Donald J. Harris, born Donald Jasper Harris on August 23, 1938, in Brown Township, St. Ann, Jamaica, identifies as African Jamaican. His parents, Oscar Joseph Harris and Beryl Christie Harris (née Finegan), raised him in a cultural and historical environment shaped by Jamaica’s journey to independence and economic challenges. Although details about his siblings are limited, it is mentioned that he has at least one older brother.
Donald pursued his college studies at University of the West Indies before moving to the US to earn a Ph.D. on Economics from University of CaliforniaBerkeley. His research focuses on international economics and economic conditions in developing countries. He went on to become a prominent economist, critical of inequality and development economics, and made history as the first black professor tenured at Stanford UniversityFaculty of Economics.
In the mid-1960s, Donald married Shyamala Gopalan, an Indian-American cancer researcher, and they had two daughters, Kamala Harris and Maya Harris. Kamala later became famous in American politics. Although Donald and Shyamala divorced in 1971, they remained harmonious, raising their daughter together.
Donald did not remarry publicly after his divorce. His life, blending his Jamaican and Indian heritage, along with his academic career, reflects his commitment to diversity, justice and economic equality. His lineage and contributions to academia, along with Kamala Harris’s political achievements, highlight a family of cultural and academic influence.
Oscar Joseph Harris
Born in 1915, Oscar Joseph Harris was a man of his times, living through and witnessing the socio-economic changes in Jamaica in the mid-20th century. Although not widely documented in public records Plus, his life can be pieced together through family legend and the context of the era in which he lived.
Oscar’s ethnic heritage, described by his son Donald, reflects the complex racial history of Caribbean nations, combining African ancestry with European lineage, typical of post-liberation societies , where interracial relationships are more common due to historical interactions.
Like many in Jamaica of his generation, Oscar’s life was likely influenced by the independence movement and the island’s evolving identity. Although not specified in extant records, his occupation may have been related to traditional labor or small-scale business, common at the time.
Given the political and social consciousness that Donald later demonstrated in his scholarly work, it is reasonable to assume that Oscar conveyed the values of economic justice and public welfare.
Beryl Christie Harris (née Finegan)
Beryl Christie Harris, born in 1917, shares Oscar’s life with Jamaica’s rich cultural environment. Her contributions to the family, especially in shaping Donald’s childhood life, may have received little public recognition but were certainly important.
Beryl’s role would be pivotal in cultivating Donald’s intellectual curiosity and resilience, traits that would later influence his career and, by extension, Kamala’s political journey.
The name “Christie” has led to some confusion about her ethnicity, but based on Donald’s admission, both she and Oscar are African-Jamaican, with their lineage reflecting a history of African descent. island’s terrain. Beryl’s life, like Oscar’s, would have been marked by the struggles and progress of a nation grappling with its identity after slavery and amid the civil rights and independence.
