West Oakland proudly welcomes hometown daughter V.P. Kamala Harris

OAKLAND, Calif. - Even though Adeline Street in Oakland was closed to traffic for several blocks, a steady stream of onlookers came to see the huge motorcade bringing Vice President Kamala Harris on her visit to Red Door Catering. 

By any standard, the vice president is a worldwide celebrity of the first order. That's why some people came with the hope of catching a glimpse of her during her brief visit.

For a day, the streets of Oakland saw a homecoming of a daughter who will forever be in the history books. 

It was an entourage, complete with staff, many levels of law enforcement, medical teams and dignitaries. She came to Oakland, her home town, for the first time since the inauguration to discuss the Biden administrations vision for small businesses.

Residents and onlookers were pleased. "Well, most definitely, come back to her roots and like get to the people and like make sure she stays in touch with her roots," said Montana Ivey.

Others showed profound appreciation for the politician's return. 

"That's respect. That's much love right there. Somebody, not only have their business and their work duties but they're still thinking about their people," said a man named Tshawn.

"It shows that if you put in hard work and put your mind to something that you can accomplish anything," said Eli Bottom.

It was particularly endearing to the folks that live in the diverse and evolving West Oakland area.

"Loving it; very glad She's come back for a quick visit. This is great. I wished I had known sooner. As my neighbor Mike here said, we would have had her in for coffee," said neighbor Kim Robinson.

"We're just proud as heck to have the vice president be from here. A little weird to see them right across from my house. We didn't clean up for coffee or anything," said neighbor Mike Woolson.

"It's so amazing that our creed or color is able to stand at a high office and, hopefully, I would think that she would look up to more things that we need out here," said Gregory Nash, who is homeless but lives in the neighborhood.

Given the enormity of the security and the tightness of the vice president's schedule, a lot of spectators who came here, hoping to see her, saw only the spectacle of the entourage. The vice president simply came and went.