Kamala's Way Read online

  Kamala’s Way would not have happened without Michael Duffy, Washington Post opinion editor at large. He suggested that I undertake this project and suggested it again when I hesitated, and he called the most amazing editor, Priscilla Painton of Simon & Schuster, on my behalf. Thank you, Priscilla, for your steady hand, insights, and thoughtful editing and for taking a chance on a first-time author.

  Thanks as well to my friend Scott Lebar, a great journalist and Sacramento Bee managing editor who, when contacted by an agent looking for someone to write about Kamala Harris, gave her my name. Thank you, Karen Brailsford of Aevitas Creative Management, for helping me navigate the world of publishing and for taking a chance on me.

  I got to know Kamala Harris when I was a columnist and later editorial page editor at the Sacramento Bee. Thank you, Stuart Leavenworth, for hiring me. My deepest gratitude goes to Cheryl Dell, who as publisher of the Bee entrusted me with the high honor of being editorial page editor.

  My sincere thanks to Shawn Hubler, Joyce Terhaar, Foon Rhee, Erika D. Smith, Gary Reed, Ginger Rutland, Mariel Garza, Jack Ohman, Pia Lopez, and the late Rex Babin, my colleagues at the Bee’s editorial board.

  The fact-based reporting of Christopher Cadelago, John Diaz, Michael Finnegan, Leah Garchik, Joe Garofoli, John Howard, Carla Marinucci, Melanie Mason, Phil Matier, Maeve Reston, Jerry Roberts, Andy Ross, Phil Trounstine, Karen Tumulty, Lance Williams, Phil Willon, and others helped inform this book. Thanks to Dave Lesher at CalMatters.org for hiring me to a position where I could watch as Kamala Harris ascended.

  And thank you to Tony and Tess, Clara and Ken, and Libby and Grayson for your love and support. Above all, thank you to my wife, Claudia. Your love, support, and understanding make everything possible.

  About the Author

  Hector Amezcua

  DAN MORAIN has covered California policy, politics, and justice-related issues for more than four decades, including twenty-seven years at the Los Angeles Times and eight at the Sacramento Bee, where he was editorial page editor.

  @DanielMorain

  SimonandSchuster.com

  www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Dan-Morain

  @simonbooks

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  Notes

  1: SHYAMALA’S DAUGHTER

  “My mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris”: Kamala Harris (kamalaharris), “My Mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, Was a Force of Nature…,” Instagram, March 1, 2020, https://www.instagram.com/p/B9MndAdnoHs/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link.

  “My mother had been raised”: Kamala Harris, The Truths We Hold (New York: Penguin, 2019), 7.

  “a standout in appearance”: Ellen Barry, “How Kamala Harris’s Immigrant Parents Found a Home, and Each Other, in a Black Study Group,” New York Times, September 13, 2020.

  “A culture that worships”: Scott Duke Harris, “In Search of Elusive Justice,” Los Angeles Times, October 24, 2004.

  “no great anxiety or desire”: Stephen Carter, “Harris Departure Stirs Turmoil: Econ Dept. Loses Radical Prof,” Stanford Daily, January 25, 1974.

  “had they been a little older”: K. Harris, Truths We Hold, 6.

  In a 2018 essay: Donald J. Harris, “Reflections of a Jamaican Father,” Jamaica Global, August 18, 2020.

  “My father is a good guy”: Peter Byrne, “Kamala’s Karma,” SF Weekly, September 24, 2003.

  In her official biography: “Kamala D. Harris, 32nd Attorney General,” State of California Department of Justice, https://oag.ca.gov/history/32harris#:~:text=Born%20and%20raised%20in%20the,graduate%20studies%20at%20UC%20Berkeley.

  “My roots go back”: D. Harris, “Reflections of a Jamaican Father.”

  “Managing slaves was a means”: Christer Petley, Slaveholders in Jamaica: Colonial Society and Culture during the Era of Abolition (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2009), 1.

  “more than a third”: Ibid., 2.

  “In Jamaica, sexual relations”: Ibid., 7.

  “the sexual opportunism of white men”: Ibid.

  “Brown worked hard to repress”: Ibid., 117.

  “the great deterioration”: Ibid., 159.

  “They fell in love”: Maura Hohman, “Kamala Harris Details Being Raised by a Single Mom, Importance of Family in DNC Speech,” Today, August 19, 2020, https://www.today.com/news/dnc-speech-kamala-harris-details-being-raised-single-mom-t189876.

