Our Kamala Harris Biography portrays Facts about her Childhood Story, Early Life, Parents – (Mother) Shyamala Gopalan, (Father) Donald J. Harris, Family Origin, Husband, Children, Lifestyle, Personal Life, and Net Worth.
In the nutshell, we have a concise write-up from her journey as a kid right until her famous days.
To whet your autobiography appetite, here is her cradle to adult gallery — a pictorial introduction to Kamala Harris’ Biography.
Yes, you and I know she made history as the first woman of color to get elected as the US vice-president.
So, we guess it will be strange if you have not heard about her. Stay connected as we unfold her life story. Without further ado, let’s begin.
Kamala Harris Childhood Story:
For Biography starters, she bears the nickname “Momala.” Kamala Devi Harris was born on the 20th of October 1964 to her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, and Father, Donald J. Harris in the city of Oakland, California.
She is the eldest of two children born to the union between her parents. Meet ‘Momala’: The Inspiring Mother of Vice President Kamala Harris
Early Life and Growing-Up Years:
Before Young Kamala Harris was born, her parents met during the US civil rights movement. So Kamala witnessed lots of civil rights marches while growing up as a child of immigrant parents.
It was then; she learned the country she calls home (USA) was not so friendly to coloured citizens. Nevertheless, she lived her life happily with her sister (Maya) in the neighborhood of Berkeley.
Back then – even at school, Harris got stopped from playing with others because of her colour. This attitude gave her a bitter heart as a US national.
As a child, she once showed her flourishing political instincts by organizing a protest. The protest was against a building owner who wouldn’t allow neighborhood kids to play on the lawn.
Parental Divorce Story:
Kamala Harris’ parents got divorced when she was seven (7). By the time she was 12, her family had moved to Montreal, Quebec, in Canada. During which she learned to speak some French — at her time in the country.
Kamala Harris Family Origin:
It is interesting how the US accepts immigrants from all over the world to become citizens. That of Kamala Harris’ parents is not in any way different.
Her maternal ancestry comes from Tamil Nadu, India, while her father, Donald Harris, is Jamaican-born. However, Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California.
Although Kamala’s Dad claims Irish descent, Research knows him as a descent from the Irish-born British sugar planter and slave owner in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica.
His name was Brown Hamilton. However, embracing both her South Asian and Black identities, we can describe Kamala Harris’ family origin as American but with a multi-racial personality.
Kamala Harris Family Background:
Kamala Harris was born to her mother, Shyamala Gopalan; an Indian-American biologist and Civil rights activist and to her Father, Donald J. Harris is a Jamaican-American. Her Dad is an economist and professor from Saint Ann’s Bay, in Jamaica.
The household of Kamala Harris is a political and academic family comprising several notable members. So, it’s not out of place for Kamala to venture into public office.
Her Indian grandfather was a high-ranking government official. The old man fought for Indian independence, while his wife was an activist who travelled the countryside teaching impoverished women about birth control in India.
Kamala Harris Educational Background:
For the family, education was a priority. Harris attended Westmount High School in Canada. While receiving education there, her biggest memory was founding a dance company with a friend.
On her return to the States, Harris attended Howard University. It was there that she majored in political science and economics.
Thanks to her brilliance, she got elected into the liberal arts student council. Harris then enrolled at UC Hastings College of the Law, earning her J.D. in 1989.
Kamala Harris Bio – Early Career Life:
Having toed the line of politics, Harris began her career as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County.
The appointment was after earning admittance to the State Bar of California in 1990. She later became a managing attorney of the Career Criminal Unit in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office in 1998.
Much later, Harris got appointed chief of its Community and Neighborhood Division. During this time, she established the state’s first Bureau of Children’s Justice in 2000.
During this time, she was still very much involved in using protest to fight for the common good of citizens.
Kamala Harris Biography – Road To Fame Story:
In 2002, Harris prepared to run for District Attorney of San Francisco against her former boss, Hallinan. She won the elections in 2003, making her the first person of colour to get elected to that position.
Much later, she became the first Black, first woman to hold the position of the attorney general of California in 2010.
However, as historical as her winning would seem, some decisions she made as attorney general came back to haunt her.
