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Desi stars spotlighted at massive ‘South Asian Women for Harris’ virtual launch party
More than 9,000 women attended the event and contributed approximately $250,000 to support Kamala Harris’ presidential bid.
Actress Poorna Jagannathan is shown interviewing Vice President Kamala Harris at the 2023 White House Forum on AANHPIS. / (Sunita Sohrabji photo)
SAN FRANCISCO, California — Television stars Mindy Kaling and Poorna Jagannathan, and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal were among the luminaries featured July 24 evening at the virtual launch of South Asian Women for Harris.
Approximately 9,000 women attended the 2-hour event, which was largely organized by word of mouth 3 days after Vice President Kamala Harris announced she was running to gain the Democratic nomination for President. Harris has quickly built a campaign war chest, raising $126 million in less than 72 hours, according to her campaign. She has also amassed more than the required pledged delegates needed to gain the nomination, as well as 38,000 volunteers.
At the launch party, attendees contributed more than $250,000 in just 2 hours, a record amount for a Zoom event.
Organizer Venu Gupta said, “It’s going to take every woman voter in this country to win this election. We’re not running for office: we’re running for our rights.”
A panel featured several long-time political activists, including Vanita Gupta, former US Associate Attorney General; Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code; and Rohini Kosoglu, who serves as Deputy Assistant to the President and Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President in the Biden-Harris White House. The panel was moderated by Mini Timmaraju, president of the pro-choice organization NARAL. Saujani dubbed Harris the “mom’s candidate.”
Kaling, an actress, producer, and single mother to three young children kicked off the event, stating, “Culturally, I was raised to keep my head down and not make a stir. I’m so glad to see that Kamala Harris has done the exact opposite throughout her career.” She lauded Harris’ fierce pro-choice stance, saying: “We need abortion care, not tax cuts for millionaires.”
Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington state who has served in Congress since 2017, said Harris was elected to the Senate and she to the House on the same night in 2016 when Donald Trump shocked the nation by beating Hillary Clinton for President. Shortly after he took office, Trump imposed a Muslim ban, barring people from majority-Muslim countries from entering the US. Jayapal recalled stationing herself at the airport to prevent people from being deported.
The congresswoman then introduced a bill in the House seeking to repeal the Muslim ban. She called on Harris to introduce it in the Senate. The two have worked on several bills together, including legislation to protect the rights of domestic workers, universal childcare, and various measures to support abortion access.
Jayapal was one of the first members of Congress to call for a cease-fire in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. She said she doesn’t know where the candidate stands on the issue, but added that Harris has been “extremely compassionate.”
Jagannathan said she hoped Harris would take a firm stance, not only calling for a cease-fire but also a more permanent solution to the ongoing conflict. "We cannot afford not to talk about Gaza,” she said, noting that this is a key issue for many young voters.
One of the event’s surprise guests was Neeru Khosla, founder of the CK12 Foundation, which has taught over 265 million low-income children all over the world using a unique model that leverages artificial intelligence. Khosla is the wife of storied venture capitalist Vinod Khosla. In May, the couple hosted a fundraiser for Biden at their home in San Francisco’s Silicon Valley.
Neeru said her daughter Anu asked her to speak at the event. “Kamala is intelligent, she’s trained, and she wants to do the job. This is a very optimistic time,” she said, expressing the joy that many in the Zoom room were also feeling, which they expressed in the Zoom chat.
Kiran Jain, who interviewed Khosla, said, “This election feels like it will be won via WhatsApp.”
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