Tuesday, December 31, 2013

An Unforgettable 2013...


Every year is different for everyone, some people have been happy that 2013 is over. I'm never happy that a year is over, I'm pretty indifferent either way, but I have to say that for me 2013 has been a monumental year in my life. After having some major struggle years in 2010 and 2011, and an in between year of 2012, this past year really saw me take off. Many of you may know that Facebook has a sort of "year in review" timeline option, I finally looked at mine and here's a sample of my "Top Events" of 2013.

Alright that was my year, see ya!

Just kidding, but these were definitely highlights from a year full of them. Getting engaged and married within such a short period of time (we were officially engaged in May and got married in July, craziness!) was a whirlwind for sure. It was a wave of family, love and emotion that picked me up and took me for an unforgettable ride. In the end, my wedding in July was one of the happiest memories of my life, full of friends, love, laughter, tons of bling, and more laughter. 

Yup, this was my wedding in a nutshell
My sister is the one that made my wedding happen, and though it increased her blood pressure significantly, I couldn't have asked for a better sister and friend even though she wanted to toss me off a cliff by the time my wedding actually happened. I have to also give so much love to my parents who accepted Roberto 110% after finding out that we wanted to spend our lives together, despite him coming from a different cultural and religious background. Though he did convert to Islam of his own volition, it still boggles my mind that after 20+ years of hiding boyfriends and hyperventilating at the thought of my parents ever knowing that I had some romantic interest in the male species that they would be so loving and accepting of him as their new son. I also reflect on my friends,  who came out of the woodwork to join in with my last meeting wedding insanity. Though I could only invite a handful of friends who could have actually made it do it being so last minute and the wedding having limited funds, I will never forget how my best friend, Taz, who I've been friends since I was 4, drove up 15 HOURS one way (then back) to be there for me. She literally drove 30 hours total to come up to Northeast Pennsylvania and be driven insane by my family. That's true love. 

TRUE LOVE

My other homeboy for life, Arshad, also drove up for hours upon hours from Florida to join me. That's real friendship, and their presence there along with my dear friends from childhood and college on my special day was one of the most beautiful things I ever experienced in my life and I will never forget it.

Of course the last person I thank and reflect on is my husband, my Roberto. We were together for 4 years before our wedding, and he was the Chewbacca to my Han in this entire whirlwind. When he proposed to me in Alamo Park in San Francisco by surprising me with so many of my family and friends there, neither of us could even accept the engagement because we were so choked up. I cried like a maniac, only because I was so happy that we would be together...and that he locked that ish DOWN with style.

This is me making my ugly crying face when Roberto proposed
He accepted my family, my culture and religion I grew up with so graciously, and has made my parents so happy. It's funny how a relationship can progress beyond your wildest dreams, but ours did. We worked on our challenges together, we went through a cross continental relationship, losing jobs, gaining cats, hiding our love from my parents due to a fear of their non acceptance and multiple moves to be together. He is my partner in crime and I cannot wait to start 2014 with him as my Mr. Hussain.

My family, Roberto and I after getting our marriage license

Outside of the awesomeness in my personal life 2013 saw great leaps and dreams fulfilled in terms of the work I do with social justice and in my professional life. Around the time I got married, I received wonderful news that I had been selected for the National Governing Board of a women's organization I admire immensely, NAPAWF (National Asian Women's Political Forum). I joked with the Executive Director of NAPAWF, Miriam Yeung, that I think was more elated about joining the board than my own wedding (sorry Roberto!). But it has been life altering for me to be on a national board, working with women all across the country to advance the rights and voices of Asian Pacific Islander Women in a national context. I could not be more thrilled about this.

NAPAWF ladies and I lobbying on Capitol Hill for Women's Reproductive Rights!
In 2013 I also joined the board of the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus of the California Democratic Party, my first time on any state political board, it was also cool to actually be voted into the position (which means that people temporarily lost their minds and actually picked me). This year, I also saw leaps and bounds in an organization I helped start, the Black Young Democrats of the East Bay, which was chosen as our county's "Democratic Club of the Year". Not bad for an organization which started just 2 years ago as a vision of promoting Black young leadership in the East Bay, California. I am always so proud of them and am honored to be part of their leadership.  

Black Young Dems will rock your activist socks off, and look good doing it
This year saw me doing intense outreach to marginalized communities on behalf of the Affordable Care Act, it has been a challenging journey that has been well documented in the press, but I am grateful for the opportunity to reach out on a grassroots level to make healthcare information more accessible.

  A collection of thank you notes from Asian American Studies students at SF State University for an Affordable Care Act presentation I did there

Though 2013 has been better for me than most years in recent memory, it also brought the loss of a person whom I cared about a lot.  I know that getting older will only bring more loss like this, and it is not something I am looking forward to. In April, my dear friend Polly passed away. I wrote about her in my previous blog post. She had health problems for awhile, but her death was sudden and unexpected for me. Though I miss her, I have gotten to know her family after her death and feel a sense of peace knowing that she was surrounded in life by so many who loved her dearly.

