Government Meets Grassroots

Yay! now where are the jobs? Answer you politicians!

I have always been a big proponent of grassroots work leading to systematic change in policy.  Unfortunately, these two aspects do not intersect often enough; with there being a major disconnect between what takes place in congressional meetings and what is actually occuring on the ground, in our neighborhoods and communities.

Congresspeople on stage

Recently however, I have been attending meetings and open houses where members of the Obama administration and members of Congress have directly came out to hear the stories and issues that are occurring everyday in our communities. I am aware that these efforts may be related to re-election purposes, but regardless I think that listening to the concerns of communities is a step in a direction towards positive systemic change.

Congressman Mike Honda!

Last week I attended a Speakout for Good Jobs event, which was a townhall type meeting with Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Raul Grijalva and Congressman Mike Honda (my favorite congressman!). The event was held in a massive church/worship space where members of the community lined up to speak about their grievances and concerns regarding employment, or more accurately, unemployment.

woman fighting for the rights of the disabled

And there were LOTS of grievances.
I didn't speak, though I have a lot to say from my personal experience about unemployment, but it was a valuable experience for me to attend something like this. I never attended a open house with congress members and I honestly wish that there could be more of these events. The people with the most concerns and the greatest need for help are most often the ones who are being silenced. These events allow members of the community to speak up, but is it enough?

Activist, community leader and best friend, Nwe Oo

I also attended another event last Thursday, where a collection of leaders from the local Burmese community  met with Daphne Kwok, Chair of President Barack Obama's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders, in downtown Oakland (to read additional info about the event, read this great article written by Oakland Digital, our gracious hosts). Many of the community leaders were refugees or were speaking on behalf of the Burmese refugee community in Oakland. Again, much of the rhetoric dealt with lack of jobs for refugees, the economy and problematic budget cuts that dealt serious blows to the well beings of high need individuals and families. The meeting was packed, with community members spilling onto the sidewalk outside the room. Different leaders took turns to
speak. Tluang Salai, a refugee from the Chin ethnic community and an advocate with the non-profit organization Catholic Charities relayed the problems faced by the Chin people of Burma, especially since the numbers of Chin that will be resettled in Oakland will go up drastically in the coming months (stay tuned for my upcoming interview on Salai and the Chin community on my other blog Us Ordinary People). Nwe Oo, a Rakhine refugee and Burmese community activist thanked Daphne for her time to listen to the needs and concerns of the community, especially due to the lack of attention that Burmese cultural groups usually receive.

Burmese community in Oakland

The most poignant part of this event was the unity shown by the different Burmese groups that attended the event. Burma is a country with a very complex and fragmented history, full of political strife and military oppression. Though the diverse minority groups within the country have all faced severe repression from the government, there are considerable differences within different ethnic groups. This event brought everyone in one room, with the common goal of improving the lives of their people, and in this instance they were all sharing their stories and concerns together.

It is promising to see government affiliated representatives directly meet with the people who are directly affected by policy changes, but obviously that is far from enough. What remains to be seen is WHAT will happen with this information. Will it lead to policy change? Will the suffering of working class and lower class men and women be addressed?
The forces shaping policy know the issues, they have heard it from the mouth of the people in our communities. But knowing is not enough, the proof is in action and in fighting for the rights of these communities; fighting against big businesses and corporations that are swimming in assistance money that has not trickled down to our communities.

Community members with Daphne Kwok

Knowledge is power, but action is the tool for change. It is time to use these tools to help the people who need it the most.

Who's afraid of the Big Bad Muslim?

Everyone, apparently (Happy Ramadan by the way).

No Aladdin! not you too....

From the ease with which derogatory comments are made about Muslims/Arabs/people perceived as Muslim throughout the media to the bigoted protests that have the open support of elected officials, Islamophobia is alive in well in the United States.

haters

Ten years have passed since 9/11 and things haven't really changed, in fact they may have gotten worse. There was a recent NY times article about one man's effort to bring down the threat of Shariah laws in this country ( It didn't occur to me that shariah threats were such a big issue in Islamic hotspots like Oklahoma ::heavy sarcasm::).  The scary thing is that this is not just some yahoo trying to enact meaningless policy as a fear tactic, it's that he is getting a platform to present these 'issues' to federal policy makers. THAT is the scary part. When bigotry drives policy or is able to grab the attention of our government, there is a very real cause for concern.
So what do we do? I don't hear a national outcry for the rights of brown people. Some pockets of brown people are calling for our rights, but who is listening? Maybe it's up for us to 'police' our own, because you know, Muslims are so centralized, homogeneous and united that it's easy to just have a huge meeting and tell the extremists to cut it out.

