11 photos that show Kamala Harris' childhood in Oakland and life before politics - Los Angeles Times
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11 photos that show Kamala Harris’ childhood in Oakland and life before politics

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In her new book, “The Truths We Hold: An American Journey,” Kamala Harris tells the story of her rise from a young girl growing up in Oakland to her 2016 election as U.S. senator from California.

Harris was born in 1964 to two immigrant parents. Her mother, a native of India, was a scientist; her father, who came to the U.S. from Jamaica, is an emeritus economics professor at Stanford University. Her mother was originally supposed to enter an arranged marriage in India, but she scrapped that plan when she met Harris’ father at Berkeley, where the two were active in the civil rights movement.

BOOK REVIEW: Kamala Harris lays out the core ideals of her 2020 campaign in her new book, ‘The Truths We Hold’ »

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As a child, she lived in Oakland and Montreal before earning her bachelor’s degree at Howard University and her law degree at the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.

Before her election to the Senate, Harris served as San Francisco’s district attorney and as the attorney general of California. She’s widely seen as a potential candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2020 election.

“The Truths We Hold,” in which Harris discusses her childhood, career and her vision for the future of America, was published Tuesday by the Penguin Press. Below are 10 photos from the book, which follow Harris’ upbringing in Oakland and her path toward politics.

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Introducing “Covering Kamala Harris,” a new political beat from the Los Angeles Times.

Jan. 20, 2021

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