âJamaica to the world:â A small town on a small island celebrates Kamala Harrisâ meteoric rise

Kamala Harris is the first Black woman, the first Jamaican American and the first Asian American to become a major party's White House standard-bearer.

She is the daughter of an Indian -born mother, Shyamala Gopalan , and a Jamaican -born father, Donald Harris , an 85-year-old retired Stanford University economist.

She hails from a market town in St. Ann Parish , Jamaica , where vendors clustered along the main drag to sell avocados, yams and bundles of thyme .

The town was named after Hamilton Brown , a slave owner who came to the island from Ireland .

Kamala Harris' cousin, Sherman Harris , still lives on and works the family land in Brownâs Town , Jamaica .

Sherman Harris says he and Kamala are the same age, born just days apart in October 1964 .

Kamala 's mother, Shyamala Gopalan , raised her daughters to be confident, proud black women, he says.

Donald Harris did not respond to several interview requests from CNN and largely has shied away from publicity.

He did emerge publicly during Harrisâ 2020 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination to publicly chastise her for joking that of course she had smoked marijuana .

Trump 's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance , meanwhile, has questioned her authenticity.