Growing Up With Multiple Faiths

Kamala and her sister did spend time with their father as children. They went over to Palo Alto and sometimes to Jamaica to be with him in the summers. However, Meena says that the sisters’ experience with their Blackness was influenced not by their Caribbean roots but by growing up in Oakland and Berkeley.

Their mother also made them wear their Sunday’s best dress to attend a Black Baptist church. She and Maya even sang at the 23rd Avenue Church of God’s choir as children. At the same time, they also attended a Hindu temple, according to USA Today.