is groundbreaking in U.S. history.
Kamala Devi Harris was born in 1964, in Oakland, California to immigrant parents. Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, emigrated from India and became a breast cancer researcher, but unfortunately died from colon cancer in 2009. Harris’ father, Donald Harris, is a Jamaican immigrant and is a professor of economics. Harris frequently talks about her parents bringing her to civil rights marches and cherishes the close relationship she had with her mother. Harris said in 2019, “My mother would look at me and she’d say, ‘Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you are not the last.”
In 1986, Harris received her undergraduate degree from Howard University in Washington D.C, and two years later, she graduated from the University of California, Hastings College of Law. The next year, she passed the bar and began her political journey as an assistant district attorney at Alameda County prosecutor's office. There she focused on child sexual assault cases. In 2003, she was the first black woman to be elected as San Francisco’s district attorney. She created a program that offered drug offenders a chance to earn a high school degree and find a job. In 2010, Harris was elected Attorney General of California and created California’s first Bureau of Children’s Justice. She established many other policies that benefited the community. Harris worked tirelessly on a $20 billion settlement as Attorney General, helping Californians avoid foreclosure on their homes. Additionally, she achieved a $1.1 billion settlement for those taken advantage of from an education company.
In 2014, Harris married her husband, Doug Emhoff. He is the first Second Gentlemen of the United States and also the first Jewish spouse to a Vice President. He was an entertainment lawyer for almost 30 years and is currently a law professor at Georgetown University. During her four years in the United States Senate, she has shown support for immigrants, has worked diligently to keep Americans safe from foreign threats, promoted health care, brought attention to the ongoing climate change crisis, and has strived to add life-saving resources to low-income families throughout the pandemic. In August of 2020, President Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris as his Vice President and several months later, they were both inaugurated, on January 20th 2021 in Washington, D.C.
Kamala Harris has broken countless stereotypes and has always fought for the American people. From her role as assistant district attorney to being the first female, first black, and first South Asian Vice President, she has helped so many people and paved the way for many more to come.
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