Kamala Harris’ Parents: The Influential Lives of Shyamala Gopalan and Donald Harris

Kamala Harris, the current Vice President of the United States and a prominent figure in the 2024 presidential election, owes a significant part of her upbringing and values to her parents, Dr. Shyamala Gopalan and Donald Harris. Both parents were deeply involved in the civil rights movement and played pivotal roles in shaping Kamala’s life and career.

Shyamala Gopalan, born on December 7, 1938, in what was then Madras, British India (now Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India), was a biologist who immigrated to the United States to pursue a Ph.D. in endocrinology at the University of California, Berkeley. Her father, P.V. Gopalan, was a senior civil servant, and her mother, Rajam Gopalan, was a women’s rights activist who advocated for increased access to birth control for Indian women.

Donald Harris, born on August 23, 1938, in Brown's Town, Jamaica, is a Black Jamaican economist. He met Shyamala while studying development economics at Berkeley, where they both participated in the civil rights movement and were part of an off-campus reading group that later became the Afro-American Association. This group included influential activists such as Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party.

Kamala Harris often speaks about the profound influence her parents had on her life. Her parents fell in love while marching together for justice in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Kamala recalls being taken to protests as a child and the lessons her parents taught her about fearlessness and social justice. Her mother’s words, “Never let anyone tell you who you are, you show them who you are,” and her father’s encouragement to “run, Kamala, run” have been particularly impactful.

Shyamala Gopalan had a distinguished career in medical research, spanning over 40 years and leading to significant advances in breast cancer research. Donald Harris was the first Black scholar to be granted tenure at Stanford University’s economics department and held various advisory roles in Jamaica.

The couple married in 1963 and had two daughters, Kamala and Maya. However, they divorced in the early 1970s when Kamala was seven years old. Despite the divorce, both parents remained influential in their daughters’ lives. Shyamala moved back to California with her daughters and later to Montreal, where she continued her research career.

Kamala Harris’s upbringing, shaped by her parents’ activism, education, and cultural heritage, has been a cornerstone of her personal and professional journey. Her parents’ legacy continues to inspire her commitment to social justice and public service.