KAMALA Harris on Thursday made history once again when she became the first Black and first South Asian woman to formally accept a major party nomination for U.S. President at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Harris told a wildly enthusiastic audience: “Our nation, with this election, has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past, a chance to chart a new way forward not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans.”

She added: “And let me say, I know there are people of various political views, and I want you to know I promise to be a president for all Americans. You can always trust me to put country above party and self, to hold sacred America’s fundamental principles, from the rule of law, to free and fair elections to the peaceful transfer of power.”

Harris said: “So, on behalf of the people, on behalf of every American, regardless of party, race, gender or the language your grandmother speaks, on behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey on behalf of Americans, like the people I grew up with, people who work hard, chase their dreams and look out for one another, on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth. I accept your nomination for president of the United States of America.”

Harris slammed former president Donald Trump: “Donald Trump handpicked members of the United States supreme court to take away reproductive freedom, and now he brags about it in his words, “I did it, and I’m proud to have done it.” Well, let me tell you, over the past two years, I’ve traveled across our country, and women have told me their stories. Husbands and fathers have shared theirs stories of women miscarrying in a parking lot, developing sepsis, losing the ability to ever again have children, all because doctors are afraid they may go to jail for caring for their patients, couples just trying to grow their family, cut off in the middle of IVF treatments.

“This is what’s happening in our country because of Donald Trump. And understand he is not done as a part of his agenda. He and his allies would limit access to birth control, ban medication abortion, and enact a nationwide abortion ban, with or without Congress. And get this, get this, he plans to create a national anti-abortion coordinator and force states to report on women’s miscarriages and abortions.”

She asserted: “We are not going back, and we are charting a new way forward, forward to a future with a strong and growing middle class, because we know a strong middle class has always been critical to America’s success, and building that middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.”

Harris warned about the consequences of electing Trump: “Consider not only the chaos and calamity when he was in office, but also the gravity of what has happened since he lost the last election. Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes. When he failed, he sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol, where they assaulted law enforcement officers. When politicians in his own party begged him to call off the mob and send help, he did the opposite. He fanned the flames, and now, for an entirely different set of crimes, he was found guilty of fraud by a jury of everyday Americans and separately, found liable for committing sexual abuse.

“Consider what he intends to do if we give him power again. Consider his explicit intent to set free violent extremists who assaulted those law enforcement officers at the Capitol. His explicit intent to jail journalists political opponents, and anyone, he sees as the enemy, his explicit intent to deploy our active duty military against our own citizens.

“Consider the power he will have, especially after the United States supreme court just ruled that he would be immune from criminal prosecution.

“Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails.”

Regarding Gaza, Harris said: “President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people realize their right to dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination.”

Harris ended her speech by saying: “America, let us show each other and the world who we are and what we stand for: freedom, opportunity, compassion, dignity, fairness and endless possibilities. We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in history of the world, and on behalf of our children and our grandchildren and all those who sacrificed so dearly for our freedom and liberty, we must be worthy of this moment. It is now our turn to do what generations before us have done, guided by optimism and faith, to fight for this country we love, to fight for the ideals we cherish and to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth, the privilege and pride of being an American.”

ACCORDING to the White House website, Harris was born in Oakland, California. As the daughter of immigrants, she grew up surrounded by a diverse community and a loving extended family. She and her sister, Maya, were inspired by their mother, Shyamala Gopalan, a breast cancer scientist and pioneer in her own right who came to the United States from India at the age of 19 and then received her doctorate the same year that Kamala was born.

Both of the Vice President’s parents were active in the civil rights movement, and instilled in her a commitment to build strong coalitions that fight for the rights and freedoms of all people. They brought her to civil rights marches in a stroller and taught her about heroes like Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and civil rights leader Constance Baker Motley.

Harris went on to graduate from Howard University and the University of California Hastings College of Law. In 2014, she married Douglas Emhoff, a lawyer. They have a large blended family that includes their children, Ella and Cole.

IN 2004, Harris was elected District Attorney of San Francisco where she was a national leader in the movement for LGBTQ+ rights, officiating the first same-sex wedding after Proposition 8 was overturned. She also established the office’s environmental justice unit and created a ground-breaking program to provide first-time drug offenders with the opportunity to earn a high school degree and find employment, which the U.S. Department of Justice designated as a national model of innovation for law enforcement. And years earlier, in 1990, she joined the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office where she specialized in prosecuting child sexual assault cases.

IN 2010, Harris was elected Attorney General of California where she oversaw the largest state justice department in the country. She took on those who were preying on the American people, winning a $20 billion settlement for Californians whose homes had been foreclosed on and a $1.1 billion settlement for students and veterans who were taken advantage of by a for-profit education company. She also defended the Affordable Care Act in court and enforced environmental laws.

IN 2017, she was sworn into the United States Senate where she championed legislation to fight hunger, provide rent relief, improve maternal health care, expand access to capital for small businesses, revitalize America’s infrastructure, and combat the climate crisis. She questioned two Supreme Court nominees while serving on the Judiciary Committee. She also worked to keep the American people safe from foreign threats and crafted bipartisan legislation to assist in securing American elections while serving on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

ON January 20, 2021, Harris was sworn in as Vice President – the first woman, the first Black American, and the first South Asian American to be elected to this position.

As President of the Senate, Harris set a new record for the most tie-breaking votes cast by a Vice President in history – surpassing a record that had stood for nearly 200 years. And her votes have been consequential. This includes casting the decisive vote to secure passage of the landmark Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment ever in tackling the climate crisis. She also presided over the unprecedented vote to confirm the first Black woman, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, to the Supreme Court while working alongside President Biden to achieve historic representation of women and people of color among nominees at all levels of the federal government.