Visiting my paternal grandmother, Beryl, in Jamaica.
Graduating from University of California Hastings College of the Law in May 1989. My first grade teacher, Mrs. Wilson (left), came to cheer me on. My mom was pretty proud, too.
Even after I started working in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, I would return to Mrs. Shelton’s kitchen, where I always knew I would receive a warm hug and delicious food.
We held the campaign kickoff for my DA’s race at the Women’s Building in San Francisco. My mother is addressing the crowd. She could also regularly be found organizing volunteers, licking envelopes, and generally doing anything that was needed. Also pictured: San Francisco Supervisors Sophie Maxwell and Fiona Ma, and State Assembly Member Mark Leno.
I’m blessed with an amazing family. I’ll never be able to thank Auntie Chris, Uncle Freddy, and Aunt Mary enough for their constant encouragement and support. They always showed up for me, as they did here at a campaign event for my DA’s race that we held at a San Francisco jazz club.
On Election Night in November 2003, we went to dinner as the vote tallies started to come in. My brother-in-law, Tony West, along with my dear friends Matthew Rothschild and Mark Leno, and my campaign consultant Jim Rivaldo, are writing down early returns on the paper tablecloth. We tore off the tally and I still have it framed in my office.
I won the runoff five weeks later, becoming the first female district attorney of San Francisco. Here I am at campaign headquarters, standing before the word “justice,” which volunteers had spray painted on the walls. Behind my left shoulder is my mother. Behind her are Chris Cunnie and City Attorney Dennis Herrera. Chris would later become chief of my bureau of investigations.
After my inauguration, I went over to my new office to see what it would be like. It was totally empty except for a chair in the middle. I was happy to take my seat.
I loved having my mother with me at community events. Here we are at the Chinese New Year parade. (2007)
Even though my opponent in the 2010 attorney general race declared victory on election night, we knew that it was too close to call. We huddled around computers and checked tallies through the night. It took twenty-one days for all the ballots to be counted and for me to be declared the winner. Every vote counts! From left to right: Justin Erlich, Dereck Johnson, Tony West, me, Meena, Maya, Ace Smith, and Brian Brokaw.
California Supreme Court Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye swears me in at the Women’s Museum in Sacramento. Maya is holding Mrs. Shelton’s Bible.
Governor Jerry Brown signs our California Homeowner Bill of Rights. Speaker John Pérez, Senate President Darrell Steinberg, and Assembly Member Nancy Skinner all helped enormously in getting the bill passed.
My team traveled with me to Mexico City to work on our collaboration with Mexican attorneys general to combat transnational criminal organizations. From left to right: Mateo Munoz, Travis LeBlanc, me, Michael Trancoso, Brian Nelson, and Larry Wallace, who was the director of the law enforcement division for the California Department of Justice.
Performing the wedding of Sandy Stier (left) and Kris Perry (right) on the balcony of San Francisco City Hall on June 28, 2013.
On September 30, 2013, I stood on the stage of the California Endowment for the statewide launch of our elementary school truancy initiative, where I explained that 82 percent of prisoners are high school dropouts. It was also the day that my team first met Doug.
On October 10, 2013, I announced a lawsuit against for-profit Corinthian Colleges, Inc., which defrauded students and investors across the state. We successfully advocated that the students’ loans be forgiven.
One of the most joyful days of my life was marrying my sweetheart, Doug. We were married at the courthouse in Santa Barbara, CA, on August 22, 2014.
At the courthouse on the day of our marriage, with my family. Left to right: Tony, Aunt Chinni, Maya, me, Aunt Sarala, Uncle Subash (Chinni’s husband), and Meena.
Doug congratulates me for winning reelection as California’s attorney general in November 2014. We’re at the Delancey Street Foundation, which is run by my dear friend Mimi Silbert.
Visiting the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic on March 11, 2015, where we were starting Back on Track–Los Angeles. In partnership with the sheriff’s department and the Ford Foundation, we were there to provide services to the inmates to help them with their reentry back into society. Left to right: Me, LA sheriff Jim McDonnell, Dan Suvor, Doug Wood, and Jeff Tsai.
A morning walk along the bay with my dear Ella. (March 2015)
Venus Johnson, my associate attorney general and de facto chief of staff, and me, working on issues related to law enforcement. I can’t thank Venus enough for her leadership. (April 2016)
Campaigning up and down the state on the Fearless for the People bus, with a Kamoji always waving to passersby. My campaign team, from left to right: Juan Rodriguez, Ellie Caple, Sean Clegg, Jill Habig, and Daniel Lopez.
Chrisette Hudlin, my best friend, got her kids (and my godchildren) Helena and Alexander into the spirit of the campaign. Helena was an active volunteer in the campaign office, where she started her own newsletter, interviewing campaign staff. She was one of the toughest interviews I’ve ever done.