  Police shot to death: “Flashback: Ronald Reagan and the Berkeley People’s Park Riots,” Rolling Stone, May 15, 2017.

  “There’s no reason why”: Chuck McFadden, “Armed Black Panthers in the Capitol, 50 Years On,” Capitol Weekly, April 26, 2017.

  Newton had been a charismatic leader: Henry Weinstein, “ ‘Free Huey’: A White Man’s View: Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide,” Daily Californian, May 20, 1968.

  “The Huey Newton I saw”: Thomas Orloff (retired district attorney for Alameda County, California), in discussion with the author, October 2020.

  he was gunned down: Mark A. Stein and Valarie Basheda, “Black Panther Founder Huey Newton Is Killed,” Los Angeles Times, August 23, 1989.

  “she was raising two black daughters”: K. Harris, Truths We Hold, 10.

  “This #BlackHistoryMonth”: Kamala Harris (kamalaharris), “My Mother Was Very Intentional…,” Instagram, February 9, 2020, https://www.instagram.com/p/B8WnPWzn-EN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link.

  “the thought of moving away”: K. Harris, Truths We Hold, 19.

  At Westmount, Kamala Harris: Dan Bilefsky, “In Canada, Kamala Harris, a Disco-Dancing Teenager, Yearned for Home,” New York Times, October 5, 2020.

  “what she went through with me”: Wanda Kagan (lifelong friend) in discussion with the author’s researcher, Sasha Hupka, November 1, 2020.

  2: THAT LITTLE GIRL

  That would change in the ensuing decades: Dan Morain and Paul Jacobs, “Worlds of Politics, Law Often Mix for Speaker,” Los Angeles Times, April 1, 1991.

  “what is to prevent the Legislature”: California Secretary of State, “Proposed Amendments to the Constitution: Propositions and Proposed Laws Together With Arguments,” Sacramento: California Office of State Printing, 1964.

  “It would legalize and incite bigotry”: Proposed Amendments to the Constitution: Propositions and Proposed Laws Together with Arguments to Be Submitted to the Electors of the State of California at the General Election, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 1964, California State Archives, Secretary of State, September 1, 1964.

  first Black legislator: Conor Dougherty, “Overlooked No More: William Byron Rumford, a Civil Rights Champion in California,” New York Times, August 7, 2019.

  “felt that if in so-called ‘liberal’ California”: William Byron Rumford, “The Fair Housing Bill and Proposition 14, 1963–1964,” interview by Edward France and Joyce Henderson, Legislator for Fair Employment, Fair Housing, and Public Health, Earl Warren Oral History Project, Online Archives of California, 1973, https://oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb8n39p2g3;NAAN=13030&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=div00040&toc.depth=1&toc.id=&brand=oac4.

  On May 29, 1967: Reitman v. Mulkey, 387 U.S. 369 (1967).

  “The children fell in love”: Neil V. Sullivan and Evelyn S. Stewart, Now Is the Time: Integration in the Berkeley Schools (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1970), 203.

  “I believe that our schools”: Ibid., x.

  “Is it possible for one”: Ibid., 7.

  But in the fall of 1970: Natalie Orenstein, “Did Kamala Harris’ Berkeley Childhood Shape the Presidential Hopeful?,” Berkeleyside, January 24, 2019, https://www.berkeleyside.com/2019/01/24/did-kamala-
harris-berkeley-childhood-shape-the-presidential-hopeful.

  “The children of Berkeley”: Sullivan and Stewart, Now Is the Time, 171.

  “I would like to speak”: NBC News, “Democratic Presidential Debate—June 27,” YouTube video, June 27, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX7hni-zGD8.

  Harris’s campaign seized: Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris), “There Was a Little Girl in California Who Was Bussed to School…,” Twitter, June 27, 2019, https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1144427976609734658?s=20.

  3: AN EDUCATION, APARTHEID, AND A SLAUGHTER

  “We would dance”: Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris), “Being a Graduated of @HowardU…,” Twitter, June 19, 2019, https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1141375083807748096?s=20.

  “On any given day”: K. Harris, Truths We Hold, 22.

  “She used to laugh at my cooking”: Karen Gibbs (lifelong friend of Harris) in discussion with the author, October 2020.

  Bishop Desmond M. Tutu accused: Gene Kramer, Associated Press, November 7, 1984.

  “We talked of many things”: Willie L. Brown, Basic Brown: My Life and Our Times (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2019), 207.

