What do you think of the color white? The color white is often associated with purity or transparency. On the other hand, some may be thinking of emptiness, blankness, or even death.
The crown chakra (Sahasrara) intends to promote the action of pure white light traveling downward from the crown of the head to the base of the sacral bone, radiating an aura. Commitment to this intention embodies Divine Energy. Basic knowledge discusses the seven chakra centers, but a more in-depth discussion will honor those central points as roots branching out to an ecosystem of energetic material and constructing essential energy points throughout the body (Kash and Susan).
Senator Kamala Harris arrived at the victory as the elected Vice President in this year’s election with more than a classic fashion statement. She came decorated in an ivory pantsuit designed by Carolina Herrera. She stepped out in Manolo Blahnik pumps, paired with a cream pussycat bow blouse by Tory Burch, and a set of pearl earrings to complete the angelic look. Her perfectly whitened smile evoked a clean slate and untainted authenticity.
On the behalf of the Biden-Harris campaign, she promises loyalty, honesty, preparedness, respect, and representation, making the claims of a savior. The term “savior”, for any marginalized identity, would s likely be the last association they would make to describe Kamala Harris.
Cultural background
Harris was born October 20, 1964, in Oakland to Donald Harris and Shyamala Gopalan-Harris. Her father was an economics professor at Stanford University from Jamaica. Her mother immigrated from India and was a biologist who stimulated major advances in breast cancer research. Berkeley’s comprehensive desegregation program provided busing for many children, including Harris, to attend Thousand Oaks Elementary School. Harris says she developed a strong connection with her maternal grandfather, P. V. Gopalan, a retired civil servant with progressive views on democracy and women’s rights. Her parents divorced in 1971, and at age twelve, Harris and her sister, Maya, relocated with their mother to Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Harris attended primary school at Notre-Dame-des-Neiges where the grounds run along a part of Côte-des-Neiges Road and up the slopes of Mount Royal. She then graduated from Westmount High School in 1981. In 1982, Harris enrolled at Howard University, spending her collegiate career interning as a mailroom clerk for California senator, Alan Cranston, chairing the economics society, and leading the debate team.
Harris joined Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority before graduating in 1986. She returned to California to attend law school at U of C Hastings where she served as the president of its chapter in the Black Law Student Association. She graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1989, being admitted to the California Bar in June 1990 (McNamee).
Smart on crime
In 1990, Harris was hired as a deputy District Attorney in Alameda County, California. In February 1998, San Francisco district attorney Terence Hallinan recruited Harris as an assistant district attorney. There, she became the Chief of the Career Criminal Division. In August 2000, Harris took a new job at San Francisco City Hall, running the Family and Children’s Services Division representing child abuse and neglect cases. In 2002, Harris ran for District Attorney of San Francisco, beating Hallinan and Fazio with 56 percent of the vote. She became the first person of color elected as D.A. of San Francisco County.
Harris became state attorney general from 2010 to 2016. In 2016, Harris defeated Rep. Loretta Sanchez, winning the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Barbara Boxer. At the beginning of the 115th Congress (Ballotpedia), Harris was assigned to many committees including Intelligence, Budget, Homeland Security, and Governmental Affairs.
During this time, Kamala Harris supported the reduction of recidivism with the Back on Track program, which intended to prevent nonviolent drug offenders from returning to prison by targeting first offenders to decrease the prison population.
“Harris and her acolytes were so obsessed with whether people were getting arrested again that they failed to consider whether they should have been arrested in the first place. If anything, the program actively shifted attention away from the overcriminalization problem.”
(Bragman, Colengelo)
Harris also severely prosecuted parents of chronically truant children, some of students suffering from terminal illness, and supports the criminalization of sex work.
Harris authored Smart on Crime in 2009. She discusses criminal recidivism and possible transitions in the justice system. Criminal recidivism refers to an individual’s potential to relapse into criminal behavior even after receiving sanctions or undergoing intervention for previous convictions. The book includes Harris’ critiques for the function of the justice system, arguing that prosecutors and lawmakers should take on a reform-minded approach to criminalization – the book was received with mixed reviews. Some praised her for offering progressive solutions, while others observed Harris’s lack of acknowledgment for racial profiling.
