Yesterday, Kamala Harris took to Instagram to share a picture of her as an infant in her mother’s lap. Under the picture, she shared a small anecdote. The story was a personal memory, but it felt familiar to thousands of other people living in the country.
For generations, people from various parts of the world have been going to the United States for better opportunities and a better quality of life. There have always been different sets of challenges that come along with it.
The children of immigrants grow up in a ‘foreign’ land fighting stereotypes, unfamiliarity, and conditioned racism. They grow up in a country where nobody looks or talks like them, and that can feel very lonely.
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That is why Kamala Harris’ story is so important. It fills people up with hope and further consolidates the idea of diversity in America. In her post, she talks about her mother. She has often used her space to talk about her Indian mother- Shyamala Gopalan Harris.
As Harris says, her mother was one of the few female scientists of colour at the University of Berkeley at that time. Breaking norms is perhaps a handed-over tradition in their family. This is the spirit with which Harris was brought up in a community that taught her to see beyond herself. This is how she has gathered the compassion of understanding other people’s struggles, she added in her post.
Harris further adds how her mother always taught her to not sit and complain, but do something about the thing that bothers her. She has always tried to carry this advice with her and implement it in her life.
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Kamala Harris is inspiring to many people who think they don’t fit. She is the first woman and the first Asian- American and the first African-American woman to have acquired one of the most influential positions in the world- the Vice President of the United States. Her story helps children realise that they can be anything they want to be. All they have to do is dare to dream. Kamala Harris will keep sharing anecdotes from her life that have influenced her until the inauguration on January 20.
