Ahead of Kamala Harris’ historic speech on the final night of the Democratic National Convention, her grandnieces took the stage to give an unusual tutorial to the crowd. Introduced by actor Kerry Washington, the two girls offered to help the crowd learn how to properly pronounce the US vice president’s name.
“It’s come to my attention that there are some folks who struggle — or pretend to struggle — with the proper pronunciation of our future president’s name. Confusion is understandable. Disrespect is not. So tonight we are going to help everyone get it right,” the actor said before the two children walked on to a cheering crowd.
Eight-year-old Amara and six-year-old Leela, daughters of Harris’ niece Meena Harris, were wearing a pink pantsuit and a blue dress.
“First you say ‘comma’ like the comma in a sentence,” Amara said. “Then you say ‘la’ like la-la-la-la-la,” added Leela.
Then it was the crowd’s turn to practice. “Comma! La!, Comma! La!, Kama La” they roared.
Amara and Leela Ajagu — the daughters of Kamala Harris’ niece, Meena Harris — joined actress Kerry Washington on stage to teach people — hint, hint — how to pronounce their “auntie’s” name, “Kamala.” pic.twitter.com/MLmaOd2BG4
— Andreas Sandre (@andreas212nyc) August 23, 2024
The girls’ mother and Harris’ niece also took the stage talking about growing up with her. “I grew up in Oakland, California in a house full of extraordinary women my mom, my grandma and my auntie who showed me the meaning of service, helping her sister, a 17 year old single mom fighting for justice for the American people and still cooking Sunday family dinner. She guided me. Now she’s guiding my own children and I know she’ll guide our country forward,” she said.
In the past, several leaders have stumbled while pronouncing the Indian-origin leader’s name.
Most prominently, her now rival and Republican candidate Donald Trump has prided himself on mispronouncing her name, often using it as a way to dismiss her as competition.
When asked why, Trump said he had heard Harris’ first name said “about seven different ways.”
“Don’t worry about it, it doesn’t matter what I say. I couldn’t care less,” he said.
