Kamala Harris’ timely memoir offers insight into the historic vice presidential candidate
The Truths We Hold: An American Journey by Kamala Harris (Penguin Books 2020) $18 (paperback); 336 pp.
At first, it seems spontaneous: Parents who enjoy their interests naturally display those passions to small children who are dragged along for the ride. The child observes and absorbs until one day, the parent’s interest becomes the child’s obsession. And that’s how a politician is made.
Supporters can almost see the trajectory in the history: Kamala Harris’ parents, both highly-educated immigrants, instilled a sense of independence in their daughter, and both remained supportive of her choices, even as they divorced. Harris’ mother, especially, gave Kamala lessons in strength and activism through an upper-middle-class childhood with ballet and piano lessons alongside marches and protests.
Says Harris of her mother, a breast cancer researcher, “she was determined to make sure we [Harris and her sister] would grow into confident, proud Black women.” Harris describes her community — the women and men who helped raise and educate her — with obvious affection, saying that “the seed was planted very early on,” and she knew that she wanted to be a lawyer and to make a difference in the lives of others. “When activists came marching and banging on the doors,” she writes. “I wanted to be on the other side to let them in.”
By the time Harris had finished law school, her sights were set on working “for the people.” She focused on the prosecution of child molesters, sexual predators and rapists. On her way up the career ladder, she continued to advocate for the poor, for women and children and for the rights of LGBTQ people and immigrants. She worked for the reduction of recidivism, for Americans in need of health care and for consumers and homeowners. Writes Harris, “In the years to come with all the challenges to come, we cannot lose sight of who we are and who we can be.”
As biographies by famous people go, The Truths We Hold is a refreshing surprise, in that there’s very little look-at-me name-dropping. The newly-minted vice presidential candidate mentions people because of work or family ties, not to impress. She also writes of her friendship with Beau Biden, late son of her running mate.
The other interesting thing about this memoir is that readers will not see laid-out plans for the future: Remember, this book was likely written long before the debates, the convention, COVID. Harris had no crystal ball. Instead of plainly-stated plans, what she offers is a collection of ideas and viewpoints and stories. Readers are left to see passions between the lines and can draw their own conclusions.
Aside from this, there’s plenty of biography which, again, is not filled with esoteric names-and-dates but with things that are relevant to the story of who Harris is and how she sees this country. That makes The Truths We Hold easy to read, if not a bit long in the achievement department, but not uninteresting. If you’d like to know more about the woman who may sit in the vice president’s chair next January, read it now.
