Meet Karine Jean-Pierre Family.
Karine is the first Black press secretary of the White House. She is also the first openly gay person in that role. For a very long time, she has been vocal about her family members. She had shown appreciation to her parents on several occasions.
Learn about her parents, siblings, and her daughter in this article below.
Who Are Karine Jean-Pierre Family Members?
Karine Jean-Pierre, the first Black press secretary of the White House, was born to her Haitian-Immigrant parents in Fort-de-France, Martinique. Her parents who were born and raised in Haiti left their country at the time of a dictatorship.
They wanted something better for themselves as their children. She told Elle, “They wanted to make sure they could provide everything they didn’t have for themselves. I grew up understanding that my parents sacrificed so much”.
Karine was raised by her parents in Queens Village, New York. She is the oldest of three siblings.
Opening up about her family’s struggle she added, “It was very hard for them and they — like so many families across this country — lived paycheck to paycheck”.
In an interview with Elle, Karine explained, “I grew up with the understanding that it is an honor to be here in this country. The American Dream is not easy, especially if you are a person of color. My parents instilled in me to never give up an opportunity, work incredibly hard, and appreciate what you have.”
She added, “Now I get to pay it forward by being part of an administration that’s helping people who are just like my parents. With everything I’m doing, I think about my parents. I think about how I grew up and the millions of families who are going through the same thing that I did.”
In early December 2020, Karine posted a picture of her parents on Instagram and wrote, “Thank you for letting me stand on your shoulders. (My parents and so many countless others)”.
Meet Karine Jean-Pierre Parents
After arriving in the States, Karine Jean-Pierre’s parents kept multiple jobs to support their family. Her father, who is above 70-year-old. was a New York Cab driver.
She wrote in her book, “Papi, now in his seventies, has driven a taxi for four decades, getting up at 4:00 a.m. so he can be in line early to pick up the first international travelers at JFK Airport. It’s an exhausting life of waiting, driving, and hoping for good tips. Now Uber, Lyft, and Via are decimating his income.”
Karine’s father kept his job as a taxi driver for over four-decade and still does a part-time. Back in Haiti, he was a teacher/engineer.
Karine’s mother, above 60-year-old, worked as a health care aide. She also pursued an entrepreneurial route opening and running her own hair salon.
During the 2008 Great Recession, her parents lost their Hempstead, Long Island, to a predatory tax lien.
She revealed in her book, “This was the modest, all-paid-for redbrick Colonial that my mother and father had worked years to buy—and that Mummy, who is in her sixties, planned to use for her retirement. She has worked two to three jobs a week—years of sixty-hour weeks—caring for senior citizens”.
Karine added further, “For ten years—since the Great Recession in 2008—Mummy was underwater on the second house my parents bought in a better school district, in Wheatley Heights, after I left for the city and Columbia. She was a victim of a system that preys on people who don’t understand how it works. The house finally sold in a short sale while I was writing this chapter.”
Karine invited her mother to join her and her family to live in Maryland, but living on the crust of a daughter’s charity in a basement bedroom, far away from her friends and her church, was a hard place for a proud, self-sufficient woman to end up. However, she had managed to save up enough money to buy her mother a small condo in Freeport, Long Island, New York, thirty minutes closer to the city than Wheatley Heights.
Karine’s mother celebrates her birthday on 16 March every year. In a 2020 Mother’s Day post on IG, she captioned, “Happy Mother’s Day to my mother, who has sacrificed so much to give my siblings and me the opportunity to thrive, and every other mother”.
Meet Karine Jean-Pierre Siblings
As stated earlier, Karine Jean-Pierre has a younger brother named Chris Jean-Pierre and a sister named Edwine Soulay Jean-Pierre.
Chris attended Half Hollow Hills High School West. After high school, he attended and studied Management/Marketing at Delaware State University. The 38 years old is currently working as a fitness trainer. He welcomed a daughter named Jaylen born on 14 July 2021 with his wife Miketa Hooper. He also has a teenage son named Zahmir who is 16 years old.
In July 2019, Chris posted about Kaine on Instagram. He posted, “Always inspiring…fast shoutout to my sister still out there doing her thing @k_jeanpierre I see you big sis keeping doing your thing. Love you ♥️👊🏾. If you haven’t pre-order her book yet “ Moving forward A story of hope, hard work and promise of America” please do when you get a chance!! Great read links in her bio!!! Really inspiring and motivating thanks in advance”.
As for Karine’s sister, Edwine is a mother to a son and lives in New York.
Does Karine Jean-Pierre Have A Daughter?
Karine Jean-Pierre has a daughter named Soleil. Soleil is 7 years old as of 2022. She will turn 8 on 27 May 2022.
Karine has talked about her daughter in her book. She wrote, “May 6, 2016. That’s the day I felt my family dodged a bullet. Soleil, who was not yet two, was at daycare when my phone started to blow up. There was an active shooter at the shopping mall adjacent to the daycare facility.”
She explained further, “The emails from the head administrator were to let parents know that the center, with its brightly colored circular rugs and different stations for creative play, was on lockdown. It took a moment before I realized Soleil was safe. It was only by pure coincidence—blind luck—that my partner, Suzanne, and I had moved our daughter to a different, closer daycare. We were still on the email list that went out to parents whose children attended the daycare”.
About her personal experience involving her daughter, Karine added, “I had to see Soleil, even though it was the middle of the afternoon and she usually stayed at daycare for another three hours. I cradled Soleil’s little head and buried my nose in her soft curls, a barrette in my eye. She was nonplussed by my unexpected appearance, more interested in a pink unicorn covered in glitter than in me as I worked hard to quiet the boiling cauldron of bright red rage I felt—mingled with overwhelming relief”.
The chapter she wrote was titled, “WHAT I ’M FIGHTING FOR—AND HOW WE CAN WIN”. She proclaimed, that she was fighting for her daughter so that she could grow up in a gun-free environment. So that her daughter could get a good college education that won’t bankrupt her.
Karine shared that she started talking about her heritage with her daughter when she was 2. And, she would share her heritage, her parents who fled Haiti, and their struggle in the States.
Karine Jean-Pierre Partner
Karine Jean-Pierre is currently dating Suzanne Malveaux, CNN’s national correspondent. Suzanne has also served as the channel’s White House correspondent, substituting for Wolf Blitzer on The Situation Room. She is an award-winning journalist who has covered everything from major national, and international news to cultural stories.
Karine is the first openly gay White House Press Secretary. In 2021, she shared her experience coming out on the occasion of pride month. “I came out to my Mom when I was 16 years old. The revolted look on her face sent me running back into the proverbial closet and slamming the door shut.”
She added, “After that, my sexuality became a family secret and it would stay that way for years.”
Karine concluded, “Just as American society has evolved over the course of the past couple of decades to embrace the LGBTQ community (never forgetting we still have work to do), my family has evolved to embrace my membership in it”.
Related FAQs
-
Where Does Karine Jean-Pierre Family Reside Today?
Karine Jean-Pierre’s family resides in New York.
-
Has Karine Jean-Pierre Family Appeared On Her Instagram And Facebook?
Yes, Karine’s siblings are on Facebook and Instagram. But, her parents aren’t active on social media.
-
Are Karine Jean-Pierre Family Members In The Limelight?
No, Karine’s family members don’t appear to be in the limelight like her.
