Vice President Kamala Harris talked warmly of her late mother Shyamala Gopalan’s Indian background when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Washington last June. As they strolled along a Tamil Nadu beach, she attributed her learning of democracy to her grandfather, P.V. Gopalan, a government servant.

Declaring that he would not run in the 2024 election, President Joe Biden endorsed Harris as his successor. With this declaration, Harris's life and career are once more under focus.

Harris became history in January 2021 as the first woman, Black American, and Indian American vice president. She could even be the Democratic nominee for president right now. "I was raised by a mother who said, 'Kamala, you may be the first to do many things—make sure you're not the last,'" Harris said reflecting on her inauguration on Good Morning America. That's how I view this event.

Harris usually credits her mother Shyamala Gopalan, who passed away in 2009, for her achievement. Harris said of her, "the reason for everything." Originally from Chennai, Gopalan moved to the United States at age 19, attended UC Berkeley, and developed a reputation as a breast cancer researcher. Her commitment to students and research was well-known; her work helped numerous fields improve.

Both engaged in the civil rights struggle, Gopalan and Donald J. Harris met at a demonstration and were married in 1963. Kamala and her sister Maya were reared among political consciousness and activity. Gopalan kept working and taught her daughters strong morals even after their early 1970s divorce.

Kamala Harris talks often of how her mother shaped her life and career. Emphasizing public service and fairness, she underlined Gopalan's importance in her 2020 DNC address Reflecting the principles and teachings learned by Gopalan, Harris keeps honoring her mother's legacy in her career and public speeches.