Women’s History Month: Kamala Harris and Stacey Abrams
Monday, March 1st, 2021March is Women’s History Month, an annual observance of women’s achievements and contributions to society. This month, Behind the Headlines will feature woman pioneers in a variety of areas.
Kamala Harris and Stacey Abrams have reshaped the American political landscape not only for women and people of color, but for all Americans. Regardless of political affiliation, both have opened doors for women, rising to new heights in government and politics.
Kamala Devi Harris was born in Oakland, California, on Oct. 20, 1964. Her mother, a physician and cancer specialist, was born in India. Her father, who was born in Jamaica, became an economics professor. In 1986, Harris received a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from Howard University. In 1989, she earned a law degree from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.
From 1990 to 1998, Harris served as deputy district attorney for Alameda County, in California. In 1998, she became the managing attorney of the Career Criminal Unit of the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office. In 2000, she was named to lead the San Francisco City Attorney’s Division on Families and Children.
In 2003, Harris won election as San Francisco district attorney. She was reelected in 2007 and served through 2010. Her victory in the 2010 campaign for state attorney general marked the first time that a woman and—because of her mixed ethnicity—a person of Black and South Asian ancestry won the post. Harris took office in 2011. As attorney general, she gained attention for her work to combat transnational gangs and investigate banks that engaged in mortgage fraud. She was reelected in 2014 and served until 2017.
In June 2016, Harris finished first in California’s open primary for a U.S. Senate seat. She defeated Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, a fellow Democrat, in the November election. As a U.S. senator, Harris served on a number of committees, including the Judiciary Committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence.
In January 2019, Harris began a campaign for her party’s 2020 nomination for president. She dropped out of the race in December 2019, while trailing her competitors in fundraising and in support in public opinion polls.
In August 2020, Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, named Harris his vice presidential running mate. Issues in the campaign included the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and tensions between Black communities and police. Biden and Harris won the November 2020 election. Harris resigned her Senate seat in January 2021, days before she and Biden took office. On Jan. 20, 2021, Harris became the first woman to serve as vice president of the United States. She also became the first person of Black and South Asian ancestry to serve in the position.
Stacey Abrams also played a major role in the 2020 election. Get-out-the-vote drives championed by Abrams are widely credited with helping Biden and Harris to win the state of Georgia. They are also said to have helped two Democrats to victory in state runoff elections, tipping the balance of the U.S. Senate.
Stacey Yvonne Abrams was born in Madison, Wisconsin, on Dec. 9, 1973. She grew up in Gulfport, Mississippi. When Abrams was 16, her family moved to Atlanta, Georgia. In 1991, Abrams graduated from Avondale High School, where she was the first Black valedictorian. The valedictorian is the graduate with the highest marks. In 1995, she graduated magna cum laude (with great honor) from Spelman College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in interdisciplinary studies. The major combined political science, economics, and sociology. She then attended the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, receiving a master’s degree in public policy in 1998. The next year, Abrams earned her J.D. degree from the law school of Yale University.
After graduating law school, Abrams began working at a law firm in Atlanta. In 2003, she started her career in government. She became the deputy attorney for the city of Atlanta’s law department. In 2006, Abrams was elected to Georgia’s House of Representatives from the state’s 84th district.
After four years as a representative, Abrams was chosen by the Democratic Party to serve as minority leader in the House of Representatives of Georgia. She became the first woman to serve as leader of either party in the Georgia General Assembly, the state’s legislature.
In 2018, she became the first Black woman nominated by a major political party to run for governor of Georgia. In the primary contest, Abrams defeated the Democrat Stacey Evans. But, in the general election, she was narrowly defeated by the Republican candidate Brian Kemp.
In addition to holding political office, Abrams has founded several political organizations. In 2014, she founded the New Georgia Project to counteract challenges to voter rights and increased barriers to voter registration. In 2018, she founded Fair Fight, an organization promoting voter education and fair elections.