Soon after in 2016, after years as California’s junior senator. Harris made history again. She ran and won the seat for California in the Senate.
Her accomplishments included advocating for a single-payer healthcare system. She, in addition, supported the introduction of legislation.
The support was to increase access to outdoor recreational sites in urban areas. Besides, she was providing financial help to low-income families.
The help extended additionally to those facing an increasingly expensive housing market in the state of California.
Kamala Harris Bio – Rise To Fame Story:
Thanks to her political prowess, Harris continued to make headlines. As a part of the Senate Intelligence Committee, she would confront Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The confrontation concerned his contact with the Russians during the Donald Trump campaign.
Kamala could not conceal anger and distrust towards the Trump administration. Having gotten a firsthand look at how things should run in Washington, she got inspired to change her country. Hence the will to begin fighting to the top.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which was the 21st of January 2019. Kamala made it known on Good Morning America that she would run for president in the 2020 election. She saw this moment as a time to fight for the best of the United States.
However, after being unsuccessful at emerging as the presidential candidate, she got selected by Joe Biden as his running mate.
The selection made Harris the 4th woman to appear on a major political party’s presidential ticket in the United States.
She was the first South Asian person, and the first Black woman nominated for national office. The good news is that the duo emerged winner at the U.S. 2020 elections. The rest, as they say, is history.
Kamala Harris Dating History and Marriage:
In 2001, The first female vice president-elect briefly dated Montel Williams, the former host of The Montel Williams Show. However, the relationship was short-lived.
As at the time of writing this Bio, Kamala Harris husband is Douglas Emhoff, an American Jewish lawyer.
They met on a blind date and their secret wedding took place in a Santa Barbara Courthouse, California on the 22nd of August 2014.
Harris is the stepmom to his two children, Ella and Cole, who affectionately call her “Momala.”
Attorney Douglas Emhoff was a one-time partner-in-charge at Venable LLP’s Los Angeles office. His children were from his previous marriage to the film producer Kerstin Emhoff.
Kamala Harris Family Life:
Even though her parents, Donald Harris and Shyamala Gopalan, got a divorce while she was still a child, a powerful bond still exists amongst the household.
This family love would cause the to strive to see that Kamala and her sister’s future was not in any way tampered.
Truth is, they all enjoyed sound physical, spiritual and emotional upbringing. Also worthy to note is their financial stability and rarely apt of Leadership qualities that now seems a family virtue.
About Kamala Harris Father:
Donald J. Harris, a Jamaican-American, is her Dad. He is a professor from Saint Ann’s Bay City in Jamaica.
Donald J. Harris was born on the 23rd of August 1938 to Beryl Christie and Oscar Joseph Harris. Behold, a childhood photo of Kamala and her Dad.
In 1960, Donald Harris got a B.A. from the University College of the West Indies–University of London. He moved to the U.S. to earn a PhD from the University of California, which he completed in 1966. That was when he and Shyamala had Kamala.
Kamala Harris Dad, Donald J. Harris met his former wife, Shyamala Gopalan, via the civil rights movement. Much later, he retired from Stanford, becoming a professor of emeritus in 1998.
About Kamala Harris Mother:
Shyamala Gopalan was Kamala Harris’s mum. She was an Indian-American civil rights activist and biologist from Chennai, India.
She was born to P. V. Gopalan and his wife, Rajam. While Gopalan was from Thulasenthirapuram (an Indian village), Rajam was from Painganadu, another agricultural hamlet in India.
Shyamala Gopalan was a gifted singer of South Indian classical music. She won a national competition in it as a teenager. The late mother of the US Vice President majored in Home Science at Lady Irwin College in New Delhi, India.
At 19, Shyamala Gopalan applied for a master’s program at the University of California (UC), Berkeley. Eventually, she earned a PhD in nutrition and endocrinology at UC Berkeley in 1964.
She researched in the Department of Zoology and Cancer Research Lab at the University of California Berkeley. Shyamala Gopalane also worked as a breast cancer researcher at the University of Illinois and the University of Wisconsin.
She mentored lots of students in her lab and also worked in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for her last decade of research.
