The vice president of the United States is Kamala Harris. And today in 20224, she is running for president. Who is Kamala Harris?
In summary, Kamala Harris has worked and spent the better part of two decades in public life as a lawyer and in government. Today, she is vice president of the United States.
She is a woman and politician who has achieved more than most of her gender and her background. All in all, Kamala became the first woman, the first Black and the first South Asian America elected vice president.
Kamala is a force of change that has inspired and even made people feel surprised. Her power or allure lies with the fact that Kamala has been the first woman to do many things on her own.
Today, Harris is the first woman of color to be a major party presidential nominee ever in history. Her accolades are one of a kind and growing for Kamala. Also, Kamala worked on things to improve and help improve police accountability.
Let’s learn more about Kamala Harris below!
1. The name Kamala has a special meaning to her roots and women
Kamala is a name many are hearing now more and more. What does it mean? So, her mother picked Kamala’s name in honor of her Indian roots and ancestry. The name itself has the meaning of “lotus” and could be seen as another name for the Hindu goddess Lakshmi. This goddess represents the empowerment of women.Her name includes Kamala Devi.
According to some families and more in India, “a culture that worships goddesses produces strong women.” This is a strong sentiment that comes across with Kamala and her name. Also, Devi is a Hindu goddess and in Sanskrit this word can signify “goddess.”
Kamala’s name is also the name of a Hindu mother goddess, which has a lot of symbolism. Moreover, Devi is seen to be viewed entirely in the realm of womanhood. Her name focuses on a nurturing force and also is seen as being the protector of villages for peace and well being.
2. Kamala ran for President before in 2020
Kamala has tried being president before in the past. However, she did not have the luck or support that seems to be guiding her today in 2024. Her first attempt to be president was filled with challenges.
When Harris announced she was running in 2019, her road to the White House was fought with battles. Why? Because Harris mostly pushed Biden on his previous record and standing overall. Kamala Harris had been well funded and pressed more on issues like desegregation and busing. As well, Harris had a campaign dysfunction. Basically, because Harris’s attempt failed with campaign snafus or problems and minimal momentum.
Harris ultimately lost because she had pushed for tough and restrictive policies that may have alienated some in her party. This may do better now but at the time it did not fare well for Harris. Moreover, while Harris worked in California, as the attorney general, she was not able to get good and viable support or feedback from the democrats at one point.. Her second push for president will be interesting because many thought Harris and her policies pushed inequities. There were criticisms of the criminal justice system and how it seemed to disproportionately affect families, especially many of color. In the end, Harris later had regrets and could see the “unintended consequences” that her law had on families.
3. Kamala’s nickname is “Brat” a name that Generation Z loves from a pop star
Kamala resonates with younger people because of her connection to pop stars like Charli XCX. She seems more relevant than ever now because of her appeal in this domain compared to Trump and certainly Joe Biden, who is much older.
As of now, Gen Z users around the internet refer to the presidential candidate Kamala Harris as “brat.” The name is something that stuck because of pop singer Charli XCX. At the moment, the Harris campaign is growing on social media. Why? Because people have started editing and sharing viral videos. Moreover, there have been more to share and feel excited about memes bleding songs with her campaign message. As well, there are clips from British pop star Charli XCX’s album “Brat” with video and audio footage of Harris from her career.
In conclusion, it is clear that for the 2024 United States Presidential Election, you will be hearing more about the “Brat Summer” trend. As the summer closes and the election comes closer you will see that Kamala Harris' campaign team is increasing its campaign for marketing and support all the more.
4. Kamala loves food and enjoys cooking
Kamala Harris loves to cook very much. She just doesn't love food, she wants to share it. When Kamala Harris was young she had recalled that she would enjoy hearing and smelling pots and pans of food from the kitchen. Food is not just consumption, it is a passion for her.
Kamala’s mother was a big inspiration growing up especially in her love of food. Today, even though she is the vice president, Harris enjoys sharing her culinary skills and cooking. As she is even sharing and talking about recipes. Before she became vice president, Harris in 2019, met actress Mindy Kaling and made an Indian recipe called masala dosa. Kamala made this with the actress for a campaign video. Moreover, Harris also had taken the time to teach senator Mark Warner how to make a tuna melt in an online video.
During Covid times, Kamala shared her “Cornbread Dressing” recipe on Thanksgiving 2020. In general, Harris is a successful politician but also a working mother. Unfortunately, many politicians are not as keen or passionate about food like Kamala Harris.
5. When Kamala was a child she attended an African American church and Hindu Temple
Kamala’s background has been discussed at various times in the media. Kamala was born to a Jamaican father and mother from India, so her upbringing was unique even for the United States.