  In a letter to President Reagan: Dan Morain, “How the ‘Duke’ Helped Mandela,” Sacramento Bee, July 21, 2013.

  “We must not turn our backs”: Ibid.

  “How would we feel”: Ibid.

  “Mandela praised the California political leaders”: Dan Morain, “Mandela Ends Tour by Promising to Return,” Los Angeles Times, July 1, 1990.

  “I don’t think there was anything”: Author interview with Willie Brown, 2013.

  “There was nothing about her”: Matthew D. Davis (San Francisco attorney) in discussion with the author, October 2020.

  “We were able to hit”: Jane Gross, “California Becomes the First State to Vote Curbs on Assault Rifles,” New York Times, March 13, 1989.

  former Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley: Joe Mathews, “It Was Guns, Not Race, That Affected Bradley,” Politico, November 4, 2008.

  “You do not grieve alone”: Doug Willis, “Five Children Killed in Schoolyard Shooting Remembered at Memorial Service,” Associated Press, January 23, 1989.

  “These bills are not going”: Carl Ingram, “Governor Signs Assault Weapon Legislation,” Los Angeles Times, May 25, 1989.

  4: A TASTE OF POLITICS

  the number of murders: Crime Trends in the City of Oakland: A 25-Year Look (1987–2012), Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy, University of California, Berkeley School of Law, February 2014, https://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/Crime_Trends_in_the_City_of_Oakland_-_A_25-Year_Look.pdf.

  a horse-drawn funeral procession: Dan Morain, “Garish Oakland Funeral: 1,000 Witness Last Ride of Slain Drug Ring Kingpin,” Los Angeles Times, August 30, 1986.

  “I knew that the people”: “Kamala Harris Officially Launches 2020 Presidential Campaign,” CNN, January 28, 2019, https://lite.cnn.com/en/article/h_812f00af9ad82880d57b91b881207ccb.

  “She did stand out a bit”: Nancy O’Malley (Alameda County districct attorney) in discussion with the author, September 2020.

  Law professor Anita Hill: Elise Viebeck, “Joe Biden Was in Charge of the Anita Hill Hearing. Even He Says It Wasn’t Fair,” Washington Post, April 26, 2019.

  Oakland schools were so troubled: Dan Morain, “In His Own Image: Elihu Harris Vows to Improve Perceptions—and Reality—of Life in Oakland,” Los Angeles Times, January 6, 1991.

  The California State Legislature had installed: Dan Morain, “State Audit Blasts Oakland School District,” Los Angeles Times, January 25, 1990.

  Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein: Dean E. Murphy, “Boxer, Feinstein Rivalry Is Softened by Historic Election,” Los Angeles Times, November 8, 1992.

  one of seven Democratic congresswomen: Maureen Dowd, “The Thomas Nomination: The Senate and Sexism,” New York Times, October 8, 1991.

  “Can you think of any laws”: “Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearing, Day 2, Part 5,” C-SPAN, September 4, 2018, https://www.c-span.org/video/?449705-15/supreme-court-nominee-brett-kavanaugh-confirmation-hearing-day-2-part-5.

  They had Friday lunch dates: Leah Garchik, “Friday Lunches at Le Central Were Legendary,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 2, 2002.

  Ever clever with a quip: Thomas B. Rosenstiel and Dan Morain, “Herb Caen’s 50 Years: Prophet of ‘The City’ Sees Decline,” Los Angeles Times, April 16, 1987.

  The scandal became public: Daniel M. Weintraub and Dan Morain, “Keene’s Records Subpoenaed; Aide Investigated,” Los Angeles Times, September 10, 1988.

  California’s three strikes law: Dan Morain, “Column One: California’s Profusion of Prisons,” Los Angeles Times, October 16, 1994.

  So, in late November: Dan Morain, “2 More Brown Associates Get Well-Paid Posts,” Los Angeles Times, November 29, 1994.

  “It’s safe to say”: Ibid.

  When the clerk got to: Dan Morain and Carl Ingram, “Brown Blocks GOP Assembly Takeover as 1 Republican Bolts,” Los Angeles Times, December 6, 1994.

  “new first-lady-in-waiting”: Herb Caen, “Cut Along Dotted Lines,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 14, 1995.

  “ ‘It’s all over’ ”: Herb Caen, “ ’Twas the Day After,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 26, 1995.

  In 2019, Brown, the octogenarian: Willie Brown, interview by Susan Leigh Taylor, Stan Bunger, and Phil Matier, KCBS Radio Morning News, KCBS, February 1, 2019.

