MEET SURAJ, Democrat for NY-12
I am an attorney, activist, business leader, and lecturer on business ethics at New York University.
When my parents emigrated from India in the late 1960s in search of economic opportunity, we fit three generations of our family in a two-bedroom apartment over the bodega we were running. My dad got a job working the night shift fixing subway tracks, and eventually we started a family business in hospitality.
I grew up bussing tables, filling vending machines, doing motel laundry, and helping out on construction sites. Together as a family, we lived the American Dream, something that's nearly impossible in today’s rigged economy.