In 2019, she released The Truths We Hold: An American Journey, a memoir, and Superheroes Are Everywhere, a picture book. Kamala Harris’ influence in literature provides this generation and upcoming generations with a perspective that is often left out of history. This perspective, however, is still perceived through the lens of privilege – a side with far too many freedoms built on the backs of the oppressed (Hensley-Clancy).
Powerful Presidential Suite
There have been many speculations about what to consider in understanding the Biden-Harris campaign. Vulnerable communities see Kamala Harris as a cop who has been exceptionally skilled in her career, making her less of a dependable ally and more of an advocate for a corrupt system. While Harris has acknowledged the flaws of America’s justice system, there is evidence in her professional reputation of a disproportionate conviction rate in predominantly Black neighborhoods. She launched OpenJustice, a criminal justice open data initiative that makes unprecedented data accessible and easy to use.
“The tool consists of two components: a Dashboard that spotlights key criminal justice indicators with user-friendly visualization tools and an Open Data Portal that publishes raw data from the California Department of Justice’s statewide repository of criminal justice datasets,” said Xavier Becerra.
This initiative promotes transparency, allowing the public to partner in holding law enforcement accountable for discrepancies. Now that Kamala Harris is the first person-of-color Vice President, she must look back into many of the communities that she has publicly opposed and oppressed.
“Dream with ambition, lead with conviction, and see yourselves in a way that others may not, simply because they have never seen it before…”
-Kamala Harris
While Kamala is complicated, one of her most prominent consistencies is that of her and Joe Biden’s intent on balancing appeals to progressives and moderates alike. In particular, the two seem to have differing views on expanding the size of the Supreme Court. Both have consistently dodged the question. However, with Judge Amy Coney Barrett rushed into nomination under the Trump Administration, the answer may be the only opportunity to unify Democrats and Republicans.
There is also the wary support of the Green New Deal.
“Introduced as a congressional resolution in 2019 by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, the Green New Deal is a wide-ranging proposal for combating climate change that calls on the federal government to transition the country away from fossil fuels and cut greenhouse gas emissions” (Ember, Glueck, Kaplan).
Biden and Harris will likely remain neutral on key issues until after the inauguration. Regardless, we are able to show compassion toward their achievements thus far and still keep a critical eye.
This part is particularly important, especially as we dissect the essence of American politics. One could argue that the highest role of the Executive Branch is merely a talking head for legislatures and judiciaries. The function of this branch is often mistaken for a monarchical structure in which the final agenda is solely based on executive power, but there are many officials weighing in on final decisions. At local, state, and federal levels, each member requires accountability.
Momala Matrimony
Kamala is a woman of many firsts. She is the first woman elected to the White House and the first to bring along America’s first Second-Gentleman. She is also the first to proclaim herself as a “progressive prosecutor.”
People Magazine released a November issue with Joe Biden pictured to the left and Kamala Harris to his left, but visually at the reader’s right. As many past presidential partnerships are depicted, the cover places each person asymmetrically splitting the page with Harris positioned in the background and Biden in the foreground.
It is vital to analyze what this looks like in the White House and be wary of those who promise such a thin balance. Kamala Harris in her Women’s Suffrage White represents the plexiglass between the political extremes of white supremacy and Black radicalism. She uplifts Joe Biden’s name in her acceptance speech, saying, “Joe is a healer, a uniter, a tested and steady hand.” In addition, her endorsement aligns with the title of the event, “The People Have Chosen Empathy.”
However, the question remains: Is this “empathy” created equally in the same way that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness has been in the Declaration of Independence? When will we arrive at the new amendments? The second Gentleman of America, Douglas Emhoff, presents an interesting dynamic in his own history-making. It is not far-fetched to believe that in his marriage is to the law professionally and romantically or that his time in the White House could be spent amplifying confidence in law enforcement support.
What should Black America make of the lightskin bride of white America? How do we keep ourselves honest in uplifting our vulnerable communities and reinforcing political accountability? Metaphorically, Public Defender, Joe Biden, and Attorney General, Kamala Harris is a matrimony of some of the most controversial stances. No matter the candidate, it is up to us, to side with the preservation of The People’s Rights. Biden exclaims, “We Are Not Enemies, We Are Americans.” It is a sentiment toward unity after a tumultuous term that made the gaping divide in this nation more evident to those who continue to choose ignorance (Westfall).
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