Grateful to have had her in my life

2014 is due to arrive very soon. In the past two weeks Roberto and I have crossed three state lines to spend the last vestiges of the year with our family and friends. I am so grateful for having his family be MY family, as we spent the best Christmas I have ever had in upstate New York. I am so grateful to have family that have accepted me wholly within their fold and I cannot believe that overnight I have so many new people who will part of my life forever. In these waning hours of 2013, I will be spending NYE with my mom at a brown peoples party aka a party full of other Bengali people that my parents are dragging my husband and I to. Still, I am happy to spend it with them, though at midnight I won't be able to give Roberto a kiss (too scandalous in these circles).

Having a pajama fam jam with Berto's family, my sister and her boyfriend in upstate New York

This year will be a year of transition since I am going to move back to the East Coast this summer. This is something a few of my friends know, but it will be news to some. This decision has been a long time coming, in a sense I sort of got "stuck" out West due to a terrible economy and had wanted to move back much sooner. Though I moved out to the Bay Area 4 years ago with love and stars in my eyes, I knew that the move would be temporary, that in the end I would come back home to the East Coast to be with my family and settle down (well as much as someone like me can settle down).

Woohoo! Jersey! Jersey!
I could not be more excited for the New Year, to move back to a home that I have missed so much for 4 years. I admit that though I am a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of moving across country again, I know that it is just another step to having my dreams come true. Here's to 2014, a year of having dreams come true!

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

Monday, December 16, 2013

A Season of Love & Remembrance


What does a Brown, Muslim girl know about Christmas really? It wasn't something my family celebrated with me as a kid, though I have a sneaking suspicion that my mom really, REALLY wanted to celebrate it but was just hiding that fact. She used to tell me that it was a "Christian" holiday and so as Muslims, it wouldn't be right to celebrate, or get a Christmas tree. Yet, she would buy Christmas ornaments like crazy (this wasn't helped by the fact that she worked at a Department store and got crazy discounts on all things Christmas). Since we had no tree to hang the ornaments, we would hang them around the house randomly with thumbtacks.  I remember when I was 9, I wanted a Christmas tree so badly that I ripped a branch off a pine tree near my home, stuck it in an empty flower pot and hung up paper ornaments on it that I drew with crayons. It was the saddest Christmas tree ever, Charlie Brown ain't got nothing on a confused Christmas loving Muslim kid.

I feel ya Charlie Brown, I feel ya...

Now as an adult, I embrace all things Christmas. Perhaps not the insane consumerism, but as a holiday I love it! To me it's not religious as all (since, well I'm as secular as you can get) but just another fun holiday where I get to do fun things, get a tree, exchange gifts and eat myself into an unhealthy BMI number.

DON'T JUDGE ME!!

Okay, I'll be honest, the holidays do bring out more for me. It is  time for me to remember to count my blessings, to spend quality time with loved ones and reflect on the year that was before New Years.

The hardest thing about this year has been losing someone I love. That is always the hardest thing in life to me, always. My dear friend, Pauline Cabello, or as I knew her, Polly, passed away this past April. The saddest part for me is that I didn't even know she passed away until October, an entire 6 months of her not being on this planet with me having no idea. I only found out when I decided to hit her up to check out what she was doing for Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) this year. I usually spent the day with her, and when I turned to her Facebook to see what she would be doing I was met with message after message of people missing her. My heart completely broke. I was immediately wracked with guilt that has still not left me. HOW could I NOT know that she was gone? Though we didn't talk every week, we usually saw each other a couple of times a year and kept in touch rather frequently on Facebook. She always liked my statuses and photos, and we messaged each other. We even messaged each other about 2 weeks before she died, with me complaining about traffic tickets. Maybe that's why I didn't think she would pass away so soon. Her health wasn't great but her death was sudden and in the blink of an eye she was gone. It was a blink that I missed.


Polly and I at a Dia De Los Muertos festival in the Fruitvale, Oakland CA in 2011

Pauline was older than me, almost a grandmother type, but she really had a young soul. Her energy and positivity just radiated from her, she was always so active. It was hard to tell her age because she had the energy of a twenty-something! I met her through my husband, whom she met while they were both in the ceramics program at a community college. My husband had just gotten out of the Marines and was having  tough time adjusting back to civilian life. She came into his life and encouraged him in his art and in leadership. He became President of their college's ceramics guild due to her encouragement. He told me that she was there when he needed him, especially during a time when many people weren't. That will always mean something to him, I hope that Polly realized that.

Painting Polly's face the last time I saw her <3 comment-3--="">

She came out to all of my husbands art shows, shows that even his family didn't come to, but she was there, every time. Though I didn't know anyone when I first moved here, she was one of Roberto's friends who immediately embraced me and was so genuinely sweet and friendly to me from the first time I met her. We struck up a friendship through Roberto but continued it on our own. I will always remember my last memory of spending Dia De Los Muertos with her last year at an event she organized. There was music, hot chocolate and a beautiful exhibit, all of which she organized. I remember painting her face for her, she was so excited to have me do that. When I celebrated that year, I never imagined that a year later I would be mourning her as a loved one who had passed, as another person whose name I would commemorate during the day of the dead.

With Roberto at his last art show
What also hurt me is that I didn't get to join in any of the memorial celebrations of her life. I didn't have any mutual friends with her outside of my husband, so no one could let me know. I was grappling with lost, crying randomly at night wracked with guilt and sadness at not seeing her again. I was especially sad because she never got the chance to see Roberto and I get engaged and married. She would have been so happy for us, she was so supportive to us and loves us so much as a couple.

