11 Things To Know About Kamala Harris, Who Could Become The First Female US President
From her heritage to her sneaker obsession and the viral coconut tree meme.
By Shermin Ng - published
Kamala Harris—the first woman, first Black woman, and first South Asian woman elected vice president of the United States—made a powerful speech after she and U.S. President Joe Biden emerged victorious after a gruelling election race in 2020. “While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last, because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities," Harris said as she addressed the nation.
Now, with 81-year-old Biden’s endorsement after he recently announced that he was ending his re-election bid, the 49th US vice-president is on the cusp of becoming the country’s first female president.
From having a long history of public service to her viral ‘coconut-tree’ meme, we’ve rounded up 11 things to know about Harris.
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She is of Jamaican and Indian descent
Born and raised in Oakland, California, Kamala (pronounced "comma-la", which means "lotus flower" in Sanskrit) Harris is the daughter of Shyamala Gopalan, a cancer researcher from India, and Donald Harris, an economist from Jamaica.
After her parents' divorce when she was 7, Kamala and her younger sister Maya were raised by their single mother in a predominantly Black, lower-middle-class neighborhood. "My mother understood very well that she was raising two black daughters," she wrote in her autobiography The Truths We Hold. "She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as black girls and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud black women."
Harris embraced her Black and South Asian identities, and attended both a Black Baptist church and a Hindu temple as a child. Growing up biracial, she has had experiences with discrimination and racism.
Her legal and political career was influenced by her upbringing
Harris's parents met as students at the University of California at Berkeley, and were active in the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Young Kamala was brought along to protests after she was born in 1964. She also made childhood visits to India and was heavily influenced by her grandparents who sparked her interest in public service.
Harris graduated with a degree in political science and economics at Howard University in 1981, and later earned her law degree from University of California, Hastings, in 1989.
She then worked in the Alameda County District Attorney's office for 8 years, prosecuting child sexual assault cases. Harris went on to serve as San Francisco's district attorney from 2004 to 2011 and California's attorney general—making history as the first woman and the first person of color in the position—from 2011 to 2017.
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She stood up for marriage equality as California's Attorney General
Kamala Harris at SF Pride Parade on June 30, 2019 in San Francisco, California.
Harris took a stand for marriage equality as attorney general when she refused to defend Proposition 8—a ban on marriage equality approved by California voters in 2008. The appeal was dismissed as a result, removing the same-sex marriage ban in California. Harris officiated the first marriage of an LGBTQI+ couple performed in the state following the decision.
She ran for president
In 2019, the presidential hopeful ran her own presidential campaign (her sister, Maya, was her campaign chairwoman) but dropped out of the race citing a lack of funds. She was subsequently selected as Joe Biden's running mate for the U.S. elections.
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She is the first Black woman and first South Asian woman to be elected US Vice President
On 20 January 2022, Harris made history yet again when she was sworn in as vice president, becoming the first Black American and first South Asian woman to hold that office.
She has an orchid named after her
Kamala Harris presented with the Papilionanda Kamala Harris, by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
As part of her visit to Singapore in 2021—she met with then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and then-President Halimah Yacob at the Istana to discuss the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, bilateral cooperation and regional developments—Harris was presented with the Papilionanda Kamala Harris by then-Prime Minister Lee. The spray of purple-pink orchids named in her honour came with an official “birth certificate”, which she accepted saying, “Well, I’m pleased to welcome this orchid into the world.”
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The coconut tree has become a symbol of support for Harris
In a speech from May 2023, Kamala Harris recounted her mother’s classic line: “My mother used to give us a hard time sometimes. ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. She would say to us, ‘You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?’” Harris explained that this was her mother’s way of saying, “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.” The ‘coconut tree’ meme went viral after a fan edited Harris’ speeches to the tune of Charli XCX’s hit ‘Brat’—Charli XCX herself tweeted on 21 July: “kamala IS brat”—and the coconut emoji has since become a symbol of support for the Democratic candidate on X and TikTok.
She is "Momala" to her children
Harris may be Vice President of the United States, but to her stepchildren, she's "Momala." "I've had a lot of titles over my career, and certainly 'vice president' will be great. But 'Momala' will always be the one that means the most," she said in her first speech as Joe Biden's running mate. She became a stepmom to Cole and Ella when she married lawyer Douglas Emhoff in 2014. At home, Harris is affectionately called "Momala"—a term coined by the kids because they didn't like the term "stepmom."
She is an author
Following the Biden-Harris historic win, Harris' authored books saw a sharp rise in popularity. Besides her memoir The Truths We Hold, she has also written a book on criminal justice reform, Smart on Crime, and an illustrated children's book titled Superheroes Are Everywhere.
She loves cooking
Apart from her impressive career, Harris has made her love for cooking public. She joined Mindy Kaling to cook Masala Dosa at Kaling's home in 2019, and the video went viral as soon as it was released on social media.
She is obsessed with Converse’s Chuck Taylors
She is also known for her obsession with sneakers—specifically Converse's Chuck Taylors—and an extensive collection of the trusty kicks for different occasions. "I have a whole collection of Chuck Taylors: a black leather pair, a white pair, I have the kind that don’t lace, the kind that do lace, the kind I wear in the hot weather, the kind I wear in the cold weather, and the platform kind for when I’m wearing a pantsuit," she told The Cut in 2018.