Friends from the Beginning

The Berkeley Village That Raised Kamala and Me

Author: Stacey Batiste

A vivid, intimate portrait of the friendship forged between Stacey Johnson Batiste and her childhood best friend, Vice President Kamala Harris-and of the community in which they were raised, and the lessons offered by those they loved and admired from childhood, through their teenage years, and up to the present day.

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Summary

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FRIENDS FROM THE BEGINNING celebrates the dear friendship and shared experience between the Vice President and her close, childhood friend Stacey Johnson-Batiste.

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.

Critic Reviews

“"It's my honor to have known Stacey and her family (Robert, Doris, and Ronny) since Stacey was a young girl in Berkeley. FRIENDS FROM THE BEGINNING is an articulate, heartfelt story about Stacey and Kamala Harris from their childhood to adulthood. What a role model for generations to come!"-- Eddie Henderson”

"An affectionate homage to a treasured friend."--Kirkus

"A tender look at the author's lifelong friendship with Kamala Harris, FRIENDS FROM THE BEGINNING is an earnest and affecting love letter to the girl who grew up to be vice president and the neighborhood of families who helped raised her."

--Lisa Dickey, New York Times bestselling author and ghostwriter
"It indeed takes a village, and Stacey Johnson-Batiste's memoir of her coming of age with Kamala Harris in the 'Berkeley Village' of the sixties and seventies is a poignant, engaging look at the characters and the inclusive, progressive environment that shaped them both. Johnson-Batiste--whom Harris calls her 'best friend for life, from the beginning'--provides a unique window into the formative influences that shaped the nation's first female, first Black, and first Asian American vice president."--Jackie Calmes, Los Angeles Times national columnist and author of DISSENT: The Radicalization of the Republican Party and Its Capture of the Court
"It's my honor to have known Stacey and her family (Robert, Doris, and Ronny) since Stacey was a young girl in Berkeley. FRIENDS FROM THE BEGINNING is an articulate, heartfelt story about Stacey and Kamala Harris from their childhood to adulthood. What a role model for generations to come!"--Eddie Henderson

About the Author

Stacey Johnson-Batiste 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. Stacey is a loving mother to a daughter, son, and two granddaughters. She is passionate about the protection of animals and the preservation of wildlife. Her hobbies include designing and sewing clothes, golfing, gardening, fitness, and catching up with life-long friends.

More on this Book

FRIENDS FROM THE BEGINNING celebrates the dear friendship and shared experience between the Vice President and her close, childhood friend Stacey Johnson-Batiste.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.