The final night of the Democratic National Convention featured an engaging tutorial on pronouncing Kamala Harris’ name, orchestrated by none other than the candidate’s great nieces.
Actress Kerry Washington introduced the segment by addressing the ongoing mispronunciations of Harris’ name, stating, “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.” She emphasized, “Confusion is understandable. Disrespect is not. So tonight we are going to help everyone get it right.”
Emerging onto the stage were Amara, 8, sporting a pink pant suit, and Leela, 6, dressed in a light blue frilly dress—both daughters of Harris’ niece Meena Harris.
“First you say ‘comma’ like the comma in a sentence,” explained Amara, confidently.
“Then you say ‘la’ like la-la-la-la-la,” added Leela, with a playful cadence.
“OK, let’s practice,” Washington urged the audience.
Amara directed the left side of the stage, “Everybody over here say comma!”
Leela turned to the right side and prompted, “Everybody over here say la!”
The United Center erupted in a unifying chant, echoing, “Comma! La!”
Throughout the convention, several speakers had tripped over Harris’ first name, including former President Bill Clinton, who pronounced it as “CAM-UH-LA” during his Wednesday night address. In contrast, Leon Panetta opted for a cautious approach, reading directly from a teleprompter that spelled it out phonetically as “Comma-la.”
Meanwhile, Republican candidate Donald Trump has continually seized opportunities to mispronounce the name, which Democrats perceive as a deliberate sign of disrespect. Trump typically pronounces it “Kah-MAH-la.” When questioned about his repeated errors, Trump remarked last month that he had heard Harris’ first name pronounced in “about seven different ways,” adding dismissively, “I said, ‘Don’t worry about it, it doesn’t matter what I say,’” and concluding, “I couldn’t care less.”