So I was happy to find out that a group of friends of hers would have a small celebratory holiday gathering where she would be honored.

I joined the gathering this past weekend, and am so glad I did. After someone passes on, closure and commemoration is really for the living, a way for someone to come to terms with their sadness and address the pain they have inside . What I loved the most about the gathering was that it was full of fun and laughter, just like Polly herself. I was able to meet friends of Polly who knew her from when she was a teenager or even younger. I met her family, including her sister and daughter, and was told great stories of her childhood, like the time she punched out bullies on behalf of her little brothers, her time as a roadie and her time being a "Lush Woman" who joined in these parties. I was able to see another side of Polly, I was able to see her again through her loved ones, and that was very special.

Lush women party! Coz they keep it real!

Thank you to all of Polly's friends and family who responded to me and let me into their lives with Polly. It really means the world and gives me some sense of peace. Like I mentioned before, Polly was an artist. I loved seeing her proudly display her beautiful and creative artwork during the displays I attended. Her family let me know that I could take one of her pieces to keep, to always have and remember her. That means a lot to me, I hope to always display her work, and when someone asks me about it, I can tell them about her and what she meant to me. This way she can always live on, through my stories and memory.

I will never forget you

I love you Polly, I am so sad that you aren't with us to celebrate the holidays. I am sorry I won't see your positive smiling face. I will miss all of your invites to fun events. Thank you for the support and memories, Roberto and I will never forget you!

Happy Holidays to her family and to all of you and your families this holiday season.

Love,
Nadia

Friday, November 8, 2013

And so it goes...


Life is  amazing! And super busy! I haven't posted in awhile, but that's because I've been pre-occupied with blogging up a storm as a Political Blogger at Hyphen magazine. I've been covering stories for over a year now, but have also been writing a bunch of guest blogs for other sites. So that's been taking up a lot of brain space.

Man, it's a jungle in there

Apparently though, some people actually read this thing, so I figure I'd better get up on putting on new content. There's always LOTS to talk about (especially when I'm involved). Also I got married in July, it was a grand Bangla-dorian (Bengali/Salvadoran) wedding and I should totally write about it...yea will get on that.


In the meanwhile, here is the link to my Hyphen posts:
http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/blog/nadia-hussain
Yea Hyphen is awesome

and I am cross-posting my latest post below. Have been working on immigration issues for years, and will be focusing more on the topic now that I am a new member of the national governing board of the National Asian Women's Political Forum (NAPAWF), which may have excited me more than my wedding ( I know what a loser, right?).

Yay NAPAWF Board pic in sunny Arizona!

So yea been covering immigration, especially regarding Comprehensive Immigration Reform lately. So please check out my articles,  only if you feel like it. If you don't feel like it, you can just click here and judge kittens.

For the rest of you, my latest article is below, it was cross listed to some pretty sweet blogs, such as Racialicious and Angry Asian Man (!)

My friend Greg in the Pride flag and self-scrawled T-shirt, and yes he is also awesome, as awesome as judging kittens....
Photo by Soyun Park/AAPI Immigration Table.  Photo by Soyun Park/API Immigration Table
Photo by Soyun Park/AAPI Immigration Table

