Senator Kamala Harris officially accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination as Joe Biden’s running mate, making her the first Indian-origin and woman of colour to accept a US Vice President bid.
Kamala Harris accepts US Vice President nomination
There was a great deal of anticipation surrounding the US’ Democratic Party Vice President nomination last week when presidential candidate Joe Biden tweeted his bid for Kamala Harris, with millions showing support for her given her ethnicity and a background boasting of positions such as the Attorney General of California, District Attorney of San Francisco, junior United States senator from California and campaigning for President last year.
It wasn’t until December 2019 when Kamala Harris backed out from her presidential campaign due to a shortage of funds. After dropping out of the race, the 55-year-old endorsed Joe Biden for President, to which he made a statement claiming he will choose a woman as his running mate, following an array of reports by American media surfacing of a possible Biden-Harris ticket.
Last week, Joe Biden announced selecting Harris as his running mate and last night, the Indian-origin senator accepted the nomination at the US Vice President.
Photograph credit: Twitter/Kamala Harris
“Let’s fight with conviction. Let’s fight with hope. Let’s fight with confidence in ourselves, and a commitment to each other. To the America we know is possible. The America, we love.”
Senator Kamala Harris
Harris’ Indian roots
Kamala Harris is of Indo-Caribbean descent. Her father, Donald J Harris is a Jamaican economist who arrived in the US to pursue higher education in economics at University of California, Berkely, while her mother, Shyamala Gopalan is an Indian biologist who moved from Tamil Nadu to the US pursuing a PhD in nutrition and endocrinology at UC Berkeley, where the duo met. Kamala Harris often regards her family and upbringing values in her speeches and campaigns.
Not to mention her love for Indian food, she even cooked Masala Dosa with Indian-origin actress Mindy Kaling. Check it out:
Last night at the Democratic National Convention, Kamala Harris spoke of women empowerment highlighting the struggles of her mother, Shyamala. The senator went at great lengths saying her mother raised her “on her own,” after their parents divorced when she was only five years old. The late Shyamala helped “with homework at the kitchen table” drove back and forth “to the church for choir practice,” and “worked round the clock to make it work.”
“When I was 5, my parents split and my mother raised us mostly on her own. Like so many mothers, she worked around the clock to make it work—packing lunches before we woke up— and paying bills after we went to bed. Helping us with homework at the kitchen table—and shuttling us to church for choir practice. She made it look easy, though I know it never was.”
Senator Kamala Harris
Read Kamala Harris’ entire speech here.
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(Featured photograph credit: Twitter/Kamala Harris)
