In 1964, Kamala Harris was born to an Indian mother Shyamala Gopalan and a black Jamaican father Donald Harris, she later became the older sister of Maya Harris. When her parents divorced, Gopalan raised her daughters to be proud to be black. Harris wrote in her memoirs “My mother understood very well that she was raising two black daughters. She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as black girls, and she was determined to make sure that we would grow into confident, proud black women.”

1970 when she was in 1St class, became Harris part of the second class to desegregate her elementary school in Berkeley, California. She was bused to a more affluent white school, and the experience led to one of the more memorable moments of her first presidential campaign in 2019. During a debate with her then-Democratic rival Joe Biden, she challenged his opposition to busing with the statement “There was a little girl in California … and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me.”

Harris chose to attend the renowned HBCU Howard University where she studied economics and political science. While there in 1986, Harris pledged the oldest Greek sorority established by black women, Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA). If Harris wins the White House, expect some lively chants of “Skee-Wee!” on the opening day.

Kamala Harris began her career as a prosecutor in 1990. She was hired as an Assistant District Attorney in Alameda County, California where she first said the words “for the people” which would become her 2024 campaign slogan. Harris eventually worked her way up to assistant district attorney in San Francisco.

In 2002, Harris began her streak of groundbreaking firsts as the first woman, the first black person, and the first Asian American to become San Francisco’s district attorney. There she opposed the death penalty and established initiatives to steer non-violent offenders out of prison and into job training programs.

In 2010, Harris became the attorney general of California, the first woman, the first black person and the first South Asian American to do so. As a prosecutor, Harris prosecutes gang members and fights human trafficking and fentanyl trafficking.

Harris made history again as the first South Asian-American and second black woman to serve as a US senator in 2017. There have only been three black women elected to the Senate, the first being Carol Moseley Braun in 1992 and the third being Laphonza Butler who currently represents California .

After Harris suspended his 2019 presidential campaign, Joe Biden chose Harris to be his running mate and she became the first black person, Asian-American person and woman to serve as vice president after the Biden-Harris team won the 2020 election. Harris was charged with investigating the root causes of the migrant crisis at the border in 2021, and once Roe was overturned in 2022, she began advocating for reproductive rights across the country, including a “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms Tour” that she launched in 2024 on the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

In July 2024, Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race and immediately endorsed Kamala Harris to replace him. Democratic leaders are quickly coalescing around her candidacy, and a host of grassroots supporters are filling her campaign coffers with money. Jotaka Eaddy’s Win With Black Women raised $1.5 million dollars in just a few hours during a fundraising call and a day later Khalil Thompson’s Win With Black Men raised $1.3 million dollars during his call. Several other groups are following suit and so far Harris has raised nearly $505 million, a huge amount that dwarfs Trump’s $55 million

In a shortened presidential campaign of just over 100 days, Harris chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as his running mate and defined himself apart from the Biden administration in her first major campaign speech at the Democratic National Convention. Over the course of his campaign, Harris has emphasized his support for abortion rights, leans into his middle-class upbringing to champion policies that will lift the middle class, promises to work across the aisle and bring a Republican into his cabinet, proposes a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and raises the concerns of black men with policy proposals specifically designed for them. The day after the 20204 election, vice president Kamala Harris officially conceded the election President-elect Donald Trump delivers a hopeful and forward-looking message from Howard University, her alma mater. She urged supporters not to lose heart but to continue “the fight that drove this campaign.”

“Don’t despair. This is not a time to throw up your hands. It’s time to roll up your sleeves. This is a time to organize, to mobilize and stay engaged for the sake of freedom and justice and the future we all know we can build together,” she said.