Kamala Harris
The past week has been an incredibly tumultuous one in the United States. How many times this year have we said that? Following the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville and the death of Heather Heyer social media erupted with condemnation of both those in attendance and the response of the President. One prominent politician who made her voice heard was Kamala Harris. The Democratic Senator from California took to her Facebook page to write a powerful post about the tragic events.
‘Many sides’ suggests that there is no right side or wrong side about what happened in Charlottesville, that all are morally equal. But I reject that false choice. It‚Äôs not hard to spot the wrong side here. They‚Äôre the ones with the torches and the swastikas. If we say this is not who we are, it‚Äôs on us to show that. We don‚Äôt have to let extremists define our nation. Opportunities to do right are right in front of us every day. We just have to seize them, with action and hope.
This is not the first time Kamala has used her political platform to defend the rights of others. In the 1960s, when she was still a child, she took part in civil rights marches in California. At Howard University she studied political science and economics before eventually passing the California State bar in 1990. She was the deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California for 8 years. In 2003 she was elected to become District Attorney of San Francisco. During her time in this role the overall conviction rate rose from 52% to 67%. In 2010 she was elected the Attorney General of California; this was a historic moment as she became the first Indian-American and African-American woman to hold this position.
Six years later she was elected to the United States senate; in one of her first speeches she vowed to help protect the rights of immigrants under the new President. In the past 8 months she has continued to see her position as to challenge the statements of the President. She has also been touted as a possible nominee in the 2020 Presidential elections.
-Michelle O’Brien
Junior Girl
Girl Museum Inc.