About Kamala Harris Children:
She has only step-children whom she enjoys a super close relationship with. However, she has two step-children, Cole and Ella from Douglas Emhoff who call her “Momala”. Cole Emhoff was born on the 15th of September 1995.
He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Colorado College. Cole Emhoff is, in addition, an executive assistant with Plan B Entertainment.
Ella Emhoff was born in 1999. She got named after jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald. She graduated in 2018 from high school in Los Angeles (L.A.)As I write her step mum’s Biography, she is now an artist majoring in textiles and apparel at the Parsons School of Design.
About Kamala Harris Sibling:
Maya Harris is her younger sister and only sibling to Shyamala and Donald – their parents. She was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, but raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and Montreal, respectively.
Maya Harris had her only child, Meena, at 17. She finished her Bachelor of Arts at the UC in Berkeley.
Maya, in addition, earned a J.D. degree from Stanford Law School. She now works as a lawyer, public policy advocate, and a T.V. Commentator for MSNBC. Maya Harris got married to lawyer Tony West in July 1998.
About Kamala Harris Relatives:
Meena is Kamala Harris’s niece. She is a children’s book author and lawyer. Meena was the former head of strategy and leadership at Uber and later founded a campaign, raising awareness on social policy issues.
Her children’s book released in 2020 is on the life story of her mother and aunt. Meena and her husband Nikolas Ajagu have two daughters.
Additionally, her brother-in-law, Tony West. He is the general counsel of Uber and a former United States Department of Justice senior official.
About Kamala Harris Grandparents:
P. V. Gopalan (a career civil servant) is the maternal grandfather of Kamala Harris, born in 1911. He eventually served as Joint Secretary to Government of India in the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Rehabilitation.
Kamala was heavily influenced by her grandfather, a high-ranking government official who fought for Indian independence. He did work in Lusaka as the Director of Relief Measures and Refugees in Zambia.
Besides, he managed the influx of refugees from Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Kamala Harris Granddad died in February 1998.
Behold the US Vice President with one of her grandmothers, an activist who traveled the countryside teaching impoverished women about birth control.
Other relatives include Beryl Christie and Oscar Joseph Harris, who were her paternal grandparents.
Personal Life:
Taking a slight break from her work life, she is someone who still maintains her childhood hobby. Some of these includes singing, mastering Indian cooking and joining civil rights marches.
As a child, Kamala enjoyed cleaning test tubes in her mother’s cancer researcher’s lab, and knitting while watching cartoons. Her only sister, Maya Harris, describes Kamala as a Mad Crocheter.
In addition, Harris enjoys reading and her favourite book list includes Native Son written by Richard Wright, the Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
She as well loved Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, and The famous C. S. Lewis books; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Kamala Harris Lifestyle:
A self-made woman, you must say. We know Kamala Harris for breaking down barriers not just on the campaign trail, but financially too.
She and her husband, lawyer Douglas Emhoff, own residences in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. Forbes estimates Kamala Harris and her husband to be $5.8 million.
Net Worth and Salary:
Working herself up the United States political ladder has seen Kamala Harris worth $6 million according to Forbes 2019 report. Truth is, her political career has been the primary source of her income.
Based on her tax records, Harris’ yearly salary is a little under $160,000 a year as a senator. Her appointment as District attorney has made her eligible for a pension worth at least $250,000 today.
| Biography Inquiries: | Wiki Answers: |
|---|---|
| Full Name: | Kamala Devi Harris |
| Nickname: | Kamala Harris |
| Age: | 59 years and 5 months |
| Date of Birth: | 20th of October 1964 |
| Place of Birth: | Oakland, California, United States |
| Profession: | American politician and attorney |
| Education: | UC Hastings College of the Law (1989), Howard University (1986), Westmount High School (1981) |
| Father: | Donald Harris |
| Mother: | Shyamala Gopalan Harris |
| Siblings: | Maya Harris (Sister) |
| Relatives: | Meena Harris (Niece), P. V. Gopalan (Maternal Grandfather), Beryl Christie and Oscar Joseph Harris (Paternal Grand Parents) and Tony West (brother-in-law) |
| Husband: | Doug Emhoff (m. 2014) |
| Children: | Cole Emhoff and Ella Emhoff |
| Sun Sign (Zodiac): | Libra |
| Hobbies: | Singing, Cooking and Reading |
| Height: | 5’2” (1.57 m) |
| Net Worth: | $6 million (Forbes 2019) |
| Religion: | Christianity |
| Nationality: | American |
Kamala Harris Facts:
We hope you found it fascinating, reading her Biography so far. In this section, we find it pertinent to state a few truths you didn’t know about the here.
