Kamala Devi Harris
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Kamala Harris was elected vice president of the United States in November 2020, becoming the first woman and first Black and Asian person to hold the office. She previously served as a U.S. senator from California from 2017 to 2021 and as attorney general of California from 2011 to 2016. Harris also appears as an actress and writer in television works like ‘The Daily Show’ and ‘107 Days’ 2025.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Kamala Harris — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Kamala Harris by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Kamala Harris — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Cancer researcher and civil rights activist Shyamala Gopalan and Stanford economics professor Donald J. Harris raised their daughter Kamala Devi Harris in Oakland, California, born on October 20, 1964. Of Indian and Jamaican descent, Harris attended F.A.C.E. School in Montreal before moving to Westmount High School. She graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C., pledging Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Her mother’s breast cancer research informed her commitment to justice.
Harris started as a prosecutor in Alameda County before serving as district attorney of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011. She was attorney general of California from 2011 to 2016. In 2017, she became a U.S. senator from California. She announced her 2020 Democratic presidential bid in January 2019 but dropped out in December 2019 due to poor fundraising. In August 2020, Joe Biden selected her as his vice presidential running mate. They won the November 2020 election, and she became the first woman vice president. Harris also appeared on television shows including The Daily Show and Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Harris married Douglas Emhoff on August 22, 2014. She has two stepchildren: Cole Emhoff born September 15, 1994 and Ella Emhoff born May 29, 1999. Her younger sister, Maya Harris, is an attorney and political commentator for MSNBC. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, passed away in 2009 from cancer. Harris counts musician Bob Marley among her favorite artists.
In 2020, Kamala Harris became the first woman, first Black American, and first Asian American vice president, a milestone that followed her inclusion in Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2013. Her election inspired a new generation of women and girls of color to pursue public service. She is also the second person with documented non-white ancestry to be elected vice president, after Charles Curtis.
Browse the complete filmography of Kamala Harris — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
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Every award, honor, and recognition received by Kamala Harris — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Kamala Harris's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
A wall of memorable lines from Kamala Harris — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Ukraine Is a Country in Europe. It Exists Next to Another Country Called Russia. Russia Is a Bigger Country. Russia Is a Powerful Country. Russia Decided to Invade a Smaller Country Called Ukraine. So, Basically, That’s Wrong, and It Goes Against Everything That We Stand For.
The Governor and I and We Were All Doing a Tour of the Library Here and Talking About the Significance of the Passage of Time. Right? the Significance of the Passage of Time. So, When You Think About It, There Is Great Significance to the Passage of Time in Terms of What We Need to Do to Lay These Wires, What We Need to Do to Create These Jobs. and There Is Such Great Significance to the Passage of Time When We Think About a Day in the Life of Our Children and What That Means to the Future of Our Nation, Depending on Whether or Not They Have the Resources They Need to Achieve Their God Given Talent.
You Know, When We Talk About Our Children I Know for This Group, We All Believe That When We Talk About the Children of the Community, They Are a Children of the Community.
You Need to Get to Go, and You to Be Able to Get Where You Need to Go, to Do the Work, and Get Home.
The United States Shares a Very Important Relationship, Which Is an Alliance with the Republic of North Korea. and It Is an Alliance That Is Strong and Enduring.
We Now Know Because of Great Investigative Journalism, That Donald Trump Paid Seven Hundred and Fifty Dollars in Taxes. When I First Heard About It, I Literally Said You Mean Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars? and It Was Like No, Seven Hundred and Fifty Dollars.
I Went Home One Day and I Said, ‘Why Are Conservatives Bad, Mommy?’ Because I Thought We Were Supposed to Conserve! Ha Ha Ha! I Couldn’t Reconcile It. Now I Can! Ha Ha Ha!
My Mother Used To, She Would Give Us a Hard Time Sometimes, and She Would Say to Us, ‘I Don’t Know What’s Wrong with You Young People. You Think You Just Fell Out of a Coconut Tree?’
When We Invest in Clean Energy and Electric Vehicles and Reduce Population, More of Our Children Can Breathe Clean Air and Drink Clean Water.
The Importance of Community Banks Is They Are, as They Are Called, They’re in the Community.
It Is Status Quo Thinking to Believe That Putting More Police on the Streets Creates More Safety. That’s Wrong. It’s Just Wrong.
We Have to Stay Woke. Like Everybody Needs to Be Woke. and You Can Talk About If You’re the Wokest or Woker, but Just Stay More Woke Than Less Woke.
Bacon Is a Spice, as Far as I’m Concerned.
When Young Children See Someone Who Looks Like Them Running for Office, They See Themselves and What They Can Be, Unburdened by What Has Been.
Little-known facts about Kamala Harris — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Harris is of Indian and Jamaican descent; her mother came from India, her father from Jamaica.
Her mother Shyamala Gopalan was a cancer researcher, breast cancer specialist, and civil rights activist; her father Donald J. Harris is a Stanford University economics professor.
In November 2021, she briefly became the first woman with presidential power when President Joe Biden transferred power to her for approximately 90 minutes while undergoing a colonoscopy.
She served as district attorney of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011.
Her first name is pronounced comma-la and is often mispronounced due to its spelling.
She has two stepchildren: stepson Cole Emhoff born September 15, 1994 and stepdaughter Ella Emhoff born May 29, 1999 with husband Douglas Emhoff.
Elected vice president in November 2020 with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, defeating the Republican ticket of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Harris became the first woman vice president in American history, the first Black and Asian vice president, and the highest-ranking woman in the presidential line of succession.
Her younger sister Maya Harris is an attorney and political commentator for MSNBC.
She selected Work That by Mary J. Blige as her campaign song for her 2020 presidential campaign and frequently used it as her walkout song after being selected as the Democratic vice presidential nominee.
She announced her candidacy for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination on January 21, 2019, but dropped out in December 2019, citing poor fundraising.
She is the second woman to be nominated by a major American party for president, after Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Graduated from Howard University in Washington DC.
She was a U.S. senator from California from January 3, 2017 to January 2021.
She was attorney general of California from 2011 to 2016.
One of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World 2013.
On August 11, 2020, Joe Biden announced Harris as his vice presidential running mate for the 2020 presidential election. Harris became the first non-Caucasian woman to appear on a major party presidential ticket.
She is the second person with documented non-white ancestry to be elected vice president of the United States, after Charles Curtis in office 1929-1933.
She pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority at Howard University.
Her full name was initially recorded as Kamala Iyer Harris before being changed two weeks later to Kamala Devi Harris when her parents filed an affidavit to correct the mistake.
She was initially expected to be the Democratic vice presidential candidate in the 2024 election with Joe Biden, but Biden withdrew on July 21, 2024, following a widely-panned debate performance, and endorsed Harris for president.
She counts musician Bob Marley among her favorite artists.
She became the first female vice president in 2021.
She is the aunt of Meena Harris.
She is the second vice president to have been born in California, after Richard Nixon.
She has an Instagram account @kamalaharris.
She has a Twitter account @KamalaHarris.
She has a Facebook account KamalaHarris.
She has a YouTube account kamalaharris.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Kamala Harris.
Celebrities similar to Kamala Harris — same craft, ranked by reach.
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