Kamala Harris: The inspiring story of many firsts
Washington: Known as the "female Obama", first time Senator Kamala Devi Harris has scripted history by becoming the first woman, Black and Indian-American vice president of the United States.
Harris was picked by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden as his running mate in August, months after she suspended her own presidential dreams, saying she lacked the financial resources to continue her campaign.
A fierce critic-turned ally of her former rival Biden, the 56-year-old California Senator is one of only three Asian Americans in the Senate and she's the first Indian-American ever to serve in the chamber.
Harris is known for many firsts. She has been a county district attorney; the district attorney for San Francisco - the first woman and first African-American and Indian-origin to be elected to the position.
She now has several firsts in her role as vice president also: the first woman, the first African-American woman, the first Indian-American, and the first Asian-American.
When Biden picked her as his running mate recognizing the crucial role Black voters could play in his determined bid to defeat Donald Trump, she was just the third woman to be selected as the vice president on a major party ticket. Then-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in 2008 and New York Representative Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 were the other two.
During the Obama era, she was popularly called the "female Obama". A decade ago, journalist Gwen Ifill called Harris "the female Barack Obama" on the "Late Show With David Letterman". Later, a small businessman from Willoughby Tony Pinto called her "a young, female version of the president".
She is considered to be close to Barack Obama, the first black American President, who endorsed her in her various elections including that of the US Senate in 2016.
Harris was born to two immigrant parents: a Black father and an Indian mother. Her father, Donald Harris, was from Jamaica, and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, a cancer researcher, and civil rights activist from Chennai. She, however, defines herself simply as American'.
After her parents divorced, Harris was raised primarily by her Hindu single mother. She says that her mother adopted black culture and immersed her two daughters - Kamala and her younger sister Maya - in it. Harris grew up embracing her Indian culture but living a proudly African American life. She often joined her mother on visits to India.
"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 was born in Oakland and grew up in Berkeley. She spent her high school years living in French-speaking Canada - her mother was teaching at McGill University in Montreal.
Her mother told her growing up, "Don't sit around and complain about things, do something," which is what drives Kamala every single day, according to the Biden-Harris joint campaign website.
"The first Black and Indian-American woman to represent California in the United States Senate, Kamala Harris grew up believing in the promise of America and fighting to make sure that promise is fulfilled for all Americans," it says.
She attended college in the US, spending four years at Howard University, which she has described as among the most formative experiences of her life.
After Howard, she went on to earn her law degree at the University of California, Hastings and began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office.
She became the top prosecutor for San Francisco in 2003, before being elected the first woman and the first black person to serve as California's attorney general in 2010, the top lawyer in America's most populous state.
In her nearly two terms in office as attorney general, Harris gained a reputation as one of the rising stars of the Democratic Party. She was elected as California's junior US senator in 2017.
Harris has been married to her husband Douglas Emhoff, a lawyer, for the past six years. She is the stepmother of two children, Ella and Cole who are her "endless source of love and pure joy," the website says.
"Harris knows the Black American experience. She knows the South Asian-American experience. She knows the immigrant experience. She knows the aspirational power of the American dream. She is the running mate for this moment, wrote Neil Makhija, Executive Director of IMPACT, in an op-ed published by CNN during the presidential campaign.
"A Biden-Harris ticket would send a message that no door is closed to Indian-Americans in public life, at a time when we're beginning to flex our political muscle, he wrote.
Around 1.3 million Indian-Americans were voters in this year's election, with nearly 200,000 in battleground states like Pennsylvania and 125,000 in Michigan. It is believed that Indian-American voters played a crucial role in the key battleground states.
In the 2016 presidential election, 77 percent of Indian Americans voted for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
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Tell US President Donald Trump to stop West Asia conflict: Owaisi to PM Modi
Hyderabad (PTI): AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "break his silence" on the conflict in West Asia and ask US President Donald Trump to end the war.
Addressing a gathering here, he also asked the PM to provide a full account of the sinking of an Iranian ship, IRIS Dena, off Sri Lanka by a US military submarine two days ago.
Taking strong exception to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's recent announcement regarding Indian oil imports, he said the BJP-RSS should give a strong response to the American official and assert that India would purchase oil according to its own will.
He accused the BJP-RSS combine of being "scared" of US President Donald Trump.
"This war should end. Prime Minister should break his silence. Take the phone and tell Trump to stop this tamasha. They (US) are not suffering any losses. Our citizens are suffering. Who is dying there? Indians are dying. You maintained silence over Gaza," he said.
Owaisi dismissed the argument that the Iranian vessel sank outside the Indian waters, saying it is important to realise that it occurred close to India.
"If a Chinese ship comes close to our nation, what would you do? You say that it was not in Indian waters. Water does not have borders. You see how close the enemy has come. It is the Constitutional responsibility of the Prime Minister to tell the country what happened. We are with America in Quad," he said.
Pointing to India's strategic agreements with the US, the AIMIM leader said the Iranian frigate had visited Visakhapatnam at the invitation of India, while America had refused to participate in the naval exercise there.
Highlighting that one crore Indian citizens work in the Gulf region, a widening war lead to job losses for Indian diaspora.
He alleged that Israel aims to create a 'Greater Israel', encompassing much of the Arab region.
"The evil eye of these oppressors extends up to the holy city of Madinah."
Responding to US Treasury Secretary's comments that America is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil, Owaisi wondered if India truly is a sovereign country.
"Have you mortagaged India before US. Speak out BJP-RSS people. A (US)minister says you purchase for a month. Is this what we have secured freedom from the English that a white-skinned person says you purchase for a month ? But, they will not speak. They are scared of Trump," he said.
Quoting America's trade minister as saying that the US would not let India emerge like China, the AIMIM leader asked whether "India is a slave of America?"
He further questioned, "What is America's role in the progress of India?"
"BJP and RSS people are terrified of speaking against the white-skinned officials," he alleged.
He also hit out at the Centre for allegedly providing funds to a right-wing organisation to hold an event.
The organisation has openly favoured making India a 'Hindu Rashtra', "converting the religion of Muslims and throwing away 25 crore people," he alleged.
