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 Building a Community of Progressives
By Shalini Gera & Sindhu Srinath on behalf of OY! Collective
We South Asians love to spawn - be it religions, dot-coms or community organizations.
This impressive ability of desis to assemble is very much evident in the Bay Area, which by last count had more than 34 progressive South Asian groups. There are groups engaged in development work, those fighting communalism, homophobia and yet others dealing with domestic violence. But even as these groups are doing phenomenal work in their individual spheres, there is a distinct lack of a well-knit "community" of organizers and activists, especially one where young desis in college may work together with experienced organizers to sustain the multitude of efforts and articulate a collective South Asian progressive voice.
Consider this: Following the events of September 11th, the Bush Administration launched a vicious attack on the rights of many individuals and communities in the United States and abroad, all in the name of "freedom" and "national security." However, the mainstream South Asian community has remained largely silent while many regressive policies are being implemented and the hard-won rights of many immigrant communities are being eroded. The silence has been equally acute in the face of rising religious fanaticism in South Asia, marked by the devastating Gujarat riots of 2002. The voices of progressive desis who are willing to fight for social justice are often drowned out and marginalized by a more vocal, conservative and well-to-do middle class.
It is to address this need that a number of individuals gathered together early this year to form Organizing Youth!, a collective whose basic mission is to build a community of South Asian activists and provide a space where progressive college-aged desis may strategize around issues. Yeah, yeah! you may say, but there are already a host of other progressive groups in the South Asian community. What is the need for yet another organization on the overcrowded bandwagon of South Asian community organizations?
There indeed are forums and organizations that do excellent work in addressing specific issues in the community such as groups advocating sustainable development in South Asia, coalitions formed to respond to communal violence, groups working against domestic violence in the South Asian community and support networks for desi gays and lesbians. However, there are still very few forums where one may analyze the interconnected nature of various systemic oppressions facing the South Asian diaspora.
American imperialism, the global economy, labor migration, corporate globalization and racism are interconnected in many ways and create a complex and systematic oppression. For instance, the Hindu, an English language daily from India, reported recently that four Indians from Kerala were lured to Kuwait to work as butchers. Upon arrival, however, they were unwittingly sent to work in a U.S. Army camp in Iraq. The Indians finally managed to escape, but only after nine months of forced labor as unwilling participants in AmericaÕs global war against terror. To analyze this, one must understand how the economic imperatives that have led to privatization and the subcontracting of U.S. Army services are interwoven with the economic conditions causing wide-scale labor migration out of South Asia and how, as South Asian-Americans, we all play a role in this. Did this occur due to specific choices those individuals made or is this yet another example of how the system allows poor people of the third world to be exploited? Where do we go to get a perspective on these types of issues?
Forums for analyzing the interconnection between South Asian issues and other social justice movements are conspicuous only in their absence. There are none that are specifically structured around South Asian college-aged youth who are concerned about the state of the world and want to lead in building communities committed to global justice. Organizing Youth! is a small attempt to fill this void.
In this inaugural year, OY! has planned a four-day summer program for South Asian youth ranging from 17 to 23, entitled OY! Summer 2004, which seeks to create a critical mass of activists who may work to rebuild our fragmented communities and develop solidarity across communities in their struggle for global justice. The program includes workshops that explore themes such as corporate globalization and exploitation, imperialism, racial discrimination and identity politics, sexism and homophobia. The program will also provide an introduction to organizing tools and strategies such as building community, media reform, art and political advocacy.
To learn more visit our webpage at www.youthsolidarity.org/oy or send us an email at oy@youthsolidarity.org. If you would like to participate in the program, fill out the registration form or, if you would like to volunteer with us, drop us an email. |
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