Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, I didn’t understand the reverse racism that I began to develop, in which I felt ashamed to be Indian, ashamed to be different, and a desire to not only fit in, but be approved of by the teachers, my sports coaches, my friends and their parents. That was the beginning of a scarcity mindset, that honestly, I hadn’t begun to unpack until the pandemic. I didn’t grow up around a community with people like me, in a place like Queens, for instance, so I had to compete to be seen. Maybe that’s why I became a songwriter and needed to be on a stage. Maybe that’s why in third grade I learned how to play the piano and asked my teacher to sit my classmates on the carpet during lunch so that I could play “Yankee Doodle” for everyone (the irony). Through my career, I’ve received a lot of support, but behind the door there has been some hate mail (“go back to your country; why aren’t you playing a sitar, the Indian Bob Dylan”), and in more recent years some people have casually told me that I’m winning too much. It comes off as a joke, but it makes me bristle, as this is an elusive way of propelling scarcity mindset. To them I say: step aside. 8 years ago, I played one of the most special concerts of my life in LA with the great @moses and equally great @jeromeholloway . It was Moses’ first show of his residency at Bootleg Theater, which launched him into stardom. The room was full of Black and Brown faces and Moses came out on stage to introduce me. No one had ever done that before. People came up to me and said, “if Moses likes you, then I like you.” The love was palpable and I realized after hundreds of shows that this was the first time I had experienced community like this. I’ve searched in vain for that feeling again, where I don’t need to compete for attention. So 🎉 it is with great relief that I announce my inclusion in the inaugural edition of the Google Image Equity Fellowship. Twenty (20) Fellows will receive $20k in funding and mentorship from Google and their partners @creativetheoryagency @aperturefnd @forfreedoms @freethework . Thank you to the jury ❤️ (...continued below) #googleimageequityfellowship #googleimage