Not Your Model Minority
by: S. Nadia Hussain

On October 8, Gregory Cendana, the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) was arrested, along with two hundred other activists and eight members of Congress in our nation's capitol. In photos from that day, he is seen being led away in handcuffs with a pride flag tied around his neck like superhero cape and a handwritten t-shirt -- with the words “Not your Model Minority” scrawled on the front. Cendana is Asian American and his actions that day stood as a testament to the diverse communities that are impacted by the lack of immigration reform. 
Immigration is often framed as an issue impacting mostly Latino populations. According to the Pew Hispanic Center -- though the modern immigration wave from Latin America has made up 50% of US immigration, migration from Asia makes up a substantial 27%. Outside of Mexico, the leading countries of origin of immigrants are India, the Philippines and China.  Asians make up 13% of the US undocumented population. The US Office of Homeland security estimates that as of 2009, the largest undocumented Asian populations are 270,000 immigrants from the Philippines, 200,000 from India, 200,000 from Korea and 120,000 from China.
The stereotype of Asians as the model minority makes invisible the stories of the individuals and families behind these numbers. While immigration reform stalls within legislative chambers, activists and community members have come out in droves to highlight its impact on their communities. The October 8th action was part of a coordinated campaign around immigration reform launched by eight national AAPI organizations.
It was also the third immigration action taken within the last six months in D.C. There was the protest less than a month ago, where roughly 200 women protested and over 100 were arrested as part of as mass demonstration. Before that, there was an organized protest on August 1, where over 46 labor leaders, immigrant advocates, environmental activists, people of faith, and DREAMers blocked the street in front of Capitol Hill while 300 allies and four members of Congress cheered  them on.
Yet in light of the Government shutdown, many are afraid that immigration efforts will be stalled indefinitely. “Have our congressional leaders forgotten that this is a nation of immigrants?” Cendana asks. “America is a nation of values, founded on the idea that all men and women are created equal. How we treat new immigrants reflects our commitment to the values that define America and how we define American.”
These words and actions haven’t escaped the attention of the President. The day after reaching a deal to re-open the government, President Obama vowed to pursue a House vote on immigration reform: “The majority of Americans think this is the right thing to do” said the President, “and it’s sitting there waiting for the House to pass it....But let’s not leave this problem to keep festering...This can and should get done by the end of this year.” 
The ongoing pressure from these communities may help ensure that the President delivers on this resolve and that Congress realizes that the immigration issue won’t disappear -- shutdown or no shutdown. Activists
On October 8, Gregory Cendana, the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) was arrested, along with two hundred other activists and eight members of Congress in our nation's capitol. In photos from that day, he is seen being led away in handcuffs with a pride flag tied around his neck like superhero cape and a handwritten t-shirt -- with the words “Not your Model Minority” scrawled on the front. Cendana is Asian American and his actions that day stood as a testament to the diverse communities that are impacted by the lack of immigration reform. 
Immigration is often framed as an issue impacting mostly Latino populations. According to the Pew Hispanic Center -- though the modern immigration wave from Latin America has made up 50% of US immigration, migration from Asia makes up a substantial 27%. Outside of Mexico, the leading countries of origin of immigrants are India, the Philippines and China.  Asians make up 13% of the US undocumented population. The US Office of Homeland security estimates that as of 2009, the largest undocumented Asian populations are 270,000 immigrants from the Philippines, 200,000 from India, 200,000 from Korea and 120,000 from China.
The stereotype of Asians as the model minority makes invisible the stories of the individuals and families behind these numbers. While immigration reform stalls within legislative chambers, activists and community members have come out in droves to highlight its impact on their communities. The October 8th action was part of a coordinated campaign around immigration reform launched by eight national AAPI organizations.
It was also the third immigration action taken within the last six months in D.C. There was the protest less than a month ago, where roughly 200 women protested and over 100 were arrested as part of as mass demonstration. Before that, there was an organized protest on August 1, where over 46 labor leaders, immigrant advocates, environmental activists, people of faith, and DREAMers blocked the street in front of Capitol Hill while 300 allies and four members of Congress cheered  them on.
Yet in light of the Government shutdown, many are afraid that immigration efforts will be stalled indefinitely. “Have our congressional leaders forgotten that this is a nation of immigrants?” Cendana asks. “America is a nation of values, founded on the idea that all men and women are created equal. How we treat new immigrants reflects our commitment to the values that define America and how we define American.”
These words and actions haven’t escaped the attention of the President. The day after reaching a deal to re-open the government, President Obama vowed to pursue a House vote on immigration reform: “The majority of Americans think this is the right thing to do” said the President, “and it’s sitting there waiting for the House to pass it....But let’s not leave this problem to keep festering...This can and should get done by the end of this year.” 
The ongoing pressure from these communities may help ensure that the President delivers on this resolve and that Congress realizes that the immigration issue won’t disappear -- shutdown or no shutdown. Activists and officials like the ones who protested and were arrested last week will be there to ensure that it doesn’t.
- See more at: http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/blog/archive/2013/10/not-your-model-minority-asian-americans-and-immigration-fight#sthash.xiHI8VTH.dpuf
On October 8, Gregory Cendana, the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) was arrested, along with two hundred other activists and eight members of Congress in our nation's capitol. In photos from that day, he is seen being led away in handcuffs with a pride flag tied around his neck like superhero cape and a handwritten t-shirt -- with the words “Not your Model Minority” scrawled on the front. Cendana is Asian American and his actions that day stood as a testament to the diverse communities that are impacted by the lack of immigration reform. 
Immigration is often framed as an issue impacting mostly Latino populations. According to the Pew Hispanic Center -- though the modern immigration wave from Latin America has made up 50% of US immigration, migration from Asia makes up a substantial 27%. Outside of Mexico, the leading countries of origin of immigrants are India, the Philippines and China.  Asians make up 13% of the US undocumented population. The US Office of Homeland security estimates that as of 2009, the largest undocumented Asian populations are 270,000 immigrants from the Philippines, 200,000 from India, 200,000 from Korea and 120,000 from China.
The stereotype of Asians as the model minority makes invisible the stories of the individuals and families behind these numbers. While immigration reform stalls within legislative chambers, activists and community members have come out in droves to highlight its impact on their communities. The October 8th action was part of a coordinated campaign around immigration reform launched by eight national AAPI organizations.
It was also the third immigration action taken within the last six months in D.C. There was the protest less than a month ago, where roughly 200 women protested and over 100 were arrested as part of as mass demonstration. Before that, there was an organized protest on August 1, where over 46 labor leaders, immigrant advocates, environmental activists, people of faith, and DREAMers blocked the street in front of Capitol Hill while 300 allies and four members of Congress cheered  them on.
Yet in light of the Government shutdown, many are afraid that immigration efforts will be stalled indefinitely. “Have our congressional leaders forgotten that this is a nation of immigrants?” Cendana asks. “America is a nation of values, founded on the idea that all men and women are created equal. How we treat new immigrants reflects our commitment to the values that define America and how we define American.”
These words and actions haven’t escaped the attention of the President. The day after reaching a deal to re-open the government, President Obama vowed to pursue a House vote on immigration reform: “The majority of Americans think this is the right thing to do” said the President, “and it’s sitting there waiting for the House to pass it....But let’s not leave this problem to keep festering...This can and should get done by the end of this year.” 
The ongoing pressure from these communities may help ensure that the President delivers on this resolve and that Congress realizes that the immigration issue won’t disappear -- shutdown or no shutdown. Activists and officials like the ones who protested and were arrested last week will be there to ensure that it doesn’t.
- See more at: http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/blog/archive/2013/10/not-your-model-minority-asian-americans-and-immigration-fight#sthash.xiHI8VTH.dpuf
On October 8, Gregory Cendana, the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) was arrested, along with two hundred other activists and eight members of Congress in our nation's capitol. In photos from that day, he is seen being led away in handcuffs with a pride flag tied around his neck like superhero cape and a handwritten t-shirt -- with the words “Not your Model Minority” scrawled on the front. Cendana is Asian American and his actions that day stood as a testament to the diverse communities that are impacted by the lack of immigration reform. 
Immigration is often framed as an issue impacting mostly Latino populations. According to the Pew Hispanic Center -- though the modern immigration wave from Latin America has made up 50% of US immigration, migration from Asia makes up a substantial 27%. Outside of Mexico, the leading countries of origin of immigrants are India, the Philippines and China.  Asians make up 13% of the US undocumented population. The US Office of Homeland security estimates that as of 2009, the largest undocumented Asian populations are 270,000 immigrants from the Philippines, 200,000 from India, 200,000 from Korea and 120,000 from China.
The stereotype of Asians as the model minority makes invisible the stories of the individuals and families behind these numbers. While immigration reform stalls within legislative chambers, activists and community members have come out in droves to highlight its impact on their communities. The October 8th action was part of a coordinated campaign around immigration reform launched by eight national AAPI organizations.
It was also the third immigration action taken within the last six months in D.C. There was the protest less than a month ago, where roughly 200 women protested and over 100 were arrested as part of as mass demonstration. Before that, there was an organized protest on August 1, where over 46 labor leaders, immigrant advocates, environmental activists, people of faith, and DREAMers blocked the street in front of Capitol Hill while 300 allies and four members of Congress cheered  them on.
Yet in light of the Government shutdown, many are afraid that immigration efforts will be stalled indefinitely. “Have our congressional leaders forgotten that this is a nation of immigrants?” Cendana asks. “America is a nation of values, founded on the idea that all men and women are created equal. How we treat new immigrants reflects our commitment to the values that define America and how we define American.”
These words and actions haven’t escaped the attention of the President. The day after reaching a deal to re-open the government, President Obama vowed to pursue a House vote on immigration reform: “The majority of Americans think this is the right thing to do” said the President, “and it’s sitting there waiting for the House to pass it....But let’s not leave this problem to keep festering...This can and should get done by the end of this year.” 
The ongoing pressure from these communities may help ensure that the President delivers on this resolve and that Congress realizes that the immigration issue won’t disappear -- shutdown or no shutdown. Activists and officials like the ones who protested and were arrested last week will be there to ensure that it doesn’t.
- See more at: http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/blog/archive/2013/10/not-your-model-minority-asian-americans-and-immigration-fight#sthash.xiHI8VTH.dpuf

