By Ben Jealous
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.
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 Vice President 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. Regina Shelton was from Louisiana, part of the migration of African Americans from Jim Crow South. Shelton shared her perspective on Black culture and identity, took the Harris girls to church, taught them to cook soul food, and inspired them with stories of important Black female leaders. She was one of the people who exemplified and passed on to both Harris girls “a responsibility to give and serve,” according to the vice president.
That responsibility to give and serve was also influenced by Vice President Harris’s sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. Founded at Howard, AKA has been on the front lines of fights for social justice for more than a century. AKA members organized to stop lynchings, advocate for women’s rights, staff health clinics in rural Black communities, offer job training programs, and more. AKA charted the path for other Black sororities and fraternities to become more active in the civil rights movement when it became a permanent member of the NAACP in 1939. As AKA international president and CEO Danette Anthony Reed puts it: “Whether it’s social activism, advocacy for civil rights, building economic wealth, impacting our communities, we make a positive change.”
Vice President Harris’s dedication to service was not only inspired by her personal relationships and affiliations. Her chosen path as a lawyer was shaped by important icons who embodied a commitment to freedom, justice, and equity. Justice Marshall was one of them. Another one was Judge Thelton E. Henderson.
Before becoming a legendary judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern California District, Henderson was the first African American lawyer to serve in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. He was a field investigator, working alongside Dr. King and other movement leaders. He was famously fired for loaning Dr. King his government rental car in Alabama because Dr. King’s car had a problem with a tire and Henderson feared for King’s safety if he got stranded. From the bench, Judge Henderson understood the importance of protecting human dignity for all people, and that the Constitution guaranteed fundamental rights even to those who much of our society shunned and did not accept. His judicial philosophy was shaped by wisdom, experience and an understanding of the law’s role in protecting people that naturally allowed room for empathy.
Judge Henderson defended the rights of prisoners who were being abused and denied adequate health care. He made the Oakland Police Department more accountable to federal monitoring over police brutality. He was the first judge in the country to recognize the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection and due process rights for gay people – decades before the Supreme Court recognized same-sex couples’ right to marry. Judge Henderson is widely celebrated by conservationists for saving dolphins from drowning in tuna nets. And he wrote a decision that in effect made the San Francisco Bay Area meet federal air quality requirements.
A fierce defender of civil rights, a champion of the law’s role in protecting the vulnerable and marginalized, who understands the importance of laws and regulations that protect our environment and health. That description applies to both Thelton Henderson and Vice President Harris – and that is no coincidence.
Over our 20-year friendship, I have witnessed firsthand how the powerful lessons from these mentors continue to guide Vice President Harris in her commitment to justice and service. And I am grateful to all the influences who helped shape and instill that commitment.
Ben Jealous is the Executive Director of the Sierra Club and a Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania.
