5th of July

It’s the 5th of July and, hey, we’ve got a song about that. Very much inspired by my own family, my wife’s family, and a naturalization ceremony I went to a few years back, where people who had worked their butts off for years to become US citizens finally accomplished their goal. I remember being struck by their effortless display of deep-tracks Constitutional knowledge. I remember thinking, “damn, they know more about our country than a lot of Americans without an accent.”

My parents came to this country, with accents, almost fifty years ago. Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which cleared the way for folks like them to come here, to work here, to settle here. That then led to my father becoming a heart surgeon and researcher who cared for thousands of U.S. veterans at the VA and Brigham in Boston.  It led to my mother becoming an artist and raising my two sisters and me. And that all led to this song, which I’m proud of.

We — my sisters, my wife, countless good citizens doing good work and moving this country forward — wouldn’t be here if Johnson hadn’t signed that bill.

Who says voting doesn’t matter?
#immigrants #5thofJuly
Naseem's Parents