Yesterday was International Women’s Day. Here at Heart of Cool, we feel everyday should be a celebration of amazing women around the world. In lieu of this, today we celebrate a woman who has dedicated the better part of the last 20 years of her life to fighting crime, creating new standards of inquiry and prosecution and raising the bar for California residents livelihoods. Fighter. Determined. Innovator. These are the initial descriptors of California’s next democratic senatorial candidate. A candidate that is in fact the first to compete as a statewide candidate and obtain the California Democratic party’s endorsement since 2010.
Kamala D. Harris is no newcomer to tough campaigns and taking action in the interest of California residents. She is currently serving as the 32nd California Attorney General. During her tenure, she has fought against entities like big banks, securing $20 billion for California homeowners in need and she also constructed the CA Homeowners Bill of Rights; which is dedicated to foreclosure reform. She has also stood on the forefront of attacking human trafficking, marriage equality rights, and online privacy and safety head-on.
In recent years, Kamala has continued to drive awareness and actions on tough issues. In 2015, she successfully scored a major victory against Kevin Bollaert, who ran the website ugotposted.com, when he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for posting online over 10,000 sexually explicit photos (known as “revenge porn”) and additionally charging victims $250 to $350 to remove their images. This was the first case of its kind in the US. It’s no wonder she earned 78 percent of the party’s endorsement. Harris said, “We know there is more that unites us than divides us, and I’m grateful to the Californians who joined together to send that message…”.
She’s a proud graduate of Howard university for undergrad, and Harris obtained her law degree from University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She has been the first woman, the first African American, and the first South Asian serving first as District Attorney of San Francisco, as well as the first for CA Attorney General. Now that is a lot of firsts! During her time as District Attorney, Harris focused on bringing a new vibe to fighting crime in San Francisco, searching for the origin of issues that led to widespread crime instead of simply focusing on the “symptoms”. She wrote a book called “Smart on Crime” to highlight these innovations in criminal justice, and to share information on the reforms constructed in San Francisco, in hopes of spreading similar approaches statewide.
Kamala D. Harris is an accomplished woman by all standards.We expect her 2016 Senatorial campaign to be no less tenacious than her aforementioned achievements. She is currently vying for Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer’s seat, and while the campaign will not be easy we believe she is well-suited to take on her, Republican opponent and do what she does best – WIN. We salute Kamala D. Harris in honor of yesterday’s International Women’s Day, and everyday for being a positive representation of what grit, determination and a willingness to take on the big adversaries delivers.
Trish E.
HOC Contributor
