History was created on Tuesday as Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden picked Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate.

I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 11, 2020

Who is Kamala Harris?

Harris is the first ever Black woman and the first Asian-American woman to be selected as the vice presidential nominee of a major party in the US. Isn’t that phenomenal? Born in Oakland, California, Harris' mother is a Tamilian from South India and her father is Jamaican.

She has always been vocal about her Indian roots which also includes her frequent visits to Chennai when she was young to spend summers with her grandfather who was a civil servant in the Indian government.  

Here’s what we know about Kamala Harris and her historic Vice Presidential candidacy:

Kamala Harris, 55, is the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants. Her mother, as per CNN’s report, Shyamala Gopalan, was born in Chennai and immigrated to the US for a doctoral programme at UC Berkeley. That’s where she met Donald Harris, a Jamaican who was studying economics. 

Like Barack Obama, even Harris could easily connect across multiple identities as she comes from a mixed-race heritage.

I’ve known Senator @KamalaHarris for a long time. She is more than prepared for the job. She’s spent her career defending our Constitution and fighting for folks who need a fair shake. This is a good day for our country. Now let’s go win this thing. pic.twitter.com/duJhFhWp6g

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 11, 2020

 Kamala has a sister, Maya Harris, who is also a political political activist and has worked in the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. The Harris sisters were brought up mostly by their mother as their parents divorced when Kamala was just seven years old. Their mother passed away in 2009.  

Harris is the first South Asian-American woman and second Black woman in history to serve in the US Senate, reports CNBC. She is only the fourth woman in US history to be chosen for one of the presidential tickets.  

.@JoeBiden can unify the American people because he's spent his life fighting for us. And as president, he'll build an America that lives up to our ideals.

I'm honored to join him as our party's nominee for Vice President, and do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief.

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 11, 2020

Elected to the Senate in 2016, Harris was the first Black woman in the chamber in more than a decade. During her relatively brief time as California’s junior senator, she has become known for her intensive interrogations of Trump administration officials and nominees, including Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing and Attorney General Jeff Sessions during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. 

Interestingly, the decision to pick Kamala Harris as his running mate is a huge one for Joe Biden as he aims to build a broad coalition of voters to oust Donald Trump from the White House. "I have the great honor to announce that I've picked @KamalaHarris -- a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country's finest public servants -- as my running mate," Joe Biden, 77, said on Twitter. 

© Los Angeles Times

“My mother was very proud of her Indian heritage and taught us, me and my sister Maya, to share in the pride about our culture. We used to go back to India every couple of years. One of the most influential people in my life, in addition to my mother, was my grandfather P.V. Gopalan, who actually held a post in India that was like the secretary of state position in this country. My grandfather was one of the original Independence fighters in India, and some of my fondest memories from childhood were walking along the beach with him after he retired and lived in Besant Nagar, in what was then called Madras,” 

Harris said in her interview with CNN. 

Taking to Twitter shortly after the announcement, Harris said she was "honored" to join Biden as nominee for vice president, and would "do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief." 

.@JoeBiden can unify the American people because he's spent his life fighting for us. And as president, he'll build an America that lives up to our ideals.

I'm honored to join him as our party's nominee for Vice President, and do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief.

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 11, 2020

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