  On January 8, 1996: “San Francisco Mayoral Inauguration,” C-SPAN, January 8, 1996, https://www.c-span.org/video/?69289-1/san-francisco-mayoral-inauguration.

  “She was very bright”: Tom Orloff (retired district attorney for Alameda County, California) in discussion with author, October 2020.

  “It’s appropriate for what he did”: Peter Fimrite, “Life Term for Fremont Man Who Scalped Girlfriend,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 28, 1996.

  5: SETTING HER SIGHTS

  “political hack”: “Why Bill Fazio Is the Choice for D.A.,” editorial, San Francisco Chronicle, November 26, 1995.

  a late revelation that a paternity suit: Carla Marinucci, “Hallinan Tells of Fling, Son, Paternity Suit,” San Francisco Examiner, February 3, 2012.

  The California Supreme Court overruled: Hallinan v. Committee of Bar Examiners, 65 Cal. 2d 447, December 15, 1966.

  “vehemently denies almost dying”: William Claiborne, “San Francisco Prosecutor Tries Something Different,” Washington Post, February 20, 1996.

  But the turmoil he caused: Maura Dolan, “A Liberal Lays Down the Law in S.F.,” Los Angeles Times, April 5, 1997.

  “I didn’t choose it”: Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross, “Blow-by-Blow Description of DA’s Tussle,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 3, 1996.

  “She’s a terrific prosecutor”: Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross, “Matier & Ross—Brown’s Creative Financing Underwrites Far-Flung Trade Jaunts,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 2, 1998.

  “This friend of mine”: Andy Furillo (Kamala Harris researcher) in discussion with the author, October 2020.

  “an intelligent lawyer who had a heart”: Louise Renne (former San Francisco city attorney) in discussion with the author, September 2020.

  “Suddenly, she had become this”: Matthew D. Davis (San Francisco attorney) in discussion with the author, October 2020.

  6: BECOMING A BOLDFACE

  “Being able to cross over”: Brown, Basic Brown, 54.

  “She was very determined”: Libby Schaaf (Oakland Mayor) in discussion with the author, October 2020.

  “And they were treated”: Jackie Phillips (former Cole School principal) in discussion with the author’s researcher, Sasha Hupka, October 2020.

  She was photographed: Pat Steger, “Fairy-Tale Wedding for Getty-Jarman in Napa Valley,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 21, 1999.

  A piece in Harper’s Bazaar: Stacy Finz, The Daily, San Francisco Chronicle, March 15, 2001.

  A society columnist noted
: Carolyne Zinko, “Moreno Lets It All Hang Out/All-Star ‘Monologues’ Draw High-Powered V-Day Supporters,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 17, 2002.

  She attended an October 2002 gala: Catherine Bigelow, “Elton John’s ‘Your Song’ Is Their Song at Star-Studded Fund-Raiser,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 18, 2002.

  though Jet magazine ran a photo: “Kamala Harris with Montel Williams and His Daughter, Ashley at the Eighth Annual Race to Erase MS in Los Angeles,” YouTube video, May 18, 2001, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8iZw2yWb7M.

  “I was at that event”: Phil Matier and Andy Ross, “Costs of BART Talks Picking Up Speed of Runaway Train,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 16, 2001.

  “hardly a figure of respect”: “Bumbling into a Second Term,” editorial, San Francisco Chronicle, August 23, 2000.

  As retold by the Los Angeles Times: Evan Halper, “Meet One of Hillary Clinton’s Biggest Donors in California. They Hardly Ever Talk Politics,” Los Angeles Times, July 3, 2016.

  “socialite with a law degree”: Michael Kruse, “How San Francisco’s Wealthiest Families Launched Kamala Harris,” Politico, August 10, 2019.

  “Once I was convinced”: Mark Buell (friend of Harris and philanthropist) in discussion with the author, October 2020.

  7: SEVERING HEADS. FIGURATIVELY.

  Schwarzenegger, the one to beat: Gary Cohn, Carla Hall, and Robert W. Welkos, “Women Say Schwarzenegger Groped, Humiliated Them,” Los Angeles Times, October 2, 2003.

  “I’m thinking about running”: Louise Renne (former San Francisco city attorney) in discussion with the author, October 2020.

  “She’d do the speech”: Mark Buell (Harris friend and philanthropist) in discussion with the author, October 2020.

  “I was tired of the old”: John Keker (top criminal defense attorney) in discussion with the author, October 2020.