Know Kamala Harris, the first Indian-American US Senator

Indian men have made quite a name for themselves all over the world but Indian women have not had this opportunity much in the past but there are a few gems. One such gem is the Oakland, California born 52 year old Kamala Harris who is to take the office as US senator on 3rd January, 2017.

Early life

Kamala Harris was born on 20th October, 1964 in Oakland, California, US to a breast cancer specialist, Dr. Shyamala Gopalan Harris (Indian-American) and economic professor, Donald Harris (Jamaican-American) who taught in Stanford University. She has a younger sister Maya who is a public policy advocate and an American lawyer. After her parents’ divorce both the sisters lived with their mother who unfortunately passed away in 2009.

Kamala spent her childhood in Oakland, California, Berkeley, Montreal and Canada. Her family usually lived in a black neighbourhood therefore she knew the hardships there first handed.

Education

Kamala completed her schooling from Westmount High School and then proceeded to attend Howard University in Washington, D.C. In 1989 from University of California, Hastings College of the Law she received her Juris Doctor (J.D.). On her first try she was unable to pass the bar but soon in 1990 she was admitted to the State Bar of California.

Career

• From 1990 to 1998 Kamala served as Alameda County, California’s Deputy District Attorney and by 2000 she was recognized as one of the top 100 lawyers in California by the Los Angeles Daily Journal.
• She also served on California District Attorney’s Association’s board and also as the National District Attorneys Association’s Vice president.
• In 2003 Kamala became District Attorney of the City and County of San Francisco after defeating Terence Hallinan. She proceeded to become Attorney General of California on 3rd January, 2011 making her the first African-American as well as Indian-American woman to acquire the post and she was re-elected to the same post on 4th November, 2011.
• As if in natural rise she announced her intention to compete in the 2016 United States Senate election in California. In the primary election on June 2016 Kamala was in the lead as she won 48 counties in the 58 ones.
• Finally on November 2016 Kamala defeated Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez and became the junior California senator.

Her views

Kamala has always had strong opinions with the perceptive of common man always in her mind thereby making her quite popular. She has very strong opinions on many subjects like

• Gun Control: She has always been a big advocate of gun control and has supported the San Francisco’s proposition H that prohibits most firearms within city limits.
• Death penalty: Kamala is opposed to the death penalty but she has told that she will consider each case before coming to any conclusion. She feels that life in prison without parole is much better punishment than death penalty.
• Hate crimes and civil rights: As the San Francisco District Attorney Kamala created a special Hate Crimes Unit that focuses on hate crimes on children and teens. She supports immigration and same sex marriage. After winning her seat on the US senate she promised to protect immigrant from policies introduced by Donald Trump.

These are just a few subjects she has contributed to, there are many more making her the perfect candidate for the senator position. We hope that she inspires Indian woman all over the world to achieve such heights.