Friday, May 3, 2013

The Whirlwind of an Activists Life

When I first started this blog, it was a way for me to update my East Coast friends about my brand spankin new journey to the West Coast. I came here completely on my own, save for Roberto. He was the only person I knew in the Bay Area. He was my only connection. I had left all of my friends, family and networks on the East Coast. Though I had a job when I came here, I had a burning desire to continue my activist work, I had been so well connected back in New Jersey, I was a domestic violence advocate who ran around going to meetings, attending political events and hosted 30 hour long marathons on public access television ( to witness this insanity go to https://vimeo.com/7478686  for videos of the Princeton Megathon, which I hosted in 2009, you have been warned).

Proof that I've always been nuts, here is me hosting and being a crazy cat lady at 1 in the morning    



All of which I left behind. In my first few months in the Bay Area, I was excited but pretty lost. I had no idea how I would reconnect back to activism. How I would reconnect with no connection, with no friends or contacts to guide my way.

Now three years later I really could not be busier (seriously). These past three weeks have for me, been a whirlwind of that pretty sums up where I am in my work and activism right now. Last weekend I was asked to present a workshop at the ASPIRE empowering migrants conference at UC Berkeley. It was a conference with a focus on immigration and undocumented migrants. I have to say I had a great time, there's nothing I love better than talking for an hour (jk...sorta). My workshop was on how to utilize social media to tell our stories and how those stories can impact the issue on higher levels. My dear friend, Javier was there to record it, so maybe I will be able to post it up if I don't sound too crazy.



The cool thing about the panel was how the participants opened up about their own personal stories and what part immigration has played in their lives. In all the work I do, connecting with people is probably my favorite part. Everyone starts off as a stranger, but it's cool to get bits and pieces of someones background, of why they are passionate and why they want to see change. My parents were immigrants who came to this country due to sibling sponsorship (something that is being thrown out in the new Immigration Reform Bill) and my boyfriend, Roberto immigrated to the US first as an undocumented immigrant due to escaping the genocide in El Salvador, then become a Resident Alien for years before getting his citizenship by serving in the Marines. Our immigration stories fuel my passion behind this issue, and presenting in a workshop and continuing advocacy on thus is not just a social justice cause to me, it is my own story and the story of people I love.