Doug and me jumping off the Kamoji bus on the last full day of campaigning. Ready for action! (November 7, 2016)
Nathan Barankin and I have come a long way together. He was my number two in the attorney general’s office in Sacramento and joined me in Washington, DC, as my chief of staff.
Election Night celebration at Exchange LA. (November 8, 2016)
Vice President Biden swearing me in as a United States Senator in the Old Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol. (January 3, 2017)
Members of Congress joined the Women’s March on Washington on January 21, 2017. Left to right: Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), me, Emily’s List President Stephanie Schriock, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA).
I am a proud graduate of Howard University, an institution that has inspired, nurtured, and challenged its students to take on roles of leadership. I was honored to deliver the commencement speech at my alma mater. (May 13, 2017)
Cole graduated from Colorado College on May 22, 2017. Doug, Kerstin, and I were there to celebrate with him.
The devastation and loss for the victims of the Santa Rosa fire was beyond description.
Visiting with first responders during the Santa Rosa fire in Northern California. This firefighter lost his home in the same blaze he was battling. His bravery and his sacrifice were deeply moving. I’ll never forget him. (October 2017)
Traveling with a delegation to Puerto Rico to survey the vast destruction from Hurricane Maria. It was critical to witness the devastation felt by our fellow citizens. (November 2017)
With John Laird, Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, touring Lake Oroville, where damage to the reservoir’s spillways caused flooding and forced the temporary evacuation of 100,000 people.
On March 20, 2018, the Senate Intelligence Committee held a news conference where we presented our findings and recommendations on threats to election infrastructure. Left to right: Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), me, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Sen. Angus King (I-ME).
On March 24, 2018, I joined the millions of people around the county in the March for Our Lives to advocate for reasonable gun safety laws. I attended the Los Angeles march, where I met with young community leaders from The Bro
therhood Crusade, who are highlighting the impact of gun violence in the community.
Calling for an end to the barbaric practice of family separation, I visited the Otay Mesa Detention Center in Southern California, where mothers who had been separated from their children were being held, on June 22, 2018. I met with them in the prison and then gave a news conference outside. To my left is a great leader: Angelica Salas of CHIRLA.
With Doug and Meena celebrating the San Francisco Pride Parade. (June 2018)
Marching at the Martin Luther King Day Parade in Los Angeles. Left to right: Heather Hutt, Areva Martin, me, Rabbi Jonathan Klein, Salas. (January 15, 2018)
In this crowd are survivors of sexual assault who fearlessly spoke truth to powerful forces and refused to be silenced. I am inspired by their courage.
Hanging with a few Dreamers. Let’s find time between the marching and the shouting to dance, sing, and laugh—to be joyful warriors.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
When I sat down to write about my life, I didn’t expect the process to become a life experience of its own. During one of the most tumultuous years in recent memory, my weeks started early and ended late, and I spent most weekends working on this book: recalling the professional experiences that had led up to it; revisiting the childhood that formed my way of thinking; and reflecting on what this inflection point represents. Writing this book has reinforced for me what drew me to public service and what will always be worth fighting for, and I am so grateful to everyone in my life who helped me along the way. There are a lot of you to thank.
First, I want to thank the people of California, whom I’ve been so honored to represent. Thank you for believing in a brighter future for our state and our nation, and for working so hard to make it so. Thank you for believing in me, for putting your trust in me all these years. I want you to know that I try hard to earn it every day. And I want to especially thank the people who wrote letters to me and let me share excerpts in this book. Your stories matter.
I also want to thank my extraordinary Senate staff, in Washington and California, for the critical work you do each day on behalf of the American people. I am so grateful for your sense of purpose and your dedication. I know this work is personal to each of you. In particular, I want to thank Tyrone Gale, who started with me as my press secretary on day one in the Senate, and whom we recently lost to cancer. Tyrone is irreplaceable. He was an exceptional talent and an exceptional person—kind, warm, generous, and deeply committed to public service. Those of us who knew him will carry his memory forward, and try each day to live up to the example he set.
Like everything in my life, this book would not have been possible without the love, support, and help of family. Doug, thank you for your advice, encouragement, and feedback on this project. Cole and Ella, you are an endless source of love and pure joy for me. As I watch you enter the world, choosing your own unique paths, it makes me so proud, every day, to be your Momala.
Maya, writing this book was like reliving our childhood. The list of things I have to thank you for is too long for these pages. So let me use this simply to thank you for the input and insights you offered throughout this process. Thank you, also, for bringing me a brother in Tony, and for Meena. Meena, I remember you at two years old, walking around the house, literally in my shoes. Now you’re a leader in your own right who has forged an important path and whose advice I cherish. Thank you for everything, especially for my baby nieces, Amara and Leela, and their amazing dad, Nik.
Thank you to my father, who, when I was a young girl, encouraged me to be fearless. Thank you to my Chittis, Sarala and Chinni, and to my uncle Balu, for the love you’ve shared with me across great distances. Thank you to Auntie Lenore for being such an important part of my life, and to Uncle Aubrey, for sharing memories of those early days during the writing process. And thank you to Mimi and Denise for always encouraging me.
