Kamala Harris says she told her mom she wanted 'fweedom' after falling out of her stroller at a protest when she was a kid and says her favorite way to greet people is with the African saying 'I see you' as she appears on Elle cover
Kamala Harris said she told her mother that she wanted 'fweedom' when she was a child and had just fallen out of her stroller at a civil rights march in Oakland, California, and revealed that her favorite way to greet people is with an African saying as part of an interview for ELLE this month, on which she appears on the cover.
The Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee also revealed how she prefers to greet people with the African saying 'I see you' than by saying 'nice to meet you', because she feels it demonstrates people seen as 'their full selves'.
Harris, 55,i s Joe Biden's running mate in the forthcoming election. She would is the first African American woman on a presidential ticket.
In the ELLE interview, she recalled growing up having to defend her ideas at the dinner table which she says puts her in good stead as a political candidate now.
Kamala Harris, the Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee, in one of a series of portraits in the latest issue of ELLE
Harris is shown as a child, left, with her younger sister Maya, center, and mother Shyamala Gopalan, who was a biomedical scientist. She grew up in Oakland, California
The stroller incident happened at a civil rights march in Oakland, California.
She told the magazine she was being wheeled through the march with her parents and uncle when she fell out. The adults, she said, did not notice immediately.
'My mother tells the story about how I’m fussing. And she’s like, "Baby, what do you want? What do you need?" And I just looked at her and I said, "fweedom,"' Harris said.
Harris' mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was a biomedical scientist and Indian native. She died in 2009. Her father Donald is an 82-year-old economist. She also has a younger sister who is a lawyer.
She credits her family with her passion for politics and equality.
Now, she says her favorite way to greet people is with the African saying 'I see you', because she says it affords them more 'dignity'.
'When you [are introduced] for the first time, the greeting is not ‘Pleased to meet you.’ The greeting is "I see you."
Harris, left, with her mother and right, with her younger sister Maya. She credits her parents with her passion for equality and 'justice' and said she grew up having to defend her ideas around the dinner table
'I see you as a complete human being. At this moment in time, it is so critically important in our country for all people to be seen in their full selves, in a way that gives them the dignity they deserve.'
'There was no question that you had to dedicate yourself to fighting for justice on some level or another.
'That the measure of you is so much bigger than you; it’s the impact you have, it’s what you do in service to others. And that’s how I was raised. I was raised that it is not about charity and benevolence, it’s about your duty. No one’s going to congratulate you for it—it’s what you’re supposed to do,' she said.
Nowhere in the interview did Harris speak about Biden.
She did recall holding her seven-year-old godson on the eve of Trump's 2016 election win, when his victory was becoming apparent, and soothing him.
His trauma over Trump's win inspired her speech after she was elected to the Senate.
'My godson, Alexander, who was seven years old at the time, came up to me, crying, and said, "Auntie Kamala, they’re not going to let that man win, are they?" And you know the babies in your life...
The candidate on the cover of this months's ELLE magazine
'I held him. I mean, it still brings me pain to remember how he felt, and what it made me feel, which is that I needed to protect this child. I had one way, in my mind, I thought the evening would go. And then there was the way it turned out. And so by the time I took the stage, I had ripped up my notes, and all I had was Alexander in my heart.
'And I took the podium and I said, "I intend to fight. I intend to fight,"' she said.
Harris and Vice President Mike Pence will debate one another tomorrow in Salt Lake City.
They will be separated by plexiglass and there will be a 12ft distance between them.
Both Harris and her husband have repeatedly tested negative for COVID-19, as has Biden and his wife Jill.
Trump returned to the White House on Monday evening after three days in Walter Reed Medical Center. He removed his mask on the Truman balcony after his return, and claimed to be in good health despite appearing to be slightly out of breath.
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