Growing up, Harris attended both a Black Baptist church and a Hindu temple. Unique for sure, as Harris embraced both her South Asian and African American identities. In terms of her African American presence in her childhood, Harris had summer visits and trips to visit family in Jamaica while growing up.
Moreover, Harris had done visits to India growing up. Furthermore, Kamala remained quite close and friendly with her maternal grandparents, especially her grandfather, in India. As well, in terms of her balance she had contacts with family who had postings and work in Africa. Also, she claims growing up that her mom raised her to be a confident, proud black woman.
6. Kamala at the age of 12 led a march and protest in Canada
Not many are able to lead any type of march or demonstration. This is what separates Harris from many other politicians and many others as well. What happened? When Kamala was in Canada, in particular Montreal, she had been involved with social issues.
Kamala had helped organize to protest a policy that would proclaim to ban children from playing and being outside on the lawn in Montreal. So, this seemed to ignite the flame in Kamala to fight for what you believe. Kamala spent some early formative years in Canada before returning to the United States.
All in all, it was quite a feat and very brave for such a young child to help organize a protest. However, the current U.S. The Vice President and her younger sister, Maya, led a successful demonstration. They were determined to fight for their rights. This civil and social conscious interest started early for Kamala.
7. Kamala made history by becoming the first female vice president
Kamala Harris is the 49th vice president of the United States, which means she served 2021 to present. She serves on the Democratic ticket and represents the party on behalf of president Joe Biden.
Historically, Kamala Harris broke down barriers and pioneered overall.
Kamala needs to be known as the first woman and of course was the first Black American. Moreover, Kamala became the first Asian American to hold the post as vice president. Kamala’s career began when she served in the United States Senate from 2017–21.
Today, she is breaking more records being the first Black woman, Asian American presidential nominee. It seems in the beginning when Kamala was young there had always been a bigger than usual potential. Why? Because before being in politics, I had grown up with a keen ear for change. Also, Harris' early childhood in Berkeley provided her with a societal change for breaking records and being a pioneer.
8. Kamala Harris was a district Attorney for San Francisco in 2003
Kamala Harris has a lot of legal experience. She has been very vocal about being part of the legal efforts to help combat crime especially for rape and sex offenses. For example, in 2003, she ran for district attorney as a progressive and pledged to change the laws for the better of the victims.
Politically, Harris was elected in a runoff with almost 60 percent of the vote. When Kamala won she became the first African American woman in California to be elected district attorney ever. This was a milestone event that changed many things for California and Kamala Harris.
20. In this same election, Gavin Newsom was elected mayor of San Francisco. The powerful circle and clique of friends from Newsom to Willie Brown meant that Harris was in a big powerful scene for networking for power in politics.
Being district attorney for Harris meant she was able to prepare for her role in politics in the future.
9. Kamala Harris had always wanted to be a Lawyer since she was a Child
Job aspirations and goals can be nurtured and more for years. All in all, you hope to have the time to feed your ambitions. For Kamala, she knew right away that she was destined for a career in law. Justice and the legal system were places Harris felt she mattered.
For example, as a child, Harris always wanted to be a lawyer. The power and allure was real. Here is a direct quote from Harris about law, “They were the heroes growing up.” This was a quote from the San Francisco Chronicle in 2009. Moreover, for Harris, her view of law is that the law and lawyers were the architects of the civil rights movement at one time.Clearly for Harris, using the law as political power is clear.
I thought that that was the way you do good things and serve and achieve justice. Kamala attended Hastings law school in California, she graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1989. Furthermore, Harris was admitted to the California Bar in June 1990. All in all, her desire to be a lawyer was also by honoring and respecting Constance Baker Motley, Charles Hamilton Houston, and Thurgood Marshall as role models.
10. Kamala Harris contributed to creating new Justice Developments in the USA
Harris had launched Open Justice, an innovative criminal justice open data initiative. This is something that Kamala Harris is most proud of her career before politics. It had never before been seen that data could be this interactive and easy to use for criminal justice.
Harris is rightly proud of this tool, which is made up of two components. This is made up of a Dashboard that showcases primary criminal justice indicators. This is highlighted along with user friendly and accessible visualization tools. All in all, what this development means is that Open Data Portal is able to publish real and working data. This information would be taken from the California Department of Justice’s statewide site of criminal justice statistics.
This is one of Kamala’s biggest accomplishments as attorney general. She was able to create and transform Open Justice. Kamala’s online platform made criminal justice data available and accessible to the public. In summary, Kamala worked on a database that helped improve police accountability.
