‘MODERATOR: For her, this hope is also about dreaming big and bold’

Note: This moderator piece written by Community Impact Editor Amelia Robinson appeared on the Ideas and Voices page Sunday, Nov. 15. Local columns published that day are linked below.
FROM THE LEFT PUJAN ROKA

FROM THE LEFT PUJAN ROKA

Megan Roka teared up when Vice President-elect Kamala Harris uttered what will likely be the most memorable words she uttered before introducing her running mate Joe Biden, our nation’s projected president.

Cartoonist Pujan Roka , a frequent contributor to the Ideas and Voices page, said his 14-year-old daughter Megan helped him come up with an cartoon after Vice President-elect Kamala Harris gave a speech celebrating her win with Joe Biden.

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“While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last, because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities,” Harris said as part of an event in which she and Biden celebrated victory in a highly contentious election that still faces legal challenges.

Megan Roka inspired one of the newest political cartoons from her father, Pujan Roka, a frequent contributor to the Ideas and Voices page.

Of their collaboration he wrote:

“Megan is taking AP Government this year, so she has been keenly following the election, as well as the political cartoons I have been drawing for the Dayton Daily News. She knows that the election of Harris gives special meaning and hope to people like us who are of South Asian heritage (we are proud Nepali-Americans!). This hope is about living in an inclusive society — an idea rooted deeply in the founding of this nation and called out explicitly in the Declaration of Independence, which Megan gets to study in her AP Government. For her, this hope is also about dreaming big and bold, as Harris pointed out in her speech — ‘Dream with ambition, lead with conviction, and see yourself in a way that others might not see you.’"

Today’s columnists reflected on the significance of Harris' election.

Amelia Robinson

Credit: Lisa Powell

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Credit: Lisa Powell