sharing is caring

No, we need raise our voices and unify our efforts. Struggling against Islamophobia is not going to work in small pockets of passionate activists and community members. There needs to be a collective push back, a push to say that this is not okay and that it is unacceptable. That as Americans, we find this unacceptable. I recently joined up with coalition of organizations called AMEMSA (Arab American Middle Eastern South Asian African), say that ten times fast (I've gotten pretty good at it myself). Its a convening of different groups from  organizations that represent communities affected by Islamophobia; from African Muslims to Sikhs, who have basically become 'default' Muslims in the eyes of hate mongers. I represented ASATA, the Alliance of South Asians Taking Action, a radical group of South Asian activists in the Bay Area.
I am proud to have been affiliated with groups such as SAALT (South Asian Americans Leading Together) and all of the great work they do nationally to stand up for the civil rights of South Asians. However, AMEMSA was very special to me in that this group came together for the common purpose of standing up to xenophobia, while having such an impressively diverse membership.  When people make bigoted comments about African Americans, there is a great uproar. There are similar, if not greater outcries when anti Semitic incidents occur. Islamophobic comments bring about concerned responses from groups such as SAALT and ASATA, but what about everyone else? Where is the outcry or major media attention?
This is what we are working on. To work together to not just be the 'other'. We are American. Some like me have been born and raised here, others, like a fellow colleague I met from Cote'd Ivoire, came here as an adult and stated that "When Africans come here, in our minds we are going back. But if you look at the statistics, no one is going back."  I include that quote because some come here with dreams of a better life and a new home, while many intend to come here, get success, then leave. Regardless, we are all still here, and we are Americans, and the decisions made by those in charge in this country affects us all equally, regardless of what the pundits on Fox News would have us believe.

intersections, cross listings and lots of circles

AMEMSAA met last week at a convening of the groups, where we spent two days discussing, brainstorming and yes, even majorly disagreeing with one another. Throughout all of this, the thing that struck me the most was the passion of the members I saw within the room; the passion for changing the status quo, the passion to make sure that our civil and human rights are respected. During the meetings, I would figuratively take a step back to look around me and see people wearing turbans sharing ideas with former political refugees, to women wearing hijab bringing up points to members from Africa. It was really something to behold. I did feel grateful to be here, and yes be in this country, because this kind of space would be almost impossible to have in many parts of the world.

We have a long way to go. This may seem like the beginning because there is so much to do and such a long distance to cover, but I think that we can do it. Despite our differences, I believe that we can accomplish positive changes as a united front against intolerance and bigotry.

yay diversity!

In a perfect society, civil rights wouldn't be a term because equality would be ingrained. However in the real world, strides towards civil rights for our communities will not truly occur until we stand up for ourselves. And that is just what we are doing.

"We gotta reject the bin everyone is trying to put us in" -  AMEMSA member

We were given pipe cleaners to play with, so I made lots of colorful, unified stick people. I was in a very 'we are the world' mood

Brown people STAND UP - Part 1

Last week I attended the SAALT Summit in Washington DC. SAALT is the acronym for South Asian Americans Leading Together, a group I affectionately describe as "the NAACP for Brown people". They do work from a social justice and civil rights framework and every two years they bring together South Asian activists, advocates and community members from all over the country for the summit.
I went to my first summit two years ago, when I worked as an advocate at Manavi, an NJ based organization that works to end violence against women in the South Asian community. This year however, I was representing myself and my blog Us Ordinary People, which I would be discussing at a panel session . This was my first time being a panelist at a conference so I was super excited.
The main theme at this years Summit was the 10 year anniversary of September 11 and what has changed in these 10 years. The issues that plagued the South Asian community when 9/11 hit are sadly the same issues today. Islamaphobia is rampant, and the recent shooting and deaths of two elderly Sikh men in Sacramento was one incident that highlighted this. Though the mood of the conference was friendly and unified, I sensed a somber air during the weekend. Issues regarding the rising number of deportations and the cutting down of labor rights added the sense of overwhelming odds for the movement as a whole. During my panel on community documenting, the need to document the stories of individuals and communities facing these issues was apparent. Alongside me in my panel were Dinu Ahmed and Moumita Zaman from Khadija's Caravan, an organization that provides photography workshop series for young Muslim youth in NYC, and Luna Ranjit from Aadikar, a Nepali human rights organization. All three of us were providing documentation in different ways, but the need was clear. If we did not provide the opportunity to tell these stories, then perhaps nobody would. I went to a few other workshops, but I must say that the highlight of my day was just lounging around with other activists. I made new friends, reconnected with people I knew before and I took a TON of pictures (as usual). I met the other co founder of NYTWA, Javaid Tariq, and we shared our love of photography and human rights. Seriously, with my hectic East coast trip, it was nice to just relax for a bit and actually connect with people, which I don't think always happens at conferences. I also loved listening to people tell me about their work, the passion behind what they do is apparent and it really pushes me to work towards my passions to help others as well.

The next day had some open circle discussions and roundtables with government agencies such as Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. I always love the open sessions at the Summit. It's really a chance to sort of kick back, sit in a circle and just share different perspectives. I attended an open space session on art due to my interest in photography. From radio hosts, filmmakers and playwrights, it was an awesome session where I was able to exchange e-mails and ideas with other artists. Afterward I attended the government roundtables, focusing on the ones relating to Immigration and Civil Rights Issues. I often wish that there was some way to work with the government instead of feeling like I am constantly fighting against government policies and budget cuts. I do feel that SAALT is taking the right steps to build those bridges between government and civic groups, this bridge building could be seen at the roundtables, as well as the next and final day of the summit, where summit attendees were able to advocate on capital hill at the house of representatives.

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