Envisioning America of My Dreams: What Diversity at Kamala Harris’ Wisconsin Rally Meant for Me
- As you cast your ballot on November 5, the choice is yours and the onus is on you for the kind of America you want.
While walking back towards our car from the Vice President Kamala Harris’s rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on May 17, my friend asked me what was my most favorite moment from the rally. I was a little surprised to hear this question as for the most part, I carried the guilt of dragging her to attend the rally with me.
But almost immediately, I said “My favorite moment was to meet the Native American leaders from the Oneida Nation at the rally along with Hmong, Indian, African American and Latino leaders from our community.
She got curious and asked me further, “why”?
I told her that I was mesmerized to see so many community leaders from different cultural backgrounds rooting for Kamala. I have known a lot of them for several years as I have collaborated with them for DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion ) work in the Green Bay community. This has been my advocacy work since a long time. It felt like a dream to see the level of civic engagement from so many communities at the rally, a something. I have harbored since I started my research in grad school.
And when I was interacting with Oneida Nation Vice chair and council person — I thought how far we have come to see this moment when all of us (Asian Indian, Hmong, Native American, Latin American and African American). All of us were standing there to cheer for a future female president who embodies sterling professional credentials, impeccable political experience, not to mention, two immigrant parents (one from India and the other from Jamaica).
This is the America that we have envisioned for ourselves where every American Dream can be realized through hard work. So the diverse voices in our city of Green Bay and Brown County rooting for Kamala Harris was what got me a little emotional.I have been involved in so much advocacy work over the years that at some level it comes down to who we want to invest in as our leader.
Can we put our trust in a leader who believes in America that unifies people and honors the voice of every immigrant, every mother, every woman, every man, every child, every member of LGBTQ community, every person of color, every veteran, every person of different ability, who is looking for a way forward and a future where they can make their own choices.
The choice to get good public education, the choice to get best healthcare access, the choice over their own body, the choice to make a life that is full of dignity, the choice to get represented in schools, leadership and public spaces. In short, the choice to thrive!
As we walked back exhausted after a long day after attending the rally and also inching closer to the election day and feeling like we ought to do more for the upcoming election. Somewhere that glimmer of hope enveloped me that yes, we can stand up for all these choices. We can stand up for the person who promises us that hope for our future and a future full of possibilities where we can envision those choices of reproductive rights, immigrant voices, faith in our public education system, good jobs that can mean that our lives can be better.
And as we sped away in our car, I reflected on how many people I knew at the rally after those years of work in advocacy and the impact of those beautiful community on my life.
So when you all go out and vote — make sure that you are on the right side of history. The side of history where you can tell your kids that you voted for the president who can be their role model on how to serve the people of our country so they get to make their own choices for American people to thrive.
As you cast your ballot on November 5th, the choice is yours and the onus is on you for the kind of America you want.
Dr. Pooja Bambha-Arora is the coalition chair of Brown County Democrats and Regional Director of Wisconsin chapter of South Asians for Harris.