Kamala Harris: A Baptist with a Jewish husband and a faith that traces back to MLK and Gandhi

WASHINGTON (AP) — Black clergy who know Vice President Kamala Harris, now the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, marvel at the fusion of traditions and teachings that have molded her religious faith and social justice values.

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A Baptist married to a Jewish man, she’s inspired by the work of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and influenced by the religious traditions of her mother’s native India as well as the Black Church.

“She’s had the best of two worlds,” says her longtime pastor, the Rev. Amos Brown, who leads Third Baptist Church in San Francisco.

In interviews, religious leaders and theologians told The Associated Press that Harris’ candidacy has special symbolic significance following President Joe Biden’s departure from election campaign. Not only because she would be the nation’s first female president, but she’s a Black American with South Asian roots and her two cultures are intrinsically linked.

The clergy and scholars noted that the concept of nonviolent resistance, a critical strategy in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, gained influence under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in India, who was an inspiration for many decades to America’s Black preachers and civil rights leaders. Gandhi was a Hindu who preached Hindu-Muslim unity.

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