Kamala Harrisborn October 20, 1964 in Oakland, California she is the daughter of a research biologist of Indian origin and a Jamaican economist. He grew up in a multicultural environment that allowed him to forge an open mind about the world. After her parents separated when she was seven years old, she and her sister Maya moved to Quebec, Canadato live with his mother Shyamala Gopalan, who played a fundamental role in his personal and professional formation.
Academic training
The first step in his career was his participation in a racial desegregation program at a Berkeley school with a tradition of white students. Kamala attended the historically black Howard University in the state of Washingtonwhere he specialized in political science and economics. During his time at Howard, he chaired the economics society and was part of the debate team. Furthermore, he participated in the Alpha Kappa Alpha sororityan organization focused on the empowerment of African American women. He graduated in 1986.
After Howard, he returned to California to study law from the University of California, Hastings, graduating in 1989. She was admitted to the California Bar in 1990.
First professional steps
Her professional career in the legal field began in 1990, when she was hired as deputy prosecutor in Alameda County, California. During those first years, he focused on cases related to violent crime, including homicide and sexual assaultin addition to the implementation of the ‘three strikes’ law, which establishes that a person convicted of three serious crimes can receive a sentence of life imprisonment.
In 1998, he moved to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, where he worked as head of the Habitual Criminals Division.
A shift towards social defense
In 2000, Harris took on a new role in the San Francisco city attorney’s office, where she headed the Division of Children and Family Services. This was a significant change in her focus as she began working on child abuse and neglect cases.
Jump to politics
Her growing success in the judicial field led her to run for San Francisco District Attorney in 2003. In a campaign where she was seen as a progressive reformer, Kamala Harris won the election with 56% of the votebecoming the first person from a historically marginalized ethnic group and migrant parents to hold that position. Since then, her political career took off, leading her to positions of greater responsibility, including her role as California Attorney General from 2011 to 2017 and, finally, as vice president of the North American country.
The next chapter, yet to be written, will determine whether Kamala Harris will make history as the first woman to become the 47th president of the United States.
