During her address at the conclusion of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, where Vice President Kamala Harris officially accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, she focused significantly on her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris.

Kicking off her speech, she highlighted how her mother, a “five-foot-tall brown woman with an accent” from India who arrived in the U.S. at the age of 19, inspired her and her sister, Maya, to take action against injustice.

Kamala also shared fond childhood memories of her father, Donald Harris, during her speech.

“When we were at the park, my mother would say, ‘Stay close.’ But my father would smile and say, ‘Run, Kamala, run. Don’t be afraid. Don’t let anything stop you.’ He instilled in me a sense of fearlessness from a young age,” she reflected.

However, she noted that her parents separated while she was in elementary school.

“My mother primarily raised us,” she remarked.

As stated in her 2019 memoir, Donald Harris remained present in his daughters’ lives during weekends and summers.

Who is Donald Harris, Kamala Harris’ father?

Donald Harris is an economist known for his post-Keynesian views and writings on Marxist theory. He is retired from Stanford University, where he also taught, and has served as an economic advisor to Jamaica. Additionally, he has history teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In her speech, Harris described her father as a “student from Jamaica” at the time of his meeting with her mother.

Donald was born in Jamaica and moved to the U.S. to earn his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, where he met Shyamala, who was studying biochemistry.

Was Kamala Harris’ father at the DNC?

Donald Harris is Kamala’s only living parent, following the death of Shyamala from colon cancer in 2009.

However, he did not attend the Democratic convention and has generally been absent from her political activities. His last public comment regarding her career was in 2019, when he critiqued her remarks about having smoked marijuana in the past.

“Half my family’s from Jamaica. Are you kidding me?” Harris had stated.

In response, Donald Harris remarked to Jamaica Global Online that he believed his family members “must be turning in their grave right now” to witness their Jamaican heritage being associated with “the false stereotype of a pot-smoking joy seeker.”

At the time, Harris’ campaign did not provide a comment.

Doug Emhoff, Maya Harris; Kamala Harris’ family at the DNC

While Donald Harris was not present at the Democratic convention, many family members of Kamala Harris were in attendance.

Included were her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, her sister Maya Harris, her stepchildren Ella and Cole Emhoff, along with her nieces and nephews Meena Harris, Alexander Hudlin, Jasper Emhoff, and Arden Emhoff.