Today In Black History: Vice President Kamala Harris (Re-post)
Kamala Harris is expected to the first Black and Asian woman to be nominated for President of the United States
Issue #676 Today In Black History, Monday, July 22, 2024
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Today’s Black History WOW!
On Sunday, July 21, 2024, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. made a surprise announcement to step down from his candidacy for re-election in 2024. He then immediately endorsed his Vice President, Kamala Harris, to be the nominee, and he pledged his delegates to her. She has also already received the $96+million from the Biden-Harris campaign (the only person eligible to do so, and her new campaign raised over $47 million in one day, the largest one-day fundraising total in American political history.
Of course, the racist and sexist attacks from the right have already started.
This is a re-post from March, 2024.
Kamala Devi Harris was born in Oakland, California, on October 20, 1964. Her first name is pronounced “comma-la.” Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was a Tamil Indian biologist, whose work on the progesterone receptor gene stimulated advances in breast cancer research. She moved to the United States from India as a 19-year-old graduate student in 1958, and she received her PhD in endocrinology from the University of California, Berkley, in 1964.
Kamala Harris's Jamaican American father, Donald J. Harris, is a Stanford University professor of economics (emeritus) who arrived in the United States from British Jamaica in 1961, for graduate study at UC Berkeley, receiving a PhD in economics in 1966.
Donald Harris met his future wife Shyamala Gopalan at a college club for African-American students (though Indian American, Gopalan was allowed to join).
Both of Kamala Harris’ parents were active in the civil rights movement and instilled in her a commitment to build strong coalitions that fight for the rights and freedoms of all people. They brought her to civil rights marches in a stroller and taught her about heroes like Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and civil rights leader and federal judge Constance Baker Motley.
When she was twelve, Harris and her sister moved with their mother to Montreal, Quebec, where Shyamala had accepted a research and teaching position at the McGill University Hospital.
Harris attended a French-speaking primary school and Westmount High School in Westmount, Quebec, graduating in 1981.
Kamala Harris went on to graduate from HBCU Howard University and the University of California Hastings College of Law, where she served as president of its chapter of the Black Law Students Association. She graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1989 and was admitted to the California Bar in June 1990.
In 2014, she married Douglas Emhoff, a lawyer. They have a blended family that includes Emhoff’s children, Ella and Cole.
Harris started her career as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California, where she focused on prosecuting child sexual assault cases. She then moved on to serve as the district attorney of San Francisco, becoming the first woman, first African American woman, and first Indian American woman to hold the position. During her time as district attorney, she focused on prosecuting crimes related to domestic violence, child exploitation, and sexual assault.
In 2010, Harris was elected as the Attorney General of California, becoming the first woman, first African American woman, and first Indian American woman to hold the position. During her time as Attorney General, she focused on issues such as criminal justice reform, protecting consumers, and fighting for the rights of immigrants. Harris pledged never to seek the death penalty and to prosecute three-strike offenders only in cases of violent felonies.
Harris made history once again in 2016 when she was elected as the first African American woman to represent California in the United States Senate. During her time in the Senate, she was a vocal advocate for issues such as healthcare, immigration reform, and criminal justice reform. She was a fierce critic of the Trump administration, often questioning and challenging their policies and decisions.
Harris assumed office as vice president of the United States on January 20, 2021. She is the United States' first female vice president, the highest-ranking female elected official in U.S. history, and the first African-American and first Asian-American vice president.
Harris is also the second person of color to hold the post, preceded by Charles Curtis, a Native American member of the Kaw Nation, who served under Herbert Hoover from 1929 to 1933. She is the third person with acknowledged non-European ancestry to reach one of the highest offices in the executive branch, after Curtis and former president Barack Obama.
On November 19, 2021, Harris served as acting president from 10:10 to 11:35 am EST, while President Biden underwent a colonoscopy. She became the first woman, and the third person overall, to assume the powers and duties of the U.S. presidency under Section 3 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment.
In 2005, the National Black Prosecutors Association awarded Harris the Thurgood Marshall Award. That year, she was also included in a Newsweek report profiling "20 of America's Most Powerful Women.”
A 2008 New York Times article also identified her as a woman with the potential to become president of the United States, highlighting her reputation as a "tough fighter.”
In 2013, 2020, and 2021, Time included Harris on the Time 100, Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2016, the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center awarded Harris the Bipartisan Justice Award. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were jointly named Time Person of the Year for 2020.
Harris was selected for the inaugural 2021 Forbes 50 Over 50; made up of entrepreneurs, leaders, scientists, and creators who are over the age of 50.
Harris is a Baptist, holding membership in the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco.
In addition to her political career, Harris is also the author of two books, "Smart on Crime" and "The Truths We Hold: An American Journey."
Today In Black History
In 1848, Lester Walton was appointed minister to Liberia.
In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln read the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to his Cabinet.
In 1933, Caterina Jarboro became the first Black person to perform with an American opera company. She was a featured performer in Aida.
In 1937, the Senate rejected President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s proposal to enlarge the Supreme Court.
In 1939, Jane Matilda Bolin became the first Black woman judge in New York City when she was appointed judge of the Court of Domestic Relations by May Fiorello LaGuardia.
In 1975, the House of Representatives voted to restore U.S. citizenship to Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
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“Harris started her career as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California, where she focused on prosecuting child sexual assault cases.” Crimes the convicted felon is allegedly guilty of.