Pakistani Americans for Biden Launched on August 14
By Ras H. Siddiqui
While many Americans of Pakistani origin were celebrating Pakistan’s Independence Day on Friday, August 14th this year with the usual or should one say “unusual” (Virtual-Zoom) fanfare in this COVID-19 pandemic year, one grouping decided to do something different and took the opportunity to launch a movement to garner support for Presidential candidate Joe Biden on the same day.
Pakistan-Americans are not a monolithic voting bloc but can be swayed by the right candidate and message. They are also members of the Asian, South-Asian (Desi) and Muslim groupings. This year the addition of Senator Kamala Harris as the VP Candidate on the Democrat ticket has added a uniquely Desi element to the November 3rd Presidential elections. But let us not forget that Senator Harris is also half Black and this election year of Black Lives Matter could be significant for Black-South-Asian political cooperation.
The virtual event dubbed “Pakistani Americans for Biden – A Community Fired Up for Change” got off to a great start with the poetry of Faiz Ahmad Faiz with his famous Peoples Poem Hum Dekhenge (We shall See) which applies more to the diehard left leaning Bernie Sanders supporters today, but that possibly was also a point being made here (that their voice will not be ignored). Several Pakistani-Americans supported Senator Sanders in his Presidential bid this year and the hope is that they will vote for the Biden-Harris ticket now. Not voting will benefit President Trump’s bid for re-election.
Event convener, Co-founder, AAPI Victory Fund; Former White House AAPI Commissioner Dilawar Syed introduced us to the program. He started with the greeting of Azadi Mubarak (Happy Independence Day) and went on to explain that we will do everything in our power to elect Joe Biden as President. He added that (with the addition of Kamala Harris to the ticket) the South Asian Community is in the frontlines of this election. We are building a coalition of Black and Brown communities including Pakistani-Americans all over this country to win this election, he said. The importance of the Diaspora in India’s freedom movements was also highlighted. Before inviting Andrew Yang to speak Dilawar pointed out that we need to get educated on mail-in ballots and the electoral process.
Former Presidential candidate and now “honorary” Pakistani-American Andrew Yang added his words of encouragement to this effort. Andrew started off by greeting the community on Independence Day and later reflected on his growing up in the New York area. He pointed out one Pakistani-American friend who shared his experience with him on the tough years while growing up in post-9/11 America. He said that one of the joys of his running for President this year was that he got to know both former Vice President Biden and Senator Kamala Harris personally and added that Joe and Kamala are the best of us. Andrew also gave a shout out to Qasim Rashid, a Pakistani American running for Congress from Virginia and asked the community to support him.
Zaina Javaid next took over as event emcee and introduced us to the agenda for the evening. And since we have to be victims of article length here this writer would like to add that a link to the event is being added at the conclusion of this report, which we encourage Pakistani-Americans of all ages or political persuasions to view. Young people like Zaina, Dr Danish Ahmad, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Critical Care Medicine at the Mount Sinai Medical Center Dr Syra Madad, Sr Dir, Special Pathogens, New York City Health System, Qasim Rashid, Democratic Candidate, VA-1, Bushra Amiwala, Skokie School Board elected official, Aysha Ahmed, Dep Organizing Dir, Emgage Action and Omair Mirza, State Dir, South Asians for Biden all need to be heard because they are inspiring to say the least. Kudos to Tech Executive Faraz Iqbal and Founder & CEO of Pragmatism Consulting Group Haris Ahmed who moderated the first two very informative panels.
The final panel discussion had star power and was both very informative and entertaining. It brought back Dilawar Syed as moderator along with National Director of Coalitions, Biden for President, Ashley Allison, noted author and journalist Wajahat Ali and last but not least actor, screenwriter and comedian Kumail Nanjiani.
Ashley added a great deal of information on the Biden-Harris campaign. Our pathway to victory is going to take everyone and particularly Pakistani-Americans, she said. She added that her organization has staff in 17 states with coalitions and working relationships possible with people in other states as well. We need to make sure that people are registered to vote. Laws in many states differ and there needs to be awareness. She asked that people visit the website JoeBiden.com for more state-by-state election information. She added that everyone has a seat at the table in this campaign. We can learn from one another.
Next up, Kumail Nanjiani did not disappoint. Asked to discuss what four more years would look like if President Trump was re-elected for a rising Kumail he said that it would be much harder, as a part of the audience would feel more emboldened to yell racist stuff at him. He looked back at his standup comedy career soon after 9/11 and added that racism has always been a problem but recently it has also become okay to say certain things publicly. For harmful ideas to become normalized is very troubling. Having someone shout something racist to you is very challenging, not just as a comedian but personally too. If we get four more years of this, it will be much harder for someone who looks and sounds like me to get up on stage and perform. Biden is someone who seems to have actual empathy, he added.
Wajahat Ali added his own masala to the conversation here. He wished everyone Happy Pakistan Independence Day and said that he wore green for the occasion. While conversing with Nanjiani, Wajahat said that once you have Kumail’s 6 Pack Abs you can do anything you want! He added that while he was growing up, he never thought that he would ever see a Pakistani-American immigrant with a little bit of an accent who has 6 Pack Abs starring in a Marvel movie. The fact that there is literally a brown Unicorn with 6 Pack Abs gives me hope, said Wajahat. But I am here to represent all those Pakistani Uncles with (Ghee eating) Dad bods. I do not want Kumail’s stereotype to destroy our reality! On a more serious note, he shared his family story, how his father came to America in 1965 on a student visa and that his dad shared with him how things were crazy (LBJ and Vietnam protests) back then. At that time the electorate moved towards Nixon. Today that electorate is with us said his Dad who does not see himself as separate from this country which is significant. Wajahat also went into Muslim politics in America from the year 2000 (Block vote for Bush) to the present. He mentioned the 2016 DNC Convention where a Pakistani immigrant by the name of Khizr Khan made history. He elaborated on the fact that this time alliances (with Blacks and Latinos) have become very important and the shift of Pakistani-American voters towards the Democratic Party is on the cards. They have discovered that the Democratic Party is their home, said Wajahat.
To conclude, Pakistani-Americans have arrived on the US political scene. This event was just one window into the future of our community activism here in this country. So let us not miss the boat and fully participate in the upcoming elections. Readers are strongly encouraged to visit Pakistani Americans Fired Up for Change! Mobilizing the Community for Joe Biden on YouTube to view a recording of this event.
(This writer would like to thank two young people, Sarah and Sahar Hafeez for their assistance with this report)
