Building a New American Dream, 2018
This story is about South Asian Americans. People whose parents came from the Asian subcontinent (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan), briging with them a lot of linguistic and religious diversity : Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs…
They’re expanding on the success of their immigrant parents, creating a blended cultural identity—and turning the tables on old stereotypes.
“I spent over 6 months traveling all around the United States to explore the nuances, complexities, breath, and everything in between of South Asians in this American land.” Ismail Ferdous
Ravi Bhalla, Indian American civil rights lawyer and politician, elected mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey in November 2017.
In his office of Hoboken’s City Hall, portraits of the former mayors of Hoboken are hanging on the wall.
Young girls are performing Bharatanatyam, a South Asian dance, for their family and friends.
Almost all the girls who participate have at least one parent who is South Asian American. They have chosen to send their daughters to these classes to try and expose them to Indian traditions.
Radha Desai walks down the aisle with her uncles to marry Neal Patel at their wedding ceremony at Hotel Irvine.
Both of their parents are from Gujarat, India. Radha grew up in Southern California and Neal grew up in Florida. They wanted a wedding that stayed true to their traditions but had a modern twist.
Munveer Bhangoo’s wedding, à Dana Point. Munveer is Sikh-American and from California. He, his wife, his brother and his father, are all doctors.
Baraat, a North India’s tradition in which the groom is arriving at his wedding on a horse. The family, the friends and the groom arrive, singing and dancing to be welcomed by Avnish’s family.
Sikh-American Sarika Gangar is celebrating her baby shower at her parents place in San Jose.
She is a tech journalist who recently moved to Brooklyn.
Asnee Fernando and Niroshan Bavanandan are Sri Lankan American. They are taking collection at a Tamil Christmas Carol service.
This annual service has been going on for over 30 years and brings together people from within and outside of the Sri Lankan community; Christians, Hindus and others.
Sri Lankan American Santa Claus, Dianna Siva, gives presents to the kids at a Christmas celebration for the community.
Staten Island is home to one of the largest Sri Lankan communities in the US and many are Christians.
Vivek Trivedi (right) and his wife Sukti are celebrating hristmas at Sukti’s parents home in Long Island. They are eating Christmas cookie dough in the kitchen with her sister and nieces.
Vivek Trivedi was born in New Jersey. His family is from India and he’s married to Nepalese American Sukti. Vivek is a lawyer and producer who works for SAALT, a racial justice organization that advocates for the civil rights of all South Asians in the US. His wife is a Human Rights lawyer.
Mishal is a 6th grader, she is prepping for Spelling Bee competition.
Zulfiuar Ali, her father, arrived in the US in 1991, from Pakistan, an engineer, very humble start, grew up in poor neighborhood in Pakistan. Realized the only way to get out of his difficult situation is through education.
Pranav Chemudupaty was the winner of the 2018 Houston Public Media Spelling Bee. The winning word was ‘oxyacetylene’.
The runner up was Benjamin Chen whose parents are from China. As the winners, they will be sent to the Scripps National Spelling Bee this summer in DC. In the background: Anjay Ajodha, a three-time champion at the Houston Spelling Bee and returned as one of the hosts this year. Anjay’s family is of Indian origin from Guyana. He grew up in Houston and now works at Microsoft in Seattle.
Samir Patel (left) and his step-brother Manny at their family’s Wigwam Motel, San Bernardino.
It’s one of three Teepee themed motels in the US and plays off stereotypical imagery of Native American culture and nostalgia for Rte 66. Indians from Gujarat own a lot of motels in America, they’re known as the Patel Motel Cartel.
Sunita Williams is an astronaut. She previously held the record for total spacewalks by a woman, 7 and total space walk time 50 hours, 40 min.
She was born in Ohio and raised in Massachusetts. Her father is from Gujarat, India and her mother is from Slovenia.
Nirav Tolia is Indian American and grew up in Odessa, a small town in Texas. He is the co-founder and CEO of Nextdoor, a social network that lets people connect with their neighbors. Here with his wife Megha and their three sons in downtown San Francisco.
