Kamala Harris’ Childhood Becomes Inspiration For New Children’s Book
Meena Harris, the niece of Kamala Harris, is releasing a children’s book that she hopes will teach important lessons of resilience and promote the power of strong, Black girls and women.
Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea, according to Meena Harris, who is the daughter of the Senator’s sister, Maya Harris and a mother of two herself, will have a central message “that no one can do everything but everyone can do something.”
“I think it’s a really important lesson around community, the power of community and, importantly, the power of two little Black girls who are the central characters and who we know are still under-represented on bookshelves,” she told KPIX.
The book is based on the real-life story of two sisters – inspired by her aunt and mother – who persevere in the face of disappointment.
“A lot of parents are looking for tools and building blocks to think about how to talk to their children about doing something, about caring, about giving a damn,” explained Meena Harris.
The attorney and CEO of the Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign, a “female-powered lifestyle brand that brings awareness to social causes” also added that she didn’t grow up reading stories about girls of color and even struggled to find these kinds of books today.
“I also grew up in a household where I was sort of talked to like an adult,” she said. “I was an only child, kind of a super only child and I think that that was also really important, right, knowing what was going on in the world, talking about what happened in the news that day at the dinner table.”
Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea is available now.