Immigration was also a central point at the 2013 SAALT (South Asian Americans Leading Together) In Pursuit of Justice Summit, which I attended 2 weeks ago. I covered the last SAALT summit in previous postings, here and here (it was two parts because it was awesome and because I love SAALT). I have been involved with this organization since 2008, so almost 5 years and what amazes me is not only the incredible work they do for the South Asian community throughout the country, but how it has also helped me create a national community; a community of activists, friends, mentors and people I honestly consider a huge brown family (and if you know anything about brown families, you know they are HUGE). I don't know if other organizations have that personal feel while being such an influential and active organization. My friends and fellow activists and I got to hug, catch up and follow up with the amazing developments in our lives and organizations.  For example, I caught up with my friend Javaid Tariq, the co-founder of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. Javaid is someone I met at the last summit, and is now a dear friend who buys me pizza when I'm in Queens =). His organization is expanding rapidly, and making efforts to open union chapters in cities all over the country, it is inspiring to see the progress they have made and are making! I was also happy to be part of a pretty impressive showing of California-based activists, the Bay area rolled pretty deep this time, and it's great to see the West Coast come in to become increasingly involved with a greater South Asian based movement.

A nice little picstitch of my kickass South Asian activism weekend
The Summit occurred on the heels of the Boston Marathon bombing and there was an air of uncertainty as to what the path ahead holds for our communities. Anti-Muslim sentiment has led directly to violence as seen in the Oak Creek shooting, an incident that was a big part of what the summit covered. Two years ago when we last came together at the summit to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11,  did we have any idea of the tragedy that would befall this community? As Sikh activists spoke about Oak Creek and reflected on the community that came together after the tragedy, I know that potential retaliations form the Boston bombings lay heavy on our minds. Only time will tell what the fall out from recent incidents will be, but regardless of what happens, we know that we have have friends and allies that will always have each others backs.

With fellow activists outside of the Capitol
The Monday of the summit, we had an Advocacy Day, where we visited legislative office on the Hill to advocate for issues impacted South Asian Americans. This time around, immigration was really on the forefront. My group and I visited Rep. Becerra's (Congressman representing Downtown LA and neighboring areas), office. Becerra is a already a supporter of progressive immigration reform, he was an early proponent of the Dream Act and came from a migrant family background himself. Though it's great to have advocates on our behalf in Congress, outreaching to republican offices and reaching across the aisle has always been a much more complicated task, but one I hope that we can undertake as our communities look to impact the more troublesome aspects of immigration reform.

I barely had time to catch my breath during this DC trip, especially since the weekend before I had spent the entire weekend in Sacramento for the State Democratic convention. I was a proxy delegate there (every State Assembly district has a delegates to represent their area to the state convention). That was also an interesting weekend, though understandably not even close to being as crazy as the Democratic National Convention, which to this day is one of the craziest things I have ever been a part of (crazy in a good way of course ;-) ). At the convention, I was pretty stoked to be elected as Northern California Secretary of the API caucus and was also elected as the Director of Communications for the California Young Dems Muslim American Caucus.

Also I drank apple juice with Congressman Mike Honda during karaoke woohoo!
Am I doing too much? Maybe. But the point is I WANT to be involved in all of this and am learning so much. It's all part of my crazy process. I am glad to be a part of all of it, and I am sure down the line, I will focus more and maybe do just one thing ( haha yea right). I care about everything I do very deeply, and I am trying to get to the core of the work I want to do and the impact I want to have. Human beings have constantly been pondering the meaning of their existence, why they're here and what they are meant to do. I have no answers whatsoever, but at least I am searching, and hopefully having a positive impact on the greater human race.  I suppose that is my end goal and all of this, these workshops, panels, conferences, political stuff is the path I am choosing (or maybe it's choosing me?) to get there. So far it has been a fulfilling one.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Valentine's Day and One Billion Rising

Valentine's Day was about a week ago and I can't help but reflect on this interesting holiday.  It is one that people either love or hate or plain feel indifferent about. It's commercialized, but what holiday isn't? I mean isn't every major holiday, from Christmas-to Halloween- to Easter a huge payday for some corporation?
YEA, FIGHT THE POWER...but can we also fight self-righteousness?
Even knowing that, I was never actually cynical about the holiday. As a 28 year old in the Bay Area, I feel like the cool thing to do is scoff at everything Valentine's related. But I actually enjoy the day, whether I'm single or not. As a kid I loved getting all those cards at elementary school parties. I would snip out the cartoon characters for self made art projects. Yet the best part of all of that was the CANDY, more specifically the CHOCOLATE. My love for chocolate, especially for chocolate on Valentine's day increased exponentially with time. When I got to college, my love for chocolate became a self-proclaimed holiday. My college friends would recall that I called Valentines Day "Chocolate Overdose Day" (C.O.D for short). I loooved Chocolate Overdose Day (almost as much as I loved Doughnut Day). Since I spent most of my college life (and most of my life overall) single, I would grab my single buddies, give them chocolate, ignore the canoodling couples, and go out to dinner. It was amazing. The more my friends learned of Chocolate Overdose Day, the more chocolate I got. I got macaroons, fresh baked chocolate chip cookies that were dyed red for the holiday (thanks Arshad!) and one time my friend swiped me into the college dining hall in the middle of a blizzard just so I could eat ALL the chocolate they had out for their theme dinner. I stalked chocolate fountains, I ripped into Godiva boxes, I became a chocolate bandit that jacked candy from free student events. Epic chocolate WIN ya'll, that's what Valentines Day meant to me.
dude, this guy is real...so random...
But things change, as they tend to do, and I have been in a relationship for almost 4 years now. That means that I've actually had a Valentine and celebrated it as so. It is nice to share the holiday that is supposedly for lovers with a romantic partner, especially since it's sort of a novel experience for me to share it that way.

