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Maryland Governor Wes Moore praised the contributions of the Telugu diaspora, saying the community is at the “forefront” of Maryland’s continued growth and success.
Speaking at the 19th American Telugu Association (ATA) Conference and Youth Convention in Baltimore on August 2, Moore told attendees, “You are at the forefront of everything, not just that we are as Maryland. You’re at the forefront of everything that we hope to be as Maryland. That you all have been the driving force behind so many things that we have worked so hard to get done here.”
Moore said the Telugu community has played a vital role in establishing Maryland as a leader in technology, healthcare, business, and higher education. He added that immigrants, wherever they are, strive “not to make history,” but “to make a difference.”
Highlighting the contributions of Telugu American leaders, including Maryland Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, and ATA leaders Jay Challa, and Sridhar Banala, Moore said their work has created a foundation for future generations.
“Their work sets a platform for future generations to come to future Telugu gatherings and say that those who came before them did the work on their behalf and understood the assignment,” he said.
Moore also praised Miller, describing her as an “amazing partner,” “my dear friend,” and one of the most “extraordinary people” and “leaders” he knows.
“When I was going through the process of thinking through this very important decision about who is going to be your partner inside of this work, I knew I wanted to find someone who was brilliant, someone who was kind, someone who I trusted, someone who had a vision, someone who I knew could help to lead this state to amazing highs,” he said. Recalling their first meeting, Moore added, “She is the one who can accomplish everything that I hope for…”
Speaking about Miller’s leadership, Moore said, “We don’t just have an amazing leader and the highest-ranking Telugu leader that we have in the United States. We have someone who, when I look at Aruna, I know that anything is possible.”
Addressing the children in attendance, Moore noted “I look in the faces of all of the children here. I look in the faces of all the wonderful boys and girls here, and I want to tell you this: anything is possible. I want to tell you this: the world is yours and everything that’s in it,” he said.
Introducing Moore before his keynote address, Miller reflected on his upbringing, noting that his mother immigrated to the United States from Jamaica when he was just three years old and that his father died unexpectedly.
“It was his mother Joy who was left to raise him and his sisters alone,” Miller said. She added that Joy moved the family in with her parents, worked tirelessly, and did whatever it took to give her children opportunities in a country that “wasn’t fully her own.”
“I think many of you know this story: a mother’s sacrifice, an immigrant family’s struggle in a new country, and the unshakable belief that education is what will move us all forward,” she added.
Miller, who made history in 2022 as the first immigrant elected to statewide office in Maryland and the first South Asian and Indian American woman elected Lieutenant Governor in the United States, immigrated to the United States from Hyderabad at the age of seven.
Reflecting on her first meeting with Moore in 2021, Miller said that after he announced his campaign for Governor, he asked her to join him as his running mate.
“Immediately, people told him that two people of color on the same ticket couldn’t win in Maryland. I even had concerns,” she said. “I said to him, Wes, the last thing I want to do is make you lose this race. And if that means I have to be removed off the ticket, I’m willing to step aside.”
According to Miller, Moore’s “magnanimous” response was, “Aruna, if people aren’t going to vote for our ticket because there’s two people of color on it, then they’re never going to vote for me in the first place.”
Miller said the election results proved the skeptics wrong. “All those ‘cynics’ and ‘critics’ got one thing wrong,” she said. “They underestimated Wes Moore, and they underestimated the voters of Maryland.”
She noted that Maryland voters elected the state’s first Black Governor and, and the nation’s only Black Governor now. Voters also elected the first Telugu immigrant as Lieutenant Governor and delivered the Moore-Miller ticket the largest victory margin of any gubernatorial ticket in Maryland history.
Miller added that the election marked the first time a “Black-Brown team” won a gubernatorial race in U.S. history.
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