Kamala Harris: A Product of Silicon Valley Culture

She was born and raised in Oakland and her life has centered in the Bay Area. Now, after a long and amazing career, Kamala is showing us how a Black-South Asian woman was prepared for the Presidency by her time by the Bay, immersed in the culture and people of innovation and creation. Facing insults and criticism she carries her intellect and hard-won stripes as she campaigns for president of the most powerful, country in the world.  She is undoubtedly a tough woman at her core, especially after being raised by a single Indian immigrant mother.  Whether you like her policies or not, she epitomizes the grit and drive that makes the Bay Area such an amazing place.

A Story Like My Own

Kamala’s family story has much in common with my own.

I too was an Indian immigrant, like her mother Shyamala:  and from a similar generation.   I too came to America for graduate studies.  I too arrived single, which was very unusual for the women of my time.  I too was very lonely because I suddenly lost all my connections and the culture that I was raised in.  Shymala and I both also found husbands soon after we arrived in this country. 

Shyamala married a black person, perhaps because she did not discover the Indian community or found it difficult to fit in as a single Indian woman. Indians in those days did not feel so comfortable around other single females. I married an Indian husband. Shymala’s marriage did not work out; I was fortunate that mine lasted for over forty-five years. We both had two daughters. 

I was also an idealistic person like her. I can definitely relate to her internal resolve. And I can imagine how the home environment impacted Kamala’s worldview.  

Even though she had the stereotypical Bay Area experience as a child of two highly educated intellectual parents, Kamala Harris did not fit into an easy category or stereotype. She was between so many worlds that Kamala was never defined by any one thing. I believe that’s a big part of why she never completely fit in — and why she has succeeded.   

The people who do not fit in SV, make the valley fabric stronger.  They are the ones who flap their wings to get stronger in the crevasses of divergent cultures, till they can fly. The Indian-ness of Kamala’s mother remains, even if Kamala wears Western clothes and follows Western tradition.  When you mix it with Afro-American thread, intellectual parents, and the expectations of making something of yourself, you can get the best of multiple worldviews and cultural influences. She got cast and molded by in-between cultures, possibilities, and styles. This is what makes her an effective leader. 

The style of her leadership is appealing to technology leaders like me. We got to see it in action in the first week after Biden resigned. She was decisive and moved quickly to secure the Presidential nomination, speaking to delegates, raising money from donors, and convincing powerful politicians to back her. It was a masterclass in how to seize the moment.

So far, in her campaign, she is (mostly) not taking cheap shots at competitors. She is not using crude names or identity politics. This is the Silicon Valley way — let your results speak for you, not your insults. She seems to be taking time to understand her competition and “live inside Donald Trump’s head”. This is another rule of Silicon Valley, to make sure you understand your environment and the opposition.  

By being a prosecutor she also knows how to make closing arguments in front of her voters.  When I was fighting a lawsuit on behalf of my company, I was told that a jury trial is an act, and you must act out your arguments.  In her campaign speeches, we can see how she shows her emotions as she makes her points. She is painting an optimistic future of a better country. No leader in the Valley ever got far pushing doom and gloom. It is anathema to the Bay Area, which is one of the most optimistic, future-leaning places in the world. 

Kamala has roughly three months to prove that she is truly up to the job. I, for one, am already very impressed by her. I can see how her life living between so many worlds, immersed in the culture of Silicon Valley and the Bay Area, has prepared her for this moment. It is going to be a very interesting election and I will be watching closely to see if she can also exercise fiscal restraint like a Siliconeer.