The U.S. Chess Center congratulates our newest, history-making and chess-playing Madam Vice President, Kamala D. Harris, who has frequently mentioned learning chess from her “Uncle Sherman” as a formative part of her childhood.
“I had a lot of – I mean, there were a lot of people in my life who’ve mentored me along the way – men and women. And, I mean, I told a story recently about my uncle Sherman who was a lawyer who – when I was a kid, he said I’m going to teach you how to play chess because you need to – you need to understand strategy. You need to understand because chess is a metaphor for life in so many ways. It’s a – you know, there’s the board, and there are all these different players that can move differently – right? – and they each have a power, a pretty profound power. And he taught me through teaching me chess how, one, everyone can move differently, each has power – a pawn can take out a king – and also taught me to learn that you have to, you know, try to really think about the 10th step before you take the first step. So that’s early in my life a mentor.”
NPR POLITICS PODCAST, June 12, 2019
“Other nights, I would go over to Aunt Mary’s house, and Uncle Sherman and I would play chess. He was a great player, and he loved to talk to me about the bigger implications of the game: the idea of being strategic, of having a plan, of thinking things through multiple steps ahead, of predicting your opponent’s actions and adjusting yours to outmaneuver them. Every once in a while, he would let me win.”
The Truths We Hold: An American Journey by Kamala Harris (Published by Penguin Books)
“Our family consisted of a lot of aunts and uncles who were not born, the brothers and sisters of my mother. But in every way were my aunts and uncles, my Uncle Sherman, at a very young age taught us how to play chess. He said, I want you to learn about that board. I want you to learn to think steps ahead.”
CNN Special Report, Kamala Harris: Making History. Aired January 17, 2021
Kamala Devi Harris is an American politician and attorney who is the vice president of the United States. Harris served as a United States senator from California from 2017 to 2021, and as attorney general of California from 2011 to 2017. Born in Oakland, California, Harris graduated from Howard University and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, before being recruited to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and later the City Attorney of San Francisco’s office. In 2003, she was elected district attorney of San Francisco. She was elected Attorney General of California in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. Harris served as the junior United States senator from California from 2017 to 2021. Harris defeated Loretta Sanchez in the 2016 Senate election to become the second African American woman and the first South Asian American to serve in the United States Senate. – Wikipedia
“Uncle Sherman” was Sherman L. Williams, an attorney and Harris family friend, who was married to Dr. Mary Agnes Lewis (“Aunt Mary”). Vice President Harris spent many evenings at their home where Uncle Sherman taught her chess and inspired her to pursue a career in the law.