Kamala Harris may be incredibly successful, as the first woman of color to be vice president and to secure a major party presidential nomination, but she isn't the only flourishing figure in her family. Her sister, Maya Harris, is a lawyer, public policy advocate, and TV commentator.
Maya also plays a significant role in her sister's life, as she's helped on her political campaigns since 2003. Now, as Kamala seeks out the White House as the Democratic candidate, her younger sister will no doubt be there to support her again.
© Jason BinnHere's all you need to know about Kamala's close bond with Maya.
Their "unbreakable" sisterhood
Maya is Kamala's younger sister, born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois on January 30, 1967 and raised in both the San Francisco Bay Area and Montreal. The sisters stayed together, raised by their mom after their parents divorced in the 1970s.
According to Kamala, the duo have a bond that is "unbreakable," as she told The Washington Post that "All of the joyous moments in our lives, all of the challenging moments, all of the moments of transition, we have always been together."
Maya's daughter Meena
© @mayaharris_Before she became a well-respected lawyer, Maya became pregnant with her daughter Meena during her senior year of high school and she would take her little one to class and on-campus protests throughout college and law school.
© Dave KotinskyUnderstandably, it was certainly a juggle to manage work, school and be an attentive mom. But clearly, she made it work as Meena is now the founder and CEO of Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign. The CEO has gone on to have her own daughters, Amara and Leela.
They're both lawyers
Both Kamala and Maya are lawyers, having both got their bachelor's degrees at UC Berkeley before attending law school at different universities. Kamala attended Howard University for her juris doctor, while Maya went to Stanford where she got her JD with distinction.
As well as being a lawyer, Maya would go back to teach a number of classes at law schools in California, becoming the Dean of the Lincoln Law School of San Jose at 29 - the youngest law school dean ever in the United States, and the only Indian woman to do so at the time.
Campaigning expertise
© Drew AngererMaya hasn't just worked on her sister's campaigns, but she worked as a senior policy advisor to Hillary Clinton when she ran for president in 2016. In particular, she led a team of policy experts and developed Clinton’s domestic policy.
Maya's adorable role in Kamala's marriage
© InstagramWhen Kamala married Doug Emhoff in 2014, Maya officiated the ceremony at a courthouse in Santa Barbara, California. Her daughter would read Maya Angelou's "Touched by an Angel" at the ceremony.
© San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst NMaya's lupus diagnosis
In 2020, Maya revealed that she was diagnosed with Lupus when she was 22-years-old. She kept the fact private for three decades, only speaking up after then-president Donald Trump suggested that hydroxychloroquine, used to control lupus symptoms, could be used to prevent COVID-19 - even though the efficacy of this was unproven.
Maya pointed out in a piece for Women's Health that "nine in ten lupus patients are women", with women of color being "two to three times more likely to develop the disease." She explained that "for black women like me, lupus can be particularly cruel: The illness tends to take hold younger, so we’re forced to cope with it earlier and live with it longer, and tragically, our mortality rate is dramatically higher."
She added in The Atlantic: "When the president of the United States decided to hype - as a coronavirus treatment - the primary medication used for controlling lupus, he put an already disadvantaged group of patients in even greater jeopardy."
