This International Women’s Day, its time to take stock of Indian American trailblazers who made news over the past year in various fields like politics, business, arts and entertainment.
Nikki Haley, who had pitched herself as the best opportunity to move on from former president Trump, suspended her presidential campaign after suffering a major loss in the Super Tuesday primaries. But the former governor of South Carolina and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations made history on the way. She’s the first woman to win a Republican presidential primary, in the District of Columbia; she also won in Vermont. Supporters and analysts told the Associated Press that she “may have developed a playbook for confronting the former president who dominates the Republican Party — and for running in the post-Trump era.”
On the Democratic side, Vice President Kamala Harris has been trying to change the narrative. Since taking office, she has struggled to communicate her vision and the nature of her role to both the press and the public. As President Joe Biden eyes reelection, questions about her readiness to step in as president if needed are dominating conversations in political circles and outside. Her “stepped-up efforts come at a critical moment. Her office has largely stabilized after early years of intense dysfunction, and she has been slowly asserting herself more confidently in public,” CNN noted.
Another powerful Indian American politician is Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), an outspoken advocate of social justice, reproductive freedoms, and immigrants’ rights. Head the Progressive Caucus in the House of Representatives, she was last year named ranking member of the powerful House Judiciary Committee’s panel on Immigration, making her the first immigrant to serve in a leadership role for the subcommittee. She is the he first South Asian woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and one of only two dozen…
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