Meet the Asian American Rose Parade princesses

TOURNAMENT OF ROSES

The Tournament of Roses royal court is a picture of inclusion.

LOUISE DESER SISKEL is the first Rose queen with glasses, the first Jewish queen and first LGBTQ queen. 

It's 2019 and California continues to change as immigrants continue to make the state their home as exemplified by the barrier-breaking royal court of the Tournament and Parade of Roses held in Pasadena.

The 2019 Rose queen and her court that will reign over the New Year's Day Rose Parade and traditional Rose Bowl football game, reflect the demographic changes occurring in California, often the harbinger of things to come for the rest of the nation.

Among the six princesses in her court are two high school seniors, Rucha S. Kadam and Sherry Xiaorui Ma, representing the Asian American communities in the San Gabriel Valley where Pasadena is located. The valley's AAPI population about a half-million - more than 42 states - is perhaps the largest concentration of Asian Americans in the country according to a report issued earlier this year from the nonprofit legal advocates, Asian Americans Advancing Justice. 

Rucha, from La Canada High School, told the Pasadena Star-News about her favorite family tradition:

"Both of my parents are from India. While we celebrate all of the traditional American holidays, we also celebrate some Indian holidays. One of my favorites is Diwali, which is the Festival of Lights. We light candles all around the house, and make lots of food and eat a lot. And we do Rangoli, which is colored powder that we make shapes and art from. It’s a very fun time of year."

Sherry, who attends San Marino High School, said her favorite family tradition was the making of New Year dumplings:

"I have an Asian background, so my family would celebrate Chinese New Year. We would spend the entire day making homemade dumplings. Our tradition was we would hide one clean penny in one of the dumplings and a candy in another one. When we ate that night, whoever ate the dumpling with the penny in it has luck in business and wealth, and whoever ate the one with the candy in it would have good luck. My mom has gotten the dumpling with the candy in it every single year. One year I told her she’s not allowed to eat any dumplings until (after dinner). … I ate plates and plates of dumplings and I didn’t get it. It wasn’t until all the guests went home and she finally sat down and had dumplings, the first one she ate had the candy in it, which felt crazy. It just showed me how blessed we are, whether it was real or not (that she would have luck)."
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