Kamala Harris had been a hopeful for the Democratic ticket to contest the 2020 president election but she lost out to Joe Biden. The official presidential nominee of the Democratic Party is Joe Biden (77) who was vice-President during the tenure of Barack Obama. Biden has chosen Kamala Harris to be his vice-president. She had been one of the women in the fray and, in spite of her strong debate performances, lost out to Biden. She is a Democrat from California, born in Oakland to immigrant parents. Her mother is an Indian and father a Jamaican and after their divorce, she remained with her mother who was a cancer researcher and civil rights activist.

She brought up Kamala and her sister by adopting Oakland's black culture. During the early years, Kamala Harris had attended school in Montreal for five years. That was when her mother held a teaching job in a university.

The BBC quotes Kamala Harris from her autobiography “The Truths We Hold” where she says, "My mother understood very well that she was raising two black daughters. 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.”

In March, Kamala Harris endorsed Joe Biden

Kamala Harris launched her candidacy for president in January 2019. She is a Senator from California and there was initial enthusiasm among a section of the people with expectations of the US getting a woman as President.

In July 2019, Kamala Harris raised $2 million in 24 hours after the Democratic debate. However, she was unable to chalk out a clear-cut rationale for her campaign and withdrew. The BBC says there were times when she appeared to falter on key policy areas like healthcare. In 2019, she had told a media outlet that politicians should be free of bias towards issues like color or background.

Her word were - “My point was: I am who I am. I'm good with it. You might need to figure it out, but I'm fine with it."

Kamala Harris studied in Howard University

The vice-President elect was a student of Howard University for four years. This institution is one of America’s notable black colleges and universities. She described her association with it as being among the most formative experiences of her life.

The BBC goes on to add that she feels at ease with her identity of “an American." After graduating from Howard, she acquired her law degree at the University of California, Hastings. Her career took off from the Alameda County District Attorney's Office. In 2003, she became the district attorney for San Francisco. Subsequently, her stature rose when she became the first woman and the first black person to serve as California's attorney general. Gradually, the Democratic Party began to look at her as a rising star.

Choosing Kamala Harris an acknowledgement of the role of black voters

According to Al Jazeera, Joe Biden has realized that Black voters will play a major role in his bid to defeat Trump.

That is his logic of choosing Kamala Harris because in 2016, there was a dip in Black voter turnout that led to the loss of Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump. Senator Kamala Harris now becomes the first Black woman and the first Asian American to compete on a presidential ticket in the United States. Biden was all praises for Harris and described her on Twitter as "a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country's finest public servants." He also added that their combined strength would dislodge Trump. Former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, also praised Kamala Harris. If elected, Joe Biden would be the oldest person to become president. Given his age, he might serve for only one term. That would make Kamala Harris a potential top contender for the nomination in 2024.
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