In a place as diverse as the Tri-City area, families have the opportunity to honor their heritage while leading children towards a future full of cultural pride. The Punjabi community of Union City and South Hayward is doing just that.
Families gathered Sunday for California’s first-ever Punjabi high school graduation and eighth-grade promotion ceremony, held at James Logan High School in Union City.
The ceremony itself featured several speakers, including a keynote by Dr. Gurpreet K. Padam and a message from Union City Mayor Gary Singh. The ceremony also featured a performance from the Punjabi Dhadkan Dance Academy in collaboration with Ohlone’s Renegade Raunik.
“I went to this school, I graduated in ’04 and we never had a cultural event like this happen, where our people come together and celebrate education, especially for our kids—we want them to be a part of their culture,” said Dr. Lovdeep Sandhar.
Sandhar is a member of New Haven Unified School District’s Punjabi Parent Advisory, the group that planned the graduation ceremony as well as several scholarships for outgoing seniors.
Jatinder Kaur Sahi, the advisory group’s chair, said that the group came together as a way to help parents navigate their children’s education.
“We all share common interests, common concerns, common issues we may have with our children,” Sahi said. “We have a lot of immigrant parents, and we thought, ‘How can we help them and parents like us?’”
Dr. Preet Kaur Sabharwal, vice chair of the advisory group, added that they were able to address a need for visibility with the advisory group. This led to the main idea behind the Punjabi graduation ceremony and scholarship awards.
“We have so many youths that are graduating, and some of them don’t have family here other than their parents,” Sabharwal said.
Sabharwal said that the need for community is incredibly strong, especially among immigrant populations.
“We keep saying that it takes a village to raise kids, but then we’re not showing up as a village,” Sabharwal said. “So we wanted to show up together to celebrate all of these accomplishments that these youth are making, and for them to also know that there’s adults out there that they can rely on.”
Sabharwal gave special thanks to Raja Sweets and Makhan Bains for supporting the event and community. She also gave thanks to Copy Perfect and R&R Event rentals.
Beyond community support, events like the graduation ceremony are about representation. Sahi noted that this is important to consider in social and academic settings, like school.
“When I was growing up, it was more about assimilation. You know, we were fearful and we didn’t want to be mocked,” Sahi said. “But now it’s more about being proud of who you are and being able to share your heritage. I think we’ve kind of shifted in our mindset in general as a community, and we want our kids to be able to bring that here.”
Sabharwal had a similar experience growing up in Union City, and said that it impacted her relationship with her own identity. She said that it was difficult to find that cultural pride because she did not see people who looked like her on a public stage. But that is changing.
“We have many educators that are Punjabi. Our mayor is Punjabi. We want to bring together everyone and celebrate the traditions of the Punjabi community,” Sabharwal said.
During his speech, Singh told a story about attending a conference with many other mayors from across the country. He was the only one wearing a turban, which is a head covering with spiritual value in Sikh religion. While not all Punjabis are Sikh, it is the predominant religion of the Punjab region in India.
Singh expressed joy at seeing so many graduates with Sikh head coverings. He encouraged them to stay true to their culture, and carry it with pride.
