Desi ‘Aunties’ Make History: Thousands of South Asian American Women Join Zoom Call to Support Kamala Harris for President
- With more than 9,000 in attendance, Brown women one-upped the virtual gathering of Black women supporters of the prospective nominee of the Democratic Party.
Over 9,0000 South Asian women joined a Zoom call yesterday (July 24) to mobilize support for Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. The event, billed as “South Asian Women for Harris,” raised more than $250,000 for the Harris campaign.
It was a historic showing of solidarity for Harris from the Indian American community which makes up just over 1% of the U.S. population. In terms of the proportion of Indian American women in the U.S. population, this showing is miles ahead of 44,000 Black women who joined the ‘Win With Black Women’ virtual meeting held on Sunday to support Harris. Blacks constitute a little over 12% of the U.S. population.
Elected lawmakers, representatives from various South Asian American groups, community organizers, celebrities, and politically engaged women came together to discuss ways to elect Harris the first woman and the first Indian American president. The energy throughout the virtual meeting was unprecedented. Panelists discussed ways and means to help get Harris through the finish line.
There was tremendous interest among participants to work in their communities to ramp up get-out-the-vote efforts. The chat window of Zoom was off the hook with women supporting and encouraging each other, and sharing resources and and ways in which attendees could get involved in the campaign.
The July 24 Zoom call was organized by Palak Sheth, founder of Post March Salon (PMS); attorney Mansi H. Shah, former president of the South Asian Bar Association (SABA); and civil rights lawyer Arunima Bhargava, with help from Harini Krishnan and Neha Dewan, co-national directors of South Asians for Harris. Organizers said the call aimed to show the power of South Asian women, get them energized, build momentum, build hope, and raise money. It also aimed to raise the profile of South Asian women who have been “doing most of the heavy lifting “ in the community, Krishnan told American Kahani. “Most of the political organizing in the South Asian American communities is led by women, young women,” she added.
Krishnan has been standing with Harris for a long time, as a lead volunteer and organizer, and as a friend. She described Harris as “tough, brilliant and thoughtful,” and the first woman in so many roles. “The Kamala Harris I know is a champion for marginalized communities; someone who has increased her standing on the global stage at the time when our fundamental rights are on the assault;” and the person who is “bringing all of us together.”
Krishnan also noted another reason that sets the Harris campaign apart from any previous ones. “The Harris campaign has been seeing levels of engagement even more than Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign,” she said. Obama was the nation’s first African American president, and his 2008 run for the presidency led to record Black voter turnout in many places.
Several celebrities and activists joined the call. Dressed in the “brat” green, actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer Mindy Kaling urged attended to fundraise for Harris, and also pledged her support to the campaign, promising to “work hard, quickly and effectively.” Actress Poorna Jagannathan spoke about her hopes that Harris would take a firm stance on Gaza, calling for a more permanent solution to the conflict.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), talked about her mother, who is sending nonstop WhatsApp messages about Harris’ historic candidacy. It’s an incredible thing to think about where we are today,” she said, adding that it’s “such a great moment for the community.” Jayapal got re-elected to Congress at the same time Harris got elected to the Senate, and Trump was elected to the White House. She has worked with Harris on several bills and measures including a bill to ban Trump’s Muslim Ban, the domestic worker bill, and the Universal Child Care and Early Learning Act.
Other panelists included associate attorney general Vanita Gupta; Mini Timmaraju, president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom For All; Reshma Saujani, CEO and founder of Moms First (formerly Marshall Plan for Moms), and founder of Girls Who Code; Rohini Kosoglu, a longtime Harris policy adviser who worked in her Senate and vice-presidential office; actress, author, producer, and activist Sheetal Sheth; Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman; and Neeru Khosla, founder of the CK12 Foundation, and wife of billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla.
Philadelphia City Council member Nina Ahmed; Georgia State Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes; Bianca Shah, and Ananya Kachru, youth directors of South Asians for Harris; and Nadia Belkin, National AANHPI Engagement Director at Harris for President, also spoke.
Other prominent attendees included Washington State Sen. Manka Dhingra, Washington State Rep. Vandana Slatter, former New Jersey Assemblywoman Sadaf Jaffer, and Judge Juli A. Mathew ion Forth Bend County in Texas, among others.
It’s disappointing to see the divisiveness in this article implies South Asian American women’s support for Harris is greater than black women’s efforts. The call was inspired by Win With Black Women as the host pointed out and the black community mobilized faster than any other underrepresented group. We must honor their commitment and fortitude. We are in this together.
It’s disappointing to see this article’s divisiveness by the negative comparison of black women to brown women showing up for VP Harris. South Asian women did NOT “one-up” black women. Our black community mobilized faster than any other underrepresented group and host herself commented that the zoom call was inspired by Win With Black Women. In terms of money (or percentage of money) that was raised, note that Win With Black Women organized a call within hours of the announcement about Harris instead of days. Also, in terms of disposable income, South Asians have more resources availabledue to racist laws that have held back the black community for centuries. We stand in solidarity with black women. Please do not use your platform to sow division.
Very excited!