Interview: Judge Manpreet Monica Singh

By Sayva Kaur and Nadhri Kaur

In early January in Harris county, Texas, an election was held for the position of judge. After the results were tallied, it was found that Manpreet Monica Singh won making her the first Sikh female judge in America and we were lucky enough to get an interview with her! 

For some background information, Sikhism is a religion of Indian origin from the region of Punjab and is the fifth-largest religion in the world. Sikhs are a prominent part of America even though they are underrepresented in many instances. Sikhs value the equality of all people and believe in the oneness of everyone and everything on earth. 

Context is also needed for Sikh names. Generally, most Sikh women have the last name Kaur (lioness) and men have the last name Singh (lion). Sikhs abandoned last names as last names represent an individual's caste. As Sikhism is pro-equality, it is vehemently against casteism which prevails throughout Indian cultures and religions. Therefore, by abandoning your last name, you abandon one’s ability to adhere to their caste. 

We were very excited to have this interview with Manpreet Monica who we were very much enlightened by.

Interviewers: How does it feel to be the first elected as the first female Sikh judge?

Manpreet Monica Singh: I genuinely appreciate being in this position as a Sikh. The idea of having the last name “Singh” being seen on campaign posters across the third largest city in America three times is amazing. I had three elections so the Singh name was on signs since November of last year with my picture and my name Singh. I felt very proud to say the Sikh community has won a moment in time where they can say “hey that's one of our people”, that's a person that we claim. So that to me is the biggest thing because especially in Sikhism we talk about equality. We discuss representation and our appearance/articles of faith and how that represents who we are as people. So when you have the last name Singh or Kaur, it’s like I started this but this is not my win it is everybody's win. So with my last name, it really is everybody's win. So that's how I feel about it; I feel part of a bigger community and a greater sense of joy with it.

Interviewers: What inspired you to become a judge?

Manpreet Monica Singh: I wasn’t exactly inspired to become a judge. Growing up, we didn’t have any judges in our religious community. We don’t have the exposure to think about it from that perspective. I basically have been practicing law for 22 years and I’m a trial lawyer meaning I am in court all the time. I know all the judges and I talk and associate with them regularly. People would always tell me that I needed to run for judge but I would never think of it as something for me. I didn’t see people who looked like me as a judge so I didn’t think that way. When the previous judge was stepping down to run for another position, everybody sort of started to call me and said you need to run for this. And then I was like you know what, I should be running for this. So it was more of a we need to stop saying no to things that we should be doing. That is why I ran. So it was all the cants that made me run for it. I knew I had the experience for it, I knew that I was qualified for it, but it was all those reasons that made me run. I am on the board of directors for an organization called the Sikh Coalition and we fight for everybody to have opportunities for things. So this was a part of that fight to me. You know when we fight for somebody to be in the army with a turban or when we fight to have Sikhism in textbooks? Well, this is a part of that fight too. 

Interviewers: Can you tell us about some of the obstacles you faced on the journey to becoming a judge and how you overcame them?

Manpreet Monica Singh: That’s a very good question especially when you’re a winner of an election. Everyone loves a winner-and everyone likes talking about the winning part of it. But the obstacle part was actually really difficult. Our community is not active politically. They are either all republicans or democrats but they don’t really go out to vote. I found out that in our city we only had two hundred people who voted under the name Singh or Kaur. So when you say what are the obstacles, the obstacle was that I had to get other communities besides my own to come out and vote for me. I’ve been involved in politics. I've been involved in this space, but getting the communities that vote the most and getting them to get behind me was the hard part. So I worked around this and I had to be innovative about it. When you go into politics it is important to get people to endorse you. But when you are competing with someone who is a seasoned incumbent, you’ve got to be innovative in it. I got a football player to endorse me. I started to get community members who meant something to the people in the community to endorse me. And I started thinking about it from an influencer lens. So I think that was an obstacle that was very difficult. I remember that being something that was really hard for me — figuring out how to gather attention in such a short amount of time. So investing time to get the supporters to be loud for you is what took the longest.

Interviewers: How did Sikhism help guide you in your career?