Her Books:
Kamala first became an author in 2009 with Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safer. The book explores her philosophy and ideas for criminal-justice reform.
She besides published two books in early 2019: The Truths We Hold: An American Journey reflects on her relationships and upbringing. Secondly, Superheroes Are Everywhere. The book was another memoir rendered in picture-book form for kids.
Why her name:
Kamala Harris’ parents gave her an Indian name which later became her future. The name, Kamala means “lotus,” and it is another name for the Hindu goddess Lakshmi and the empowerment of women. It is written that a culture that worships goddesses produces strong women.
Led a demonstration as a child:
While in Montreal, as a 13-year-old kid, Harris and her younger sister, Maya led a successful protest in front of their apartment building. Surprisingly, the complaint was against the ban on children from playing on a lawn close to her family’s home.
Awards and Honors:
California’s largest legal newspaper, The Daily Journal in 2010, nominated Harris as one amongst the top 75 women litigators in California. They nominated her as one of the top 100 lawyers in the state.
Time also once named Harris as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.” Then, in 2018, Harris got named the 2018 recipient of the ECOS Environmental Award for her leadership in environmental protection.
What is Kamala Harris’ Religion?
Kamala Harris’ parents raised her as a Baptist and she holding membership of the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco.
The church is a congregation of the American Baptist in the US. As a child, Harris interestingly sang in a Baptist choir, also went to Hindu temple to practice the religion of her fore-fathers.
EndNote:
We hope you found it inspirational reading Kamala Harris Biography. Just like many persons who suffer parental breakups, her childhood life was full of difficulties too. She experienced the divorce of her parents as a child and the psychological effects of racial segregation while growing up.
But through it all, Kamal has remained and maintained focus. Besides, sticking to family and following through her dreams.
She maintains the love and passion for seeing a more excellent and better America. Since becoming VP, she has been introducing the world to her lawyer husband and her stepchildren Cole and Ella who call her ‘Momala.’
For more thrilling biography facts and scintillating life story of US Politicians, stay tuned with us. However, could you have noticed any error in our delivery? Never hesitate to contact us.
Otherwise, share your thought in the comments section about the US Vice President. For a quick summary of Kamala Harris’ Bio, use our wiki table.
| Biography Inquiries: | Wiki Answers: |
|---|---|
| Full Name: | Kamala Devi Harris |
| Nickname: | Kamala Harris |
| Age: | 59 years and 5 months |
| Date of Birth: | 20th of October 1964 |
| Place of Birth: | Oakland, California, United States |
| Profession: | American politician and attorney |
| Education: | UC Hastings College of the Law (1989), Howard University (1986), Westmount High School (1981) |
| Father: | Donald Harris |
| Mother: | Shyamala Gopalan Harris |
| Siblings: | Maya Harris (Sister) |
| Relatives: | Meena Harris (Niece), P. V. Gopalan (Maternal Grandfather), Beryl Christie and Oscar Joseph Harris (Paternal Grand Parents) and Tony West (brother-in-law) |
| Husband: | Doug Emhoff (m. 2014) |
| Children: | Cole Emhoff and Ella Emhoff |
| Sun Sign (Zodiac): | Libra |
| Hobbies: | Singing, Cooking and Reading |
| Height: | 5’2” (1.57 m) |
| Net Worth: | $6 million (Forbes 2019) |
| Religion: | Christianity |
| Nationality: | American |
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Cole Xavier
Hi there! I'm Cole Xavier, a writer and storyteller with a passion for exploring the lives of famous people through their childhood memories. With a warm and friendly writing style, I hope to engage readers and spark their curiosity about the lives of the famous people they admire.
