With Joe Biden the projected winner of the 2020 White House race, his running mate, Kamala Harris, is set to mark several firsts in Americas’ political history despite being the first woman vice president-elect.
Harris, 56, also makes history as the first Black person and the first person of Asian descent who will serve as number two in the US.
The child of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, she has been a taboo-breaker her entire career, starting from 2010 when she was elected the first Black and first woman to serve as the state of California’s Attorney General.
After completing nearly two terms, she was sworn in as California senator — the second Black woman and first South Asian-American senator in history. Harris is currently the only Black woman in the chamber.
She holds seats on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on the Budget.
Growing up in Oakland, California gave Harris a “stroller-eye view” of the civil rights movement which led her to the law field. After earning an undergraduate degree from Howard University and a law degree from the University of California, she began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.
In 2003, Harris became the San Francisco District Attorney where she started a program to reintegrate drug offenders by giving them a chance to earn a high school diploma and find employment. She held that post for two terms.
During the 2020 White House race, Biden defeated incumbent Republican President Donald Trump with 290 Electoral College votes, according to projections. (PNA)
