It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. On one hand we have two recent Supreme Court decisions that overturned the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8, a step towards ensuring marriage equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. And then you have same Supreme Court overturning a critical section of The Voting Rights Act, a seminal victory of the civil rights movement back in 1965.
But look, it’s not all bad.
No need to fret over your barbecues tomorrow or cancel the fireworks completely. There’s still plenty left to celebrate and commemorate in 2013, America. (No, no, we’re not talking about the cronut.) For starters, the immigration reform bill is almost certainly going to be passed in the next few weeks. And to get you through your holiday, we present the following moments to kindle your patriotic fires:
[dropcap]1.[/dropcap] Thirteen-year-old Indian-American Arvind Mahankali dominates the Howard Scripps Spelling Bee. Can you spell w-i-n-n-e-r?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlSPQb6CdTo
[dropcap]2.[/dropcap] Okay, so technically this photo was taken at an August 2012 vigil for the victims of the Oak Creek massacre. But you know what, July 4 is as good a time as any to remember the six Americans who lost their lives in an attack by a lone gunman, a self-proclaimed white supremacist. Find out how you can fight for the rights of Sikh-Americans by checking out The Sikh Coalition website.
[dropcap]3.[/dropcap] Former American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar sings the National Anthem. Yeah, he’s still got it.
[dropcap]4.[/dropcap] Miss Mississsippi 2013. Paromitra Mitra. Bengali-American. Aerospauce engineer. And drop-dead gorgeous. God bless America.
[dropcap]5.[/dropcap] Seventy-seven years ago, WWI veteran Bhagat Singh Thind finally became an American citizen after losing a Supreme Court case that would’ve allowed Indians to become naturalized citizens.
[dropcap]6.[/dropcap] CNN epically fails during their coverage of the search for the Boston bombing suspects, erroneously reporting that law enforcement officials were searching for a “brown-skinned individual.” But Twitter did what Twitter does best, make us laugh during our tears.
“The suspect has to be dark skinned. No white person knows how to use a pressure cooker.” ~ CNN
— Narinder Singh (@NarinderSingh) April 17, 2013
[dropcap]7.[/dropcap] Thanks to innovative chefs across America, like Asha Gomez and Meherwan Irani, KFC may soon come to mean Kerala Fried Chicken. Mmmmmm. Fusion cusine, ftw.
[dropcap]8.[/dropcap] Nickelodeon made an animated show called “Sanjay and Craig” AND IT DOESN’T EMPLOY THE USUAL STEREOTYPES OR CLICHES. Now if only “The Simpsons” would enter the 21st century.
[dropcap]9.[/dropcap] This summer’s films saw everyone from Mindy Kaling in “This Is The End” to Aasif Mandvi in “The Internship.” Boom! *drops mic
