Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign has released a personal ad about her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, in its latest outreach to Asian American voters.
The 60-second ad, titled “My Mom,” features footage of Harris speaking about her mother at last month’s Democratic National Convention, as well as photos and video of Gopalan, who died in 2009.
“My mother was a 5-foot-tall, intelligent, brown woman with a strong accent,” Harris said at the convention. “She taught us not to complain about injustice, but to do something about it.”
Gopalan, a prominent breast cancer researcher who emigrated from India at age 19 to attend the University of California, Berkeley, said her mother’s words inspired her to become a lawyer and then pursue public office.
Gopalan was born and raised in the southern Indian city of Chennai into a family of civil servants. Her father was a champion of Indian independence from Britain. At Berkeley, Gopalan became involved in the American civil rights movement, where she met Harris’ father, Donald Harris.
“As the eldest daughter, I saw how the world treated my mother at times, but she never lost her cool,” Harris said in her speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The ads feature photos of other Asian individuals and families working, playing cards, sitting on their porches, and shopping at ethnic grocery stores.
“On behalf of my mother and the Americans I grew up with — people who work hard, chase their dreams, care for one another, and all people whose stories can only be told in the greatest country on Earth, I accept your nomination for President of the United States,” the ad concludes.
