Kamala Harris: Representing Intersectionality
Sen. Kamala Harris achieved a boundless title of Vice Presidentship. While we all have perspectives about her ideologies and scope for her nation. It is very important to understand that she represents an array of communities and cultures. Her being an important symbolic figure gives a lot of people hope and an established feeling of unity of overlapping social identities.
She was influenced beautifully by her family.
Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was an Indian American biologist and a civil rights activist from Chennai. Shyamala unexpectedly applied for a Master’s program at the University of California, Berkeley. She eventually earned her Ph.D. in nutrition and endocrinology at UC Berkeley.
Donald J. Harris is Kamala’s father. He is a Jamaican-American economist and professor from Saint Ann’s Bay, Jamaica. In 1963, he came to the United States to earn a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley. He met his former wife, Shyamala Gopalan through the Civil Rights Movement.
The underlying social identities are phenomenal. She is of Indian-origin and an African American.
In spite of her being privileged, she did face difficulties in imbibing herself into the American culture. Harris never wanted to give up her roots to fit into the mainstream American ideological framework. She wanted to keep her roots intact to have a clearer view of the histories, culture, and politics of America.
Her intersectional identity helped her value the oppressions that were faced by millions of people all across. She used her overlapping identities to comprehend other overlapping identities.
Kamala’s parents were a great influencing factor in her life. As they were a part of the Civil Rights Movement, they made sure that Kamala should see with her own eyes what oppression looks like. Kamala saw with her own eyes, the strength in the fight, and the value that was placed in the struggle. She wanted to work towards making the world a better place.
As aforementioned, we all have different perspectives and opinions about her winning the elections. However, we know one thing for certain which is that Harris did not work towards this without a definite goal. She did this because she saw herself out there; as a woman, an African-American, and an immigrant. She saw herself as another who tended towards belongingness.
Harris definitely won many hearts through her achievement. It was a passion for change and transformation.
Today we are euphoric that she is the first female Vice President. However, what we don’t understand is that there will be many now who will come to the forefront. It is a raging fire for change and transformation. If you can convert your passion into a substantial revolutionary change, you are unstoppable. The word for this generation is “intersectionality”. I will keep counting rebels, pioneers, scholars, politicians, activists, authors, artists, poets who are still fighting relentlessly and will keep the fight intact until I lose track of my count.