Vice President of the U.S.A Kamala Harris – An inspiration for women of our time & for future generations. Part of the Virtually Smart ‘Inspirational Women’ series.
On Wednesday 20th January 2021 as the world watched the United States of America swear in Joe Biden as their 46th President; history was made as Kamala Harris, the first Woman, the first Black American, & the first South Asian American was sworn in as Vice President of the United States.
Since the election campaign began in earnest in 2019, Vice President Kamala Harris has been a global focus as she forged her way forward with her policies of equality, acceptance & as a force for change. But where did the fire in VP Kamala Harris start from & how has she become such an inspiration for women across the globe?
Having been born in Oakland, California to parents who had emigrated from India & Jamaica, her parents chose the name Kamala meaning ‘Lotus’ or another name for the Indian Goddess Lakshmi (the empowerment of women) as a nod to her Indian heritage
“A culture that worships goddesses produces strong women,” Gopalan told the Los Angeles Times in 2004. (4)
Kamala & her sister Meena we brought up with activist parents who would take them to civil rights demonstrations from a very young age. This exposure to the need to fight for what was right & true instilled a sincere sense of justice in the young Kamala. The young Kamala took inspiration from her mother Shyamala Gopalan, a pioneering breast cancer scientist.
“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.’” VP Kamala Harris, 2019
Having graduated from Howard University & the University of California, Hastings College of Law, VP Kamala Harris’ career path was not always geared directly towards politics.
In 1990 VP Kamala Harris joined the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office & specialized in prosecuting child sexual assault cases. She then went on to serve as a managing attorney in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office & later, chief of the Division on Children & Families for the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. (1)
In 2003 VP Kamala Harris was elected District Attorney of San Francisco & in that role VP Kamala Harris instigated a ground-breaking program to provide first-time drug offenders with the opportunity to earn a high school degree & find employment. (1)
By 2010, VP Kamala Harris was elected California’s Attorney General & oversaw the largest state justice department in the United States & established the state’s first Bureau of Children’s Justice. (1)
“At every step of the way, I’ve been guided by the words I spoke from the first time I stood in a courtroom: Kamala Harris, for the people.” Kamala Harris, August 19, 2020
In her role as California’s Attorney General, VP Kamala Harris made considerable changes for the betterment of minorities, the working classes & the ‘people’. Not only did VP Kamala Harris win a $20 billion settlement for Californians whose homes had been foreclosed on, but she also won a $1.1 billion settlement for students & veterans who were taken advantage of by a for-profit education company. She defended the Affordable Care Act in court, enforced environmental law, & was a national leader in the movement for marriage equality. (1)
Having been sworn into the State Senate in 2017, VP Kamala Harris continued to fight for injustice championing legislation to reform cash bail, combat hunger, provide rent relief, improve maternal health care, & address the climate crisis as a member of the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works & her bipartisan anti-lynching bill passed the Senate in 2018. (1)
Her legislation to preserve Historically Black Colleges & Universities was signed into law, as was her effort to infuse much-needed capital into low-income communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. (1)
During VP Kamala Harris time serving on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, she worked with members of both parties to keep the American people safe from foreign threats & crafted bipartisan legislation to assist in securing American elections. (1)
VP Kamala Harris also visited Iraq, Jordan, & Afghanistan to meet with servicemembers and assess the situation on the ground. (1)
“A patriot is not someone who condones the conduct of our country whatever it does. It is someone who fights every day for the ideals of the country, whatever it takes.” VP Kamala Harris
Despite VP Kamala Harris having begun her own Presidential Election Campaign in 2019 to become the Democratic Party nomination for President; VP Kamala Harris stepped down from the Presidential Election race in December 2019.
It wasn’t until August 2020 that President Joe Biden reached out to VP Kamala Harris & asked her to join his election campaign as his ‘running mate’ & put all of her years of public service towards joining him to unite the United States of America.
In amongst her vastly diverse & prosperous career thus far, VP Kamala Harris is also an accomplished author. Her autobiographical novel ‘The Truths we hold: An American Journey’ was released ahead of her election campaign in 2019 & is an introduction to VP Kamala Harris’ values & ideals. (2)
Her wildly successful illustrated children’s book, ‘Superheroes Are Everywhere’ released in 2019, focuses on what makes a superhero? Is it the ability to fly—or is it kindness, bravery, & doing the right thing in the face of adversity?
“Heroes stand up for what is right. Who stands up for what is right in your life?” VP Kamala Harris (2)
Prior to her political career & while still a state prosecutor, VP Kamala Harris penned ‘Smart on Crime’ which was published in 2009.
VP Kamala Harris’ first book focuses on criminal justice reform & she revisited her philosophy as a prosecutor in her 2019 memoir:
“The job of a progressive prosecutor is to look out for the overlooked, to speak up for those whose voices aren’t being heard, to see and address the causes of crime, not just their consequences, and to shine a light on the inequality and unfairness that lead to injustice. It is to recognize that not everyone needs punishment, that what many need, quite plainly, is help.” VP Kamala Harris
As the world watches President Joe Biden & Vice President Kamala Harris take office & begin the task of uniting the American people; we have already begun to see the impact this progressive & politically focused duo are capable of.
With President Joe Biden signing numerous executive orders in his first full day of office & beginning to undo some of the wayward legislation of the previous administration; Vice President Kamala Harris has already sworn in three historic new senators.
Raphael Warnock, 51, became Georgia’s first Black senator & just the 11th in U.S. history. (Harris, who was first elected to the Senate in 2016, was the 10th.)
Sen. Jon Ossoff, 33, became Georgia’s first Jewish senator when he was sworn in, while Sen. Alex Padilla, 47, became California’s first Latino senator. (3)
Padilla was sworn in to take VP Kamala Harris’ seat on the senate as she formally resigned her seat on the Monday before the Presidential Inauguration. VP Kamala Harris’ sense of humour & the overwhelming sense of what she had just achieved, caught up with her during the swearing in of the new Senators as she began to read the formal legislation that said Padilla was being sworn in as California’s next senator in order to “to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of former Sen. Kamala D. Harris of California.”
VP Kamala Harris barely made it through reading the line before she and the rest of Congress cracked up, the moment still seemingly sinking in. “Yeah, that was very weird,” Harris said, laughing behind her COVID-19 mask. (3)
Vice President Kamala Harris has become an internationally recognised woman of integrity & justice for all. She is also an inspiration & a beacon of hope to women of all ages & ethnicities, all over the world, to follow your beliefs & never feel pressured to give up on what they believe to be right & true.
“I hope that by being a ‘first,’ I inspire young people to pursue their dreams,” Harris told Harper’s Bazaar.
“The number of times I’ve heard the word ‘no’—or that something can’t be done—in my lifetime is too many to count. I’m honored to be considered a “first,” but I always think about the people who came before and paved the way for me to get where I am today. From Rosa Parks to Shirley Chisholm to Congressman John Lewis, I stand on the shoulders of so many great men and women before me.” Vice President Kamala Harris
Written & cited by Katy-Jane Mason for & on behalf of Virtually Smart.
- https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/vice-president-harris/
- https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/a34619011/kamala-harris-book-list/
- https://people.com/politics/kamala-harris-cracks-up-while-swearing-in-her-senate-replacement-yeah-that-was-very-weird/
- https://www.politico.eu/article/kamala-harris-what-you-need-to-know/