Baljeet Singh and his older son, Raza, are at home. They’re about to go to the Gurdwara to worship on a Sunday morning.
Baljeet works in Silicon Valley at Google Maps, as a head of product development. California has the largest South Asian population in the US, and within this population there are a lot of Sikhs, from the region of Punjab.
Hari Kondabolu, a stand up comic and performer, on stage in Brooklyn.
He made the movie The Problem with Apu which critiques the famous character, Apu, from The Simpsons which for many decades was the only representation of South Asians in American television. Nowadays there are many more South Asians besides the stereotypical, heavily accented, overly accommodating Kwik-E-Mart owner. Hari’s film has led to a lot of controversy – including a non-apology from the Simpsons, a reference in a more recent episode and an apology from Hank Azaria who has done the voiceover for Apu for many years who welcomed the opportunity to reimagine the role and acknowledged the need for more South Asians to join the writing rooms.
Anik Khan, Bangladeshi-American rapper, emigrated to Astoria in Queens when he was around 4, with his father seeking political asylum in America. Among South Asians, Bangladeshi immigrants is one of the newest and fastest growing immigrant groups in the United States. Anik has become a vocal advocate of immigrant pride in his music. His lyrics are often about his dual identities as a Bangladeshi immigrant and a kid from Queens who often describes himself as “curry chicken meets collard greens”. His newly released song starts with “Damn… It Feels Good To Be An Immigrant.”
Chaumtoli Huq (center) is a Bangladeshi American lawyer. She’s protesting for women worker rights at a women’s day march in Washington Square Park.
She immigrated to America as a little kid and she was raised by her mom in the Bronx.
With her husband Marvin Cabrera, they are social justice activists raising an multi-racial (Bangladesh and Dominican) and inter-faith (Muslim and Catholic) family in Harlem.
Thenmozhi Soundararajan is the founder of Equality Labs, an organization dedicated to ending caste apartheid, islamophobia and religious intolerance.
She and Sahana Hanif (activist/community organizer Bangladesh Feminist collective) are looking at visual pieces Thenmozi makes for demonstrations. Thenmozi herself is Dalit, also known as an “untouchable” in South Asia. She uses art, research and storytelling to raise awareness about how South Asians take the caste system with them when they migrate to other countries.
Adeel Alam (born March 28, 1986) is an American professional wrestler of Pakistani descent. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand in the cruiserweight division under the ring name Mustafa Ali. He is the first WWE wrestler of Pakistani descent.
His late father got him into wrestling when he was a kid. He said he’s the first South Asian or Muslim to be portrayed as a quote unquote “good guy” in his wrestling persona.
Narmeen Choudhury is an Emmy award winning Bangladeshi American journalist and anchor with PIX11 News.
She was born in Queens.
Here she is, about to go live on air.
Joshua Patel (centre) organized an Equality in India benefit party in Stonewall Inn. They are raising money for the LGBTQ community in India.
Joshua was born in Maryland and identifies as gay. His parents are from India and helped him organize this event.
Lal Batti, a Bollywood drag queen, is dancing at the Equality in India benefit party in Stonewall Inn.
She performs throughout the US and Canada. By day, Lal is a doctor who works on the business side of cancer research.
The Indian Supreme Court struck down a colonial-era ban on gay sex and ruled that gay Indians should have all the protections of the constitution.
Bohemia is a Pakistani-American Punjabi rapper and producer. He is credited as being one of the pioneers of South Asian hip hop.
He grew up in San Francisco and is from a Christian-Punjabi family. He raps in Punjabi and his fanbase has transcended borders from the US to South India.
30th annual Phagwah or Holi celebration in Richmond Hill, a Guyanese and Trinidadian neighborhood in Queens.
During Holi, people celebrate the arrival of spring by throwing colored powder and paint on each other. Indo-Caribbean communities are often left out of the conversation about South Asians in America but they are highly visible in cities like New York.
Dancers from the group, Bhangra Empire, are getting ready to perform at the Oakland Warriors basketball game.
Bhangra is a dance and music tradition that comes out of the Punjab region of India where Sikhs are from.
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