Manpreet Monica Singh: I love my faith base. I conduct being a lawyer with the teachings of Sikhism. Sikhism values equality. We have these principles and we fight for them. We fight against misogyny and we fight for equality in Gurdwara (a place of worship for Sikhs). We fight for it in our American world too. We watch racist things happen in America but we have Gurbani (the religious scriptures of Sikhism) that tell us how to be a better person. My faith is actually a very easy thing for me to subscribe to with what I do. I was talking about this in the Gurdwara too. I was like may I never forget that every single person is from one God. When someone walks into the courtroom I can’t be mean to them and I have to give them the time of day to hear what they have to say because we are all from the same energy. I am hoping that my faith really pushes me when I am thinking and evaluating the things that I have to do. When you start thinking about the concepts of Sikhism you realize that this is something I can apply every day to my life every day because it mirrors what I am fighting for. As a lawyer, I am fighting for justice and I am fighting for someone to have their voice heard. And as a Sikh, I am here to stand up for injustice and I am here to have somebody's voice heard. So it is all the same and it makes life a lot clearer and easier really.

Interviewers: What was your motivation to keep going when times were tough?

Manpreet Monica Singh: Just to see it through. Seeing my name Singh everywhere. I was like look at the very least at the end of all this, five million Houstonians saw the name Singh regularly. I am talking about regularly because in our religious community, we own gas stations, motels, and land. My campaign poster was anywhere where there was a Sikh person with property. So every single person who went to the gas station saw Singh, and every person who took a left turn on the street saw Singh. They got used to that and so to me, that was the end of it. Seeing it through and knowing that at the end I shot my best shot. If it worked that would be great, but you kind of just have to leave it that. You have to work hard and then you just let it be. 

Interviewers: So just knowing you did your best?

Manpreet Monica Singh: Yeah, I know it sounds cliché. I busted my ass and I did everything I could do and if it was not meant to be then it was not meant to be, but I had to put the effort in.

Interviewers: So the last question is; are there any people in your life who inspired you to do what you do?

Manpreet Monica Singh: I guess you have the global figures that inspired me. We have the MLK stories and all those historical figures. But really the inspirational part for me is the story of my parents. Our parents came here and they literally left everything they knew. They went to a whole new location with a different language, different food, and different people. My dad is an architect but when he came to America he bought a print shop. My mom and dad didn't know anything about a print shop but the reason they bought it was because my dad wore a turban. Many places would not hire him unless he stopped wearing a turban and agreed to cut his hair. They did not want to hire him in these places without him adhering to the grooming standards by cutting his hair.

(A little more context — Sikhs do not cut their hair because we believe that it is disrespectful to destroy anything that God created you with. We believe that God made us exactly the way we were supposed to be and that he made us perfectly. It would be ungrateful to insult God by throwing away something given to you).

So they would hire him on and they would ask him to cut his hair and he would say no. So they bought a print shop and they put us through college and law school. They became extremely successful. I felt that there was no point in having an immigrant story if I didn’t take advantage of what they did for me. They gave me their shoulders to climb on and they gave me the inspiration to do what I wanted to do. My parents always valued equality and they gave out ladoos (sweets) when I was born. Back in the day that would have been only meant for boys. So that is how much they have helped me and so that inspires me to continue what they've done. They gave me a platform and that would've been a waste if I just let it go. I think we watched our parents struggle but there is a disconnect between you and us because you are a generation removed. I think even my kids don't realize the struggle our parents went through. We all have beautiful houses and beautiful lifestyles so I am very curious to see what your inspiration is going to be when you grow up. I am curious to see how you make our given success from our parents your inspiration. I think all my success and money were truly a result of how hard my parents worked for me.

Interviewers (Sayva): My parents are from Canada and America and didn't come to a new country or anything but are still the kids of immigrants and the first ones to go to college in America in their family. They worked really hard for us to have this life. We still feel that appreciation even if it is not as direct. We feel it for our grandparents but also for our parents.

Manpreet Monica Singh: Great! You are two girls, I have boys and I think my boys are the same age as you all. I have a seventeen and a fifteen-year-old. And so I just think that boys don't communicate as much as you do. But hearing you say these things is really refreshing. I really thought that this generation maybe found it hard to connect with the struggle. But I'm happy to hear that.

Interviewers (Nadhri): I feel the same way as Sayva. I am very thankful for my grandparents and for my parents too and for all they've given for me to be where I am. I am forever thankful for that.

Manpreet Monica Singh: That's awesome, that's really great. I love that. And I love that for you all. I definitely felt like that with my parents and I know a lot of my friends at Gurdwara did not feel like that you know? I had a lot of friends at Gurdwara that had no decision in the career choices they made and they did exactly what their parents told them to do. So I already felt lucky but then I felt grateful that I haven't forgotten how lucky I am.