The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris was born in October 1964 (12 days before me) in California.  Her mom was a cancer researcher and her dad was a Standford professor.  Pretty early in life, her dad was out of the picture and she was mostly raised by her mother. She grew up in a community with a strong black pride culture, and developed a strong drive to right the wrongs of the world.  This desire lead her to become a district attorney.  As she progressed in her career she kept coming up against bigger and bigger problems.  In response she kept seeking and obtaining higher and higher office, from district attorney, to California Attorney General, to state Senator. The issues that she highlights in the book are sexual abuse and exploitation, urban revitalization, the mortgage collapse of 2008, immigration, and others. In each chapter she includes an anecdote from her life related to the topic, efforts she made to fight for justice, and editorializing on her moral convictions related to the topic. 

Kamala Harris wrote this book when she was considering a run for president.  It is about 1/4 autobiography and 3/4 campaign tract. As we now know, she was not successful in her presidential bid, but did well enough to be elected as Vice President under Joe Biden. Now, of course, she is the Democratic nominee for President. This book made me think a lot and understand why some people have reservations about Ms Harris becoming President. She is definitely a crusader, and has a lot of grit and drive, but her focus has always been on the downtrodden minority. That is very admirable and I came away from the book feeling like she is a woman who really does care about helping the marginalized parts of society. The thing that gave me pause is that she is so eager to help this group or that group, she doesn't stop to consider where all the money for per proposed programs is going to come from. She also seems to take a strong arm approach to forcing changes through the system.  Will that approach work with Congress? Does she understand how to use diplomacy and compromise?  I couldn't help but wonder how this book might be different if she were writing it now.  What has she learned in four years working as the VP with Joe Biden?  Full disclosure: I still plan on voting for her in November, and consider her as a better choice than the alternative. It will be interesting to see how and what she does if she becomes President next January. (368 p. 2020)