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Kamala Harris

ACTOR · BORN 1964

Kamala Harris

Born
20 October 1964

11 archived facts 3 topics

Kamala Harris (born 20 October 1964) is an actor.

11 Interesting Facts About Kamala Harris

Interesting Facts (5)

  1. #001

    In November 2021, she briefly held presidential power, becoming the first woman to do so, when President Joe Biden transferred authority to her for about 90 minutes during a colonoscopy.

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  2. #002

    Her campaign song for the 2020 presidential run was Mary J. Blige's "Work That." She often used it as her walkout song after becoming the Democratic vice presidential nominee, including at her November 7 victory speech following her election as vice president.

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  3. #003

    Her first name is pronounced "comma-la" and is often mispronounced because of its spelling.

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  4. #004

    One family favorite: as a toddler, Harris chanted along with protesters from her stroller at civil rights marches, and when asked what she wanted, she yelled "FEE-DOM!"

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  5. #005

    Harris pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha at Howard University in 1986; it was the first Black Greek Letter Organization for women, and on the campaign trail she wore a pearl necklace honoring its 20 founders and incorporators.

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Career & Awards (1)

  1. #006

    Harris was widely expected to run as the Democratic vice-presidential nominee alongside Joe Biden in 2024. After a heavily criticized showing in the first presidential debate and mounting worries over his age and mental sharpness, Biden ended his campaign on July 21, 2024, and threw his support behind Harris for the presidency. With backing from nearly all convention delegates, she became the party's new presumptive presidential nominee the following day.

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Life & Family (5)

  1. #007

    Kamala Harris' full name was first recorded as Kamala Iyer Harris. Two weeks later her parents filed an affidavit to correct the error, and it was changed to Kamala Devi Harris.

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  2. #008

    Kamala Harris's mother, Dr. Shyamala Gopalan, chose the name Kamala, Sanskrit for "lotus" and another name for the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, partly to help her daughter hold on to her cultural identity.

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  3. #009

    At 13, Harris and her sister Maya organized a demonstration outside their Montreal apartment building against a rule barring children from playing on the lawn; the owners eventually dropped the policy.

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  4. #010

    Harris met Joe Biden through his late son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015. The two became friends while serving as state attorneys general, bonding over their work during the 2008 Great Recession and the 2011 housing crisis.

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  5. #011

    When Harris married Doug Emhoff in 2014, she and his children, Cole and Ella, decided they didn't like the word "stepmom" and came up with "Momala" instead.

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Sources & editorial notes

Reference databases

  • IMDb IMDb name page (biography and trivia)

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