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When Donald J. Harris uttered those words to his young daughter more than 50 years ago, he was encouraging her to whip freely through the parks of Oakland, California, not seek the highest elected office in the country. But in her address accepting the nomination as the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice-Prez Kamala Harris said it was these words that helped inspire her.”From my earliest years, he taught me to be fearless,” Harris said.
It was a rare homage to her father, a prominent economist but fleeting figure in her life who has largely been a footnote in her personal and political story. The first black scholar to receive tenure in Stanford University‘s economics department, Donald Harris remains a professor emeritus there, and turned 86 the day after his daughter gave the most important speech of her life at the Democratic National Convention. He was not among the family members who accompanied Harris to the convention.
Her relationship with her father is a closely guarded part of Harris’ life about which she has spoken only sparingly. Her 2019 memoir, “The Truths We Hold”, referenced him only a handful of times. But in presenting herself as a nominee who understands the American dream through the complex lenses of personal, familial and social struggles, she tapped into the totality of the experiences that forged her.
Harris has been clear, however, that she is her mother’s daughter. On Thursday, Harris invoked her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, to drive home how she was no stranger to “unlikely journeys” – born to a woman who travelled to California from India alone at the age of 19, with an “unshakable dream to be the scientist who would cure breast cancer.” Her mother died in 2009 of colon cancer at the age of 70. In her address Thursday night, Harris described in detail her mother’s influence. “And I miss her every day, and especially right now,” Harris said in her convention speech. “And I know she’s looking down smiling. I know that.”
It was a rare homage to her father, a prominent economist but fleeting figure in her life who has largely been a footnote in her personal and political story. The first black scholar to receive tenure in Stanford University‘s economics department, Donald Harris remains a professor emeritus there, and turned 86 the day after his daughter gave the most important speech of her life at the Democratic National Convention. He was not among the family members who accompanied Harris to the convention.
Her relationship with her father is a closely guarded part of Harris’ life about which she has spoken only sparingly. Her 2019 memoir, “The Truths We Hold”, referenced him only a handful of times. But in presenting herself as a nominee who understands the American dream through the complex lenses of personal, familial and social struggles, she tapped into the totality of the experiences that forged her.
Harris has been clear, however, that she is her mother’s daughter. On Thursday, Harris invoked her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, to drive home how she was no stranger to “unlikely journeys” – born to a woman who travelled to California from India alone at the age of 19, with an “unshakable dream to be the scientist who would cure breast cancer.” Her mother died in 2009 of colon cancer at the age of 70. In her address Thursday night, Harris described in detail her mother’s influence. “And I miss her every day, and especially right now,” Harris said in her convention speech. “And I know she’s looking down smiling. I know that.”
