Kamala Harris parents among Google’s top trending topics after she accepts Democratic Party’s nomination

Immediately after this, people across the United States took to Google and searched about Harris’parents. As per Google Trends, over 200k searches were made on her parents which saw a 1000 per cent spike in searches on this topic.

Screengrab of trends.google

PTI reported that in describing her “unexpected” ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket after President Joe Biden decided to leave the race in July, Vice President Harris said that she is “no stranger to unlikely journeys.” “America, the path that led me here in recent weeks was no doubt unexpected. But I’m no stranger to unlikely journeys,” Harris, 59, said.

She shared what it was like being raised by her mother, whom she described as “a brilliant 5-foot tall brown woman with an accent.” “My mother Shyamala Harris had one of her own. I miss her every day–especially now. And I know she’s looking down tonight, and smiling,” she said.

Harris said her mother was 19 when she crossed the world alone, travelling from India to California with an unshakeable dream to be the scientist who would cure breast cancer.

“She was tough, a trailblazer. … She taught us to never complain about injustice, but to do something about it! Do something about it. That was our mother,” Harris said. “And she also taught us to never do anything half-assed. And that is a direct quote. A direct quote.” The vice president added that her mother was set to return home to have an arranged marriage but met her father, Donald Harris, a student from Jamaica, and fell in love.

Meet Kamala Harris’ parents

As per an AP report, her mother Gopalan was a renowned breast cancer scientist who came to the United States from India at 19. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1964. She and Donald Harris, who was born in Jamaica, met there as graduate students who participated in the civil rights movement. They got married in 1963 and had two daughters, but had divorced by the time Kamala Harris was 7. Gopalan died of cancer in 2009 at age 70.

Donald Harris, 85, became a prominent economist. He was an economics professor at Stanford University from 1972 to 1998, and currently is a professor emeritus. He also was an economic consultant to the government of Jamaica and several of its prime ministers.

Kamala Harris’ husband and kids

Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris embraces her husband Doug Emhoff, second gentleman of the U.S., on Day 4 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., August 22, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Wurm

Kamala Harris also wished her husband, Doug Emhoff, a happy anniversary at the top of her remarks. Thursday was the couple’s 10th wedding anniversary.“Let me start by thanking my most incredible husband, Doug, for being an incredible partner to me, an incredible father to Cole and Ella. And happy anniversary, Dougie. I love you so very much,” Harris said.

Emhoff could make history as America’s first gentleman spouse. Emhoff, 59, is already the first-second gentleman of the U.S. and the first Jewish spouse of a U.S. president or vice president. He has been a leader of the Biden administration’s efforts against antisemitism. Emhoff gave up a lucrative career as an entertainment and intellectual property lawyer in California to avoid conflicts of interest and support his wife after she became vice president.

They wed in 2014, her first marriage and his second. Emhoff has two adult children, Ella and Cole, from a previous marriage and they call Harris “Momala.”

Maya Harris, 57, is Kamala younger sister and her only sibling. She talked about her sister’s “fighting spirit” and instinct to protect the people she’s close to in a brief video shown during the convention. Maya is a lawyer, policy advocate, speaker and writer who chaired her sister’s 2020 presidential campaign.

– With AP/PTI inputs