Nov 15, 2021
Stacey Johnson-Batiste is the author of
Friends from the Beginning, which
celebrates the dear friendship and shared experience between Stacey
and her close, childhood friend Vice President Kamala Harris.
Growing up together in Berkeley in the ’60 and '70s, Stacey and
Kamala were born of a time and place bursting with cultural
diversity and freedom of expression. This memoir provides a
candid, colorful, look at the formative years during
which Stacey and Kamala shared and experienced an inclusive
environment of community support, love, and non-traditional
education—set against the backdrop of roiling political tension,
demonstrations held frequently on and around the U.C. Berkeley
campus and People's Park, and bold expressions from people from all
walks of life.
Friends from the Beginning also offers readers a
window into Kamala's mother, Shyamala—as observed by Stacey—the
brave woman who set the future Vice President on a path of many
firsts. While that path was not always easy, Shyamala’s light and
legacy shines through on these pages. In addition, Johnson-Batiste
introduces several other essential formative figures who informed
their early lives and whose influences have played a role in
shaping the character of both the author and of our Vice
President.
Friends from the Beginning is a story
of enduring friendship, life lessons described in bright, loving
detail, and the courage, sacrifice, and dedication to shared values
that have sustained their friendship for decades.
Stacey is a National Sales Channel Manager at AT&T. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco and was an honoree featured in CRN Magazine’s "The Power 100: The Most Powerful Women in the Channel" in 2018.
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