Kamala Harris remembers her mother Shyamala in her acceptance speech

Washington, Aug 23 (IANS) Kamala Harris while accepting the Democratic nomination for US president during the party’s convention in Chicago on Friday spoke about her life and her Indian mother.

Harris said her Jamaican father, Donald Jasper Harris, always taught her to be “fearless”, and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was “tough and courageous”.

“My mother taught Maya (her sister) and me to never complain about injustice, but do something about it,” she said.

“My mother Shyamala Harris had one of her own. I miss her every day, especially now. And I know she’s looking down tonight, and smiling,” she said.

Harris said her mother was just 19 and travelled alone to the US to pursue a dream of being a scientist. “So my mother was 19 when she crossed the world alone, travelling from India to California with an unshakable dream to be the scientist who would cure breast cancer. When she finished school, she was supposed to return home to a traditional arranged marriage, but as fate would have it, she met my father, Donald Harris, a student from Jamaica. They fell in love and got married, and that act of self-determination made my sister Maya and I grow up, we moved a lot,” said Harris.

Speaking of her father, Harris said, “From my earliest years, he taught me to be fearless, but the harmony between my parents did not last. When I was in elementary school, they split up..”

“… it was mostly my mother who raised us before she could finally afford to buy a home. She rented a small apartment in the East Bay, in the bay, in the bay, you either live in the hills or the flatlands. We lived in the flats, a beautiful working-class neighbourhood of firefighters, nurses and construction workers, all of who tended their lawns with pride, my mother worked long hours, and like many working parents, she leaned on a trusted circle to help raise us,” Harris said.

“I grew up immersed in the ideals of the civil rights movement. My parents had met at a civil rights gathering, and they made sure that we learned about civil rights leaders, including lawyers like Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley, those who battled in the courtroom to make real the promise of America. So at a young age, I decided I wanted to do that work. I wanted to be a lawyer. And when it came time to choose the type of law I would pursue, I reflected on a pivotal moment in my life.

Talking about why she wanted to be a lawyer, Harris said, “…when I was in high school, I started to notice something about my best friend, Wanda. She was sad at school, and there were times she didn’t want to go home. So one day, I asked if everything was all right, and she confided in me that she was being sexually abused by her stepfather, I immediately told her she had to come to stay with us, and she did. This is one of the reasons I became a prosecutor to protect people like Wanda because I believe everyone has a right to safety, dignity and justice.”

“My entire career, I’ve only had one client, the people,” Harris said, referring to her career as a public prosecutor in California and then the state’s attorney general.

“And so on behalf of the people, on behalf of every American, regardless of party, race, gender or the language your grandmother speaks on behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey, on behalf of Americans like the People I grew up with, people who work hard chase their dreams and look out for one another, on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth, I accept your nomination.”

Later she also posted on her X handle, “My mother, Dr. Shyamala Gopalan Harris, came to the United States from India alone at 19. She was a force who had two goals in life: to cure breast cancer and to raise my sister Maya and me. Her dedication, determination, and courage shaped who I am today.”

US Vice President Kamala Harris formally accepted the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nomination to fight against her Republican rival Donald Trump pledging to be the “president who unites” Americans.

“On behalf of the people, on behalf of every American, regardless of party, race, gender or the language your grandmother speaks, on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on earth, I accept your nomination for President of the United States of America,” she said during her address at Chicago’s United Center on the last day of the four-day Democratic National Convention.

During her speech, she pledged to be the “president who unites” Americans and “fight for America’s future”.”With this election, our nation has a precious and fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past. A chance to chart a New Way Forward, not as members of any one party or faction but as Americans,” Kamala Harris said.

Harris became the Democratic candidate after President Joe Biden, 81, was forced to quit the race for the White House. If successful Harris, 59, will become the first woman US president.

–IANS

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