Kamala Harris made history this week. And her proud family introduced her as the first Black and South Asian woman to accept a major party’s vice presidential nomination as Joe Biden’s running mate at the Democratic National Convention.
For Meena Harris, Kamala’s niece, her aunt has inspired her since she was growing up in a family of strong women – something she has really come to appreciate as an adult.
“I grew up in this family of incredibly strong powerful women and that’s what I thought was normal. I wasn’t aware of the fact that is not how the world actually is. I think that was incredibly special,” Meena Harris told CNN.
Kamala Harris was raised with the values that if you see injustice, don’t be a bystander, do something, Meena Harris said.
“It came from my grandmother and Kamala talks about it on the campaign trail, that they would come home from school complaining about something, talking about something that happened that felt unjust to them and her response more often than not was, ‘Well what are you going to do about it? Go do something,’ ” she said.
Kamala Harris and her sister, Maya Harris, inspired Meena Harris to write the children’s book “Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea,” in which two sister’s work with the community to effect change. Harris said the book was inspired by her family’s story and the belief that “no one can do everything but everyone can do something.” She said she wants to instill in her two young daughters those same values her grandmother Shyamala Gopalan Harris, her aunt Kamala and her mother Maya taught her. She also wants her daughters to find characters that look like them and they can identify with in a book.
“The important message is that not only you as a kid have the power to do something, you should do something. Don’t just be a bystander, be a part of it,” Meena Harris said. She added that this was also a theme in Harris’ nomination speech: “Years from now, this moment will have passed. And our children and our grandchildren will look in our eyes and ask us: Where were you when the stakes were so high?”
Meena Harris said her aunt’s nomination has had a profound impact on her daughters. “They see, as I did growing up, women running things, doing things, women as leaders,” she said.
At the end of the book the character Kamala said, “I’m wondering what the view is like from the roof.” Meena Harris said she hopes that line encourages girls of color to dream bigger.
“That’s how I was raised. I was encouraged to believe that everyday. Just like the whole world now gets to see Kamala, I saw that as a child from the beginning. And it’s cool to share that with other people,” she said.