But Valentines Day changed yet again for me a few years ago. It changed for me when I became a part of Yoni Ki Baat (YKB), the South Asian Vagina monologues. I blogged about my experiences with the show before, and how special it was for me. I worked as a domestic violence advocate at a non-profit that works with South Asian women prior to moving to California and since then, women's issues,  particularly issues relating to violence against women have held a very heavy place in my heart. YKB really introduced me to the world of the Vagina Monologues and the amazing works and efforts of Eve Ensler. This show was a way to express our thoughts, our sufferings, our voices as women through poems, monologues and shows. It was a way to unite women and girls and express ourselves to a larger audience who came to hear our voices. So I was very excited to find out about V Day, a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls that was started by Eve Ensler. I really appreciate it's placement of Valentines day, as it juxtaposes a day meant to celebrate love with a day of remembrance for those who have been violated, abused and killed in acts that occur in the absence of love.
So this Valentine's Day, I joined in V-Day's One Billion Rising movement in Oakland's City Hall. One billion Rising was an international gathering of people in honor of V-Day. According to their website "On February 14, 2013, a one-day event was held, a call for one billion women around the world to join together to dance in a show of collective strength" and was held on the 15th anniversary of the V-Day movement. I came to the city hall grounds alone, not sure what to expect. I saw a sea of red, a sea of men, women and children who had all comes to join in on this campaign. And I danced. Yea I had no idea what I was doing, supposedly there was a Youtube video put out by the organization on how to do the dance (I totally missed the memo). Regardless I danced on the steps of Oakland City hall. But this is the weird thing. As I was dancing, I suddenly became overwhelmed with emotion. If anything, I think public dancing is silly, so where the hell was all the emotion coming from? Maybe it, was the song, which was pretty uplifting. Or the video I saw earlier that day of female inmates dancing with One Billion Rising volunteers at an SF prison. I couldn't forget how happy they were to do a simple dance together ( Bureau of justice statistics have shown that nearly 6 in 10 women in prison have suffered physical or sexual abuse in the past).

    Seriously, take out 3:48 minutes of your day to watch this video, it'll make your face leak

Maybe it was just all of us women just throwing our hands in the air, dancing in unison as an enthusiastic crowd cheered us on and took pictures. I'm sure there's a super awkward video of doing the wrong dance moves out there somewhere. In that moment, all of the work I have done regarding violence against women just came rolling onto me. All of the stories and tears I heard firsthand from being a domestic violence counselor, the pain I saw in my own home, the stories I read every day of rape, and violence and gang rapes and women not getting paid enough and our reproductive rights being stomped on and abortion rights being chipped away and legitimate rape and birth control control being an issue because old white men say no, ALL of that just caught up with me...and for a few moments I really though I was going to start bawling hysterically in front of all these people. I didn't want to be a buzzkill, I also didn't want my blubbering face to go viral on Youtube, so I just held it in. The point is, I never thought that something as a simple as a 3-4 minute dance with a group of strangers in red could be so powerful, but it was.

               OHMIGOD, I JUST found the video of me awkwardly dancing!! HAHAHA You can see me to the right side dancing at the top of the steps. I'm the one wearing a black and white striped dress dancing totally out of sync with everyone else

Later, my boyfriend joined in and watched other dancers who joined the show for V-Day. they were wonderful and talented, and it felt amazing to be with him to experience this on Valentines day.

Later on, the bf and I did end up getting dinner at an amazing place called Pizzaiolo, where I ate myself silly and yes...had an amazing chocolate mousse.

I bring up the dinner and my boyfriend because V-Day also makes me realize how lucky I am to have a partner who is not violent in any form. One who loves and respects me and lets me buy as much dessert and port wine as I want on Valentines day without complaining. One who uplifts me and loves that I am an empowered woman. But most of all, I am grateful that he actually joined me at the One Billion Rising event because I asked him to come. I am glad that my partner in love supports an end to violence against women ( and men), and I couldn't ask for a better Valentine's Day than that.
Activism, love, remembrance and coal oven pizza...my idea of a great V-Day and Valentine's Day

