DNC desi roundup part 2...
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As the Democratic National Convention heads into the third day, here is more reporting, reading, and viewing from my South Asian colleagues covering this year’s elections, the convention, and the protests. (I’ve also been watching the AAPI caucus meetings and will have a post-DNC issue on that.)
First though, I need to suspend journalist objectivity for a moment and say this: I need no information, I ride at dawn for Michelle Obama.
By far the best speech of night 2 of the Democratic National Convention was delivered by her. (Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff was a close second because most of us deserve someone in their lives who talks about them the way he talks about his wife. And, let’s throw in a very honorable mention for Lil Jon, the elder statesmen us geriatric millenials have earned. Someone put ‘To the window to the Walz’ on a t-shirt asap)
Conventions like these operate pretty much the same as any large-scale conference - the real action happens in side events, hallways, and chance encounters over food and drink. That’s where strategy and policy and Real Things™️ are discussed. DNC and RNC stage speeches are for personalities, convictions, and to display uniquely American political emotions.
Michelle Obama has been a gifted orator for years, but last night she really soared. She went from high brow in 2016 when she refused to say Donald Trump’s name to high Brat/Mortal Kombat in 2024 with no mistaking her distaste for what he and his supporters put her family through.
If I was the type to pen fanfic, Michelle might be president instead of her husband. And that’s exactly why she would never.
It was the speech I think Trump must have hated the most because there is no ‘Washington facade’ with her, she is just always genuinely herself.
She’s personal for me, if that wasn’t obvious already, beyond the pop culture fascination of The Obamas. My brother and I grew up a lot like the Robinsons: living mostly in apartments, incredibly hard-working parents who were overly generous with their time, kindness, and honesty but who also faced incredibly challenging years with setbacks. My brother is the smart one like her: an Ivy League alum multiple times over. I became the more resourceful hustler. We’ve supported our parents at times and, in turn, relied on them for resilience much in the way Michelle has written about in her books. Hearing her tangible grief for her mom and channeling it to speak about her sadness, anger, and hope hit me in an unexpected way.
Her speech was reminiscent of those now-naive ‘Yes we can’ days of the 2008 campaign, while deftly and subtly acknowledging the reality of what has not changed or gotten worse since then. She threaded that needle in a way other people on that stage could not.
Some of my favorite lines:
“most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward. We will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth.”
“Who’s gonna tell [Donald Trump] the job he is currently seeking might just be one of those Black jobs?”
"No one has a monopoly on what it means to be an American."
She was a tough act to follow, even for her husband. Both she and President Obama spoke of hope, but if the Harris campaign gets anything right it’s the mantra ‘We can’t go back.’ If anything made sense at the end of the night it was that President Obama’s speech and maybe even the one coming from Bill Clinton tonight are reminders of Democrats’ failings rather than a ringing endorsement for Harris. But, I’ll write more on that in a post-DNC issue.
And now on to the good stuff:
Teen Vogue has grown into one of the best places to get solid reporting on the politics of young voters, women’s rights, reproductive rights, and the nexus of pop culture and politics. It is brat. And the person leading that effort is Editor in Chief Versha Sharma!
Check out data visuals reporter ’s piece on South Asian voters for The 19th on how South Asian women see an ally in Harris, but feel a divide on Gaza. She also wrote about Trump using fake AI images of Taylor Swift.
Sandhya Kambhampati of the LA Times is another data journalist to follow for election news. Throughout the DNC we’ve heard pundits say this will be a close election and that’s where polling and other data will become all the more important in the presidential but also down=ticket and local races.
Samhita Mukhopadhyay is the editor at Meteor, an author, and pens insightful pieces on women, defining success (she’s wrote the Myth of Making It which I’m reading now), glass ceilings and cliffs, and anything related. If you used to enjoy reading Feministing, give Samhita a follow and you won’t regret it.
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In what might turn out to be a brilliant move for free media, the DNC invited a few hundred influencers to cover the convention in addition to issuing traditional press credentials. I don’t have clarity as yet on the vetting process, but it’s my hope that most of these influencers are using their platforms for more than just shilling products and brand-sponsored holidays and not undermining the importance of giving access to actual journalists as well.
Sabrina Siddiqui of the Wall Street Journal wrote about how Pro-Palestinian Influencers Are Using Social Media to Push Harris on Israel
There are a few ‘content creators’ I do want to mention because they are worth a follow. My old friend Nazanin Nour is an actress, writer, and fierce advocate for the freedom of Iranians from tyranny. She’s there in Chicago asking delegates, elected officials, and volunteers about Harris and Walz and US policy towards the Iranian people vs. the Iranian government. She’s also pretty hilarious.
is another person to follow with style and substance in equal measure. I enjoy her reading recommendations, appreciate her openness, and she has written a book about women’s leadership and Kamala Harris called We’re Speaking.
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Georgia is not just a battleground state, it is also home to a South Asian voting population that is only growing more influential by the cycle and ground zero for the battle over voting rights, particularly for Black, rural voters. There are a few journalists you should follow and read from the Atlanta area:
Maya Homan is the Georgia Elections & Politics Fellow for USA Today. Her latest stories include one about voter intimidation in the state and how voters in Atlanta are reacting to Harris.
and Maya Prabhu is the Statehouse Reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Her latest is about how the Harris-Walz campaign is zeroing in on Asian Americans in Georgia and other swing states
One of my favorites out of Atlanta is who runs 285 South, a site dedicated to covering immigrant and refugee stories in and around the city. Her latest piece is about how many Georgia voters are undecided, citing Gaza as a big concern.
Akbar Shahid Ahmed, senior diplomatic correspondent for HuffPost, also wrote about the impact of Gaza on voters’ decisions as the DNC carries on and Michelle Obama’s message on hope.
and for Zeteo News: 'Blue-pilled': Democratic Enthusiasm Insulates DNC Attendees From the Horrors of Gaza and The 7 Best Lines From Michelle Obama's Barnstorming DNC Speech
I’ll have another few posts coming soon about the elections and non-politics round ups!