Key Takeaways
- Meena Harris’ mother was just 17 years old at her birth.
- Rumors surround around Meena’s biological father and his ethnicity, which is yet to be revealed.
- Tony West, Meena’s stepfather, is a prominent attorney and former government official.
Meena Harris is the daughter of Maya Lakshmi Harris and her biological father, whose identity remains undisclosed. However, she regards her stepfather, Tony West, as her father.
Meena, an American lawyer, author, and theatre producer, was born Meenakshi Ashley Harris on October 20, 1984, when her mother was only 17 years old.
Her mum, Maya Lakshmi Harris, married Tony West in July 1998, after their friendship at Stanford Law School turned into a relationship following graduation.
Kamala Harris, Meena’s aunt, is the 49th Vice President of the U.S. since 2021.
Growing up within the Harris family, Meena was supported and influenced by the formidable women in her life-her mother, Maya, her aunt Kamala, and her grandmother Shyamala.
About her family, she shared:
Everything I do is because of [my family], three awesome and strong women who dedicated themselves to making positive changes in the world. I have the examples of my mom and aunt, who were public interest lawyers. I was taught the value of everyday activism and showing up by my grandma, who wasn’t a public official, but was a breast cancer researcher and would mentor students of color in her lab at UC Berkley. She taught me when I was 4 years old what the word boycott meant.
Released in 2020 by HarperCollins’ Balzer + Bray, “Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea” is Meena Harris’s first children’s picture book, based on her mother, Maya, and aunt, Kamala.
Online Speculations On Meena Harris’s Biological Father And Ethnicity
There is a significant lack of information about Meena Harris’ biological father.
Despite her family’s prominence, neither Meena nor her relatives have disclosed any specifics about her father’s early life or professional background.
While rumors are circulating about Meena’s biological father potentially being white, there is no confirmed information on his identity.
Meena holds mixed ethnicity as her heritage includes Jamaican-American roots from her grandfather and Indian-Asian heritage from her grandmother, Shyamala Gopalan.
On the topic of her ethnic background, a Twitter user wrote:
Interesting. Nobody seems to know anything about Meena Harris's biological father. But judging from the looks her mother Maya Harris (right), her dad may be white. Maya Harris, Kamala's sister, looks much more South Indian than Kamala, like an OBC Tamil. https://t.co/TXuWfrt5In pic.twitter.com/Pm1jEoeUc7
— S. Lant (@Shiftant) August 11, 2024
Similarly, another wrote:
This anti-white racists like Kamala Harris married a white man and her niece Meena Harris real father is a white man!
Another user commented:
How did Meena Harris have a black father, a black and indian mother, but turn out white?
The third wrote:
Maya Harris mother of Meena Harris is using father’s surname. But meena harris is not using the surname of her father. Can anybody tell Why?
Online conversations and speculation continue to surround the mystery of her father’s identity, with theories based on appearances and surnames, but no clear answers have been provided.
Meena’s Stepdad Tony West: His Career In Law And Politics
Meena’s stepdad, Tony West, is an American attorney and former government official who is currently Uber’s Senior Vice President and chief legal officer.
Born on August 12, 1965, in San Francisco, California, Tony is the son of Margaret, a teacher, and Franklin Delano West, who worked for IBM.
He attended Bellarmine College Preparatory and received his Bachelor of Arts in government from Harvard College in 1987.
After a year, he started working in politics and law, interning at several firms before earning his J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1992.
After graduating, he worked in Democratic politics and as a litigation partner at Morrison & Foerster. He also served as the co-chair of Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign in California.
He then began his career at the U.S. Department of Justice in 1993 as a Special Assistant and later served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, prosecuting various high-profile crimes.
He returned in 2009 as Assistant Attorney General, overseeing pivotal cases, recovering over $37 billion, and advancing legal protections for Native Americans.
In October 2014, West joined PepsiCo as executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary, overseeing legal and government affairs until he left for Uber in October 2017.
At Uber, he took on the role of General Counsel following a major investigation into the company’s workplace culture.
West also has a history in political campaigns, having run for San Jose City Council and the California State Assembly, and he has supported Kamala Harris’s political career.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Meena Harris married Nikolas Ajagu in 2014, and the couple have two daughters, namely Amara and Leela.
- She received her bachelor’s degree from Stanford University in 2006 and her juris doctor from Harvard Law School in 2012.
- She has co-produced three Broadway shows: Suffs, Death of a Salesman, and A Strange Loop.