Thursday, January 17, 2013

2013...let the awesomeness commence

Two weeks into 2013 and so much has happened. I wonder if this entire year will be like this. 2012 was a totally insane year. A "I can't believe all this happened year". My head is still spinning and it's already 2013. Last year I went to Vietnam after an insane fundraising effort, THEN was elected to go to the Democratic National Convention, which was insanely awesome. I went from starting 2012 with two part-time non-profit jobs and no health insurance and to working full time at my organization, Community Health for Asian Americans, where I work as a Youth Coordinator for Southeast Asian Young Leaders (SEAYL). I get to inspire the next generation!

my reaction to this year

2012 was also the year where I started blogging for Hyphen magazine and saw the inspiring growth of the Black Young Democrats of the East Bay and greatly increased diversity in young Democrat organizing in the East Bay. 2012 was the year I connected with former black panther founder and legend Bobby Seale to do an event, and also became part of an amazing class of young leaders as part of the San Francisco New Leaders Council 2012 class. I've met so many new and utterly inspiring people, and have become involved in so many wonderful things that really....oh wait my head is spinning again.


But 2012 also had its difficult and somber moments. This was the year I met and lost my friend Travis Morgado to the War in Afghanistan, an experience I blogged about a few times. I am so glad I was able to meet him and connect with his beautiful family, who have shown me much support in return. I also lost my friend Yvette at the onset of the year and my Barbara Nanu, an aunt who helped raise me as a child also passed away. I carry these losses with me always, I don't think people were really ever meant to 'get over', but we move on because what other choice do we really have?

So I come to 2013, who knows what this year will hold. Will it it be as utterly packed, emotional and insanely overwhelming as 2012? Probably. Already this year I ran to be an California Democratic Party Assembly delegate in my Assembly District, am continuing to help with organizing at my work against unjust labor practices and may be on the board of a great API organization and I am part of a groundbreaking International online art exhibit with a ridiculously talented group of Muslim women artists at the International Museum of Women, which will culminate in our March exhibit opening. Just the usual!

My fellow kick-butt Muslima artists and I!
I have to say though, amongst all of these activities, I did find some time to really enjoy myself and be with people I love. This past holiday season and New Years was a heartwarming experience. I returned to the East Coast to hang out with my family back in Wilkes-Barre, PA, the small town where I went to high school. There I took photos for the Women's museum exhibit by connecting with my local mosque. It was the mosque I attended as a child and a teenager and a mosque that has helped out my parents during the most difficult times in our lives.

In the East coast I also got in touch with Vivek Bald, the author of Bengali Harlem (to find out more, or to purchase the book please go to bengaliharlem.com). This is a book that could not be closer to my heart. It details the hidden stories of Bangladeshi (and other South Asian) immigrants that came to the US in the early 20th century. My family is included in these stories, as my dear nana (who's life and death I blogged about before) and his brother, Ibrahim Chowdry were some of the first Bangladeshi immigrants to come to New York City, Ibrahim actually being the first Bangladeshi man in NYC.  I have a feeling I will be writing another blog post soon about this topic, there is just so much to say about it. Let's just say that it inspired me to know that I had family doing community and social justice work in this country decades before I was even born!

My great grand uncle, community activist, my inspiration, Ibrahim Chowdry
The holidays and New Years invigorated me. From ugly sweater parties, to gallivanting around New jersey and PA during a blizzard, to eating as much pizza as humanly possible (West Coast has some great stuff, but pizza isn't one of them!) to spending time with my boyfriends family in upstate New York, I felt energized to be around people who love me and believe in me, and I do think that I am lucky to have this on both coasts. I think that this is a very special element in my life, to find good people no matter where I go.

Me and my homeboys rocking our ugly sweater..except Paul, who doesn't do the ugly sweater thing

So bring it on 2013! I will probably post less since I am so busy, but I will post nonetheless. My personal blog allows me to vent, ruminate and reflect on my life and I am glad to share that with my loved ones, friends and readers (all 5 of ya). I've looked at my earlier posts recently and realized that they were basically recounts of me banging my head in frustration about what to do with my life. At this point I am alright with the uncertainty, because honestly everything is uncertain, we just fool ourselves into thinking it isn't. I may not have solid plans but my goals are alive and well. Though I may never become an intergalactic ambassador from earth to other civilizations (hey, you never know!) I will continue to dream big, because well, what else is there to do really?

I wanted to end this post with something inspiring that happened to me recently. Last Saturday, on the Assembly delegate election day, I was surprised to arrive and see one of my friends already at the election, waiting for me. The reason I was surprised was because he is currently not a US citizen, so he cannot vote; he is still on his asylum status from Iran and has to wait another 3 years to vote. I was very happy to see him but asked him why he had gone through the trouble of coming out. "Because I wanted to support you and to be here if you needed help" he said responded.

I cannot express how touched I was by that experience. People who have immigrated to this country, who still cannot vote are willing to be involved and to help out. Even our own citizens often don't do that much. One of my co-workers, who is a permanent resident of Nepali background asked me if she could vote and support me as well. I was so moved by this. When people are anti-immigrant, I seriously want to just shake them into reality so they could understand that immigrants often love this country and contribute to this country more than anyone.

I am blessed to have experiences like this, and 2013 has only started. I only continue to be inspired =)

2012 over and out, big fat welcome to 2013!

I hope 2013 brings you lots of bear hugs!!!*

 *Disclaimer: Nadia Won't Shut Up does not promote nor encourage the hugging of dangerous omnivorous wildlife