To Chrisette and Reggie, thank you for encouraging me to write this book at the earliest stage. I’ve mentioned many of my dearest personal friends in this book and could have written volumes more about the experiences we’ve shared. Suffice it to say, I am so grateful to Amy, Chrisette, Lo, Stacey, Vanessa, and everyone (too many to mention here) with whom I’ve been blessed to travel this journey of life. When people ask me the secret to life, I tell them it’s having good friends who become your family. That’s what you’ve all been for me, and what I’ve tried to be for you. And thank you for all the godchildren you’ve brought into my life.
This book would not have been possible without the support of my broader family, too—staff and former staff who have been at my side throughout the years.
Thank you to my longtime advisers, Ace Smith, Sean Clegg, and Juan Rodriguez, for always being there for me, and for your insights and perspectives through the years.
I am deeply grateful to my former staff from my days as attorney general and district attorney. You’ve all gone off to do such wonderful things but have remained part of the family. There are so many to whom I am grateful. Special thanks to Venus Johnson, Debbie Mesloh, Brian Nelson, Lateefah Simon, Dan Suvor, Michael Troncoso, and others for all your help with this project. And thank you to Josie Duffy Rice, who is like a niece to me, for your comments and suggestions on the manuscript. I have so much respect for your perspective and your perceptions. I also want to thank John Pérez, whom I still refer to as Mr. Speaker, as well as Marc Elias for your wise counsel.
Of course, none of this would be possible without the extraordinary team at Penguin, led by Scott Moyers. Scott, you were the best editor a person could have asked for, and I will always be grateful to you for understanding the vision of the book I wanted to write. Thank you to Creative Artists Agency, in particular to Mollie Glick, David Larabell, Craig Gering, Michelle Kydd Lee, and Ryder White, for all of your work to make this happen.
I want to thank my collaborators, Vinca LaFleur and Dylan Loewe, for your commitment, compassion, and yes, your patience. You made this process a joy.
And a big thank-you to their research and fact-checking team: Brian Agler, Zach Hindin, Steven Kelly, Machmud Makhmudov, Maggie Mallon, and Raul Quintana. And thank you to Dorothy Hearst for our important early work together on this project.
Finally, I want to thank all the people I love that are no longer with us. I don’t know what kind of book distribution Penguin has in heaven, but, Aunt Mary, Uncle Freddy, Uncle Sherman, Mr. and Mrs. Shelton, Aunt Chris, Auntie Bea, Henry Ramsey, Jim Rivaldo, Mrs. Wilson, and my grandparents: this book is a tribute to how much you meant to me, how much of my life was shaped by you, how much you mattered.
Mommy, you are the star of this book because you were the reason for everything. It’s been almost ten years since we lost you, and I miss you so much. Life without you is still hard to accept. But I believe you are staring down at us. When I am stuck with a hard decision, I ask, “What would Mommy think?” And in that way, you are here. It is my sincerest hope that this book will help those who never met you understand the kind of person you were. What it meant to be Shyamala Harris. And what it means to be her daughter.
NOTES
PREFACE
Shortly after, the Associated Press: Phil Willon, “Kamala Harris Breaks a Color Barrier with Her U.S. Senate Win,” Los Angeles Times, November 8, 2016, http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-senate-race-kamala-harris-wins-20161108-story.html.
“We cannot play ostrich,” he said: Thurgood Marshall, “The Meaning of Liberty,” acceptance speech after receiving the Liberty Award on July 4, 1992, http://www.naacpldf.org/press-release/thurgood-marshalls-stirring-acceptance-speech-after-receiving-prestigious-liberty-award-on-july-4-1992 [inactive].
CHAPTER 1: FOR THE PEOPLE
They met on Sundays: Donna Murch, “The Campus and the Street: Race, Migration, and the Origins of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, CA,” Souls 9, no. 4 (2007): 333–45, https://doi.
org/10.1080/10999940701703794.
SFSU had a student-run: Martha Biondi, The Black Revolution on Campus (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012), 47.
Pollar once told a journalist: Richard Ramella, “The Rainbow Sign Can Use Some Help,” Berkeley Gazette, April 18, 1975, 14.
“The penal code was not created”: Scott Duke Harris, “In Search of Elusive Justice,” Los Angeles Times Magazine, October 24, 2004, http://articles.latimes.com/2004/oct/24/magazine/tm-kamala43.
She was a groundbreaker: Harris, “In Search of Elusive Justice.”
CHAPTER 2: A VOICE FOR JUSTICE
toxic waste polluted the soil: Pollution, Health, Environmental Racism and Injustice: A Toxic Inventory of Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco (San Francisco: Hunters Point Mothers Environmental Health and Justice Committee, Huntersview Tenants Association, and Greenaction for Health & Environmental Justice, 2012), http://greenaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/TheStateoftheEnvironment090204Final.pdf.
The Truths We Hold Page 27