The figures who helped shape Vice President Harris

(Sierra Club) – When Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president in 2021, she swore her oath of office on two bibles.One belonged to our nation’s first Black Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Marshall, the civil rights giant who founded the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, inspired a generation that included Harris to embrace the law as a means to advancing equality and justice. Harris chose to attend Howard University, Marshall’s alma mater.Related Stories The other Bible on which Harris was sworn in was the family Bible of Regina Shelton. Shelton was a neighbor, trusted caretaker, and mentor to Harris and her little sister Maya as children after school when her mom was working. Harris refers to Shelton as her “second mother.” It was Harris’s actual mother Shyamala Gopalan who guided and encouraged that relationship.& A civil rights activist herself, Gopalan was keenly aware that the world would see and treat her biracial daughters as Black women and of what that meant in America. She knew it was important for the girls to bond with other Black girls and women. Shelton was from Louisiana, part of the migration of African Americans from Jim Crow South. Shelton shared her perspective on...