Open Heart/Closed Fist

On Thursday, June 9th, I will be on a panel for SAWCC (South Asian Women's Creative Collective) called "Open Heart/Closed Fist: Sikh Women Speak Out on Faith and Feminism." It'll be at the Asian American Writers' Center at 7pm. There's more information on the SAWCC website, but here's the blurb:

From the Middle East to the Midwest, revolution is spreading.  Women of all faiths have joined radicals in solidarity, even as their own rights come under fire by conservative elements.  But besides the images we see—women in hijab with their fists raised in Tahrir Square; women of all races with their fists raised in Madison—what about the women we don’t see, women who advocate for themselves and their sisters in the homes, gurudwaras, mosques, and temples?  What does it mean to be religious and radical? 

In this panel, author Neesha Meminger (Jazz in Love), community organizer Tejpreet Kaur (Sikh Coalition), and blogger Simran Kaur (thelangarhall.com) will discuss the ways in which their work explores issues of faith and feminism, particularly in the diaspora.

I'm delighted to be on this panel and super excited to meet my co-panelists. I think women of all backgrounds struggle with this concept of allegiance--when do I speak out? Who gets thrown under the bus if I raise this issue? Usually the answer is "me." But because girls everywhere are taught to first think of others, then ourselves, or to be compliant, acquiescent, "good" girls, the struggle to speak up and speak out rages strong within.

I think it's going to be an awesome panel. Please join us if you can.

Food, Freedom, Control, and Profit

This link was posted on Facebook and I had to share it here. Jason Taylor is over on Vimeo with a video series about food, freedom, control and farming (hence, the title of this post - clever, huh?). I saw three of the short pieces and was duly impressed. Unfortunately, my connection slowed, so I was frustrated and couldn't watch the rest, but I'll be sure to be back on Jason's channel as soon as I get another chance. Check out the videos - they're really interesting.

Here's one that shows the Golden Temple's langar ritual. Langar is the communal meal served at all Sikh temples. Anyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, class, whatever is given a free meal - it's one of the basic tenets of Sikhism, and one I whole-heartedly agree with. No one should go hungry.

On Terminology

I've seen the word "Caucasian" used to describe white people often enough that I feel compelled to do a post on it.

First off, here is the term as defined by dictionary.reference.com:

"Anthropology. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of one of the traditional racial divisions of humankind, marked by fair to dark skin, straight to tightly curled hair, and light to very dark eyes, and originally inhabiting Europe, parts of North Africa, western Asia, and India: no longer in technical use."

The above definition, and this one on wiki which corroborates it, would mean that I would, technically, be considered Caucasian. As would Morrocans, Algerians, Iranians, Iraqis, Pakistanis, Indians, and many other peoples of colour. It's obvious to me that most of the references I've seen to "Caucasian" are not intended to include myself, or any other people of colour. My guess is that in these instances, the writer actually means to say "white folks". This seems to be a very North American usage of the term. If you read the above-linked wiki entry, and any other info on the topic, really, you'll get a sense for why the term "Caucasian" is problematic, and how it has been rooted in racist and racially-motivated designations (that have nothing to do with reality).

The term irks me, in particular, because I am always reminded of the United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind case whenever I see/hear it. As anyone who has ever taken an Asian Studies class probably knows, this was the case of Bhagat Singh Thind, a Punjabi Sikh man, who argued with the US courts that, because he was technically Caucasian and Aryan, he was entitled to become a naturalized citizen of the US, according to the 1790 statute governing naturalization.*

As you might imagine, this threw the courts in a tizzy and all kinds of new findings were brought about, and stuff was re-worded to make it abundantly clear that when the word "Caucasian" was used in the 1790 statute, the writers WERE NOT referring to brown people. According to wiki, "The Court found that the authors of the 1790 statute probably ascribed to 'the Adamite theory of creation' and understood 'white people' in its popular, and not scientific, sense."

After the Thind decision, not only was he not allowed to become a naturalized citizen, all Indian-Americans who had become citizens before that point had their status retroactively revoked. They were stripped of their land, rights, and citizenship. More than half of the Indian-Americans, who had settled on US soil as land-owning citizens, at that point left the US.

So, the term is a loaded one, and dotted with racial/racist history. I know many folks use the term "Caucasian" to mean white people, particularly here in the US. I don't know if it's supposed to be more polite than saying "white" or if it somehow sounds more like a technical (therefore, more valid?) term, akin to "African-American" or "Asian-American" (but then why not "European-American"?), but it is one that I, personally, cringe at every single time I read it or hear it.

*The complexities of why he should choose to argue this at all is for another post.

Diasporic Discussions

Yesterday, I did a school visit with Kavitha Rajagopalan, author of MUSLIMS OF METROPOLIS (non-fiction). When she and I were chatting about our families' journeys from South Asia to the west, she said, "Wow, how diaspora!" Indeed. In the pic below are Marina Budhos, whose upcoming YA release, TELL US WE'RE HOME, just got a starred review from *Kirkus* (most of us know how elusive that star is), yours truly in the middle, and Kavitha on the right. Unlike the panel discussion with Rita Williams-Garcia, this time I actually remembered my camera!

The discussion on South Asians in the U.S. - in a post-9/11 world - was fascinating, with Ms. Rajagopalan's foreign policy expertise and our alternating fiction/non-fiction narratives. One thing I learned was that the highest number of folks rounded up under suspicion of "terrorism" (those who had Muslim names, or otherwise fit a profile) after the September 11th attacks was in New Jersey. People who'd been in the U.S. for years, working and paying taxes, woke up in the middle of the night to authorities banging on their doors and were dragged away for "questioning" or worse. These were some of the most vulnerable members of the community - low-resourced, undocumented, working class folks who wouldn't have the funds or the necessary time off work to defend themselves in court. The irony, as Ms. Rajagopalan pointed out, is that those individuals who did carry out actual acts of terrorism were often well-resourced, well financed, here on legal visas (*if* they were foreign-born), and fluent in English.

Budhos (left), Meminger (center), Rajagopalan (right)

Marina's book, a YA about three teen friends who are daughters of maids and nannies, comes out next month. It's a twist on the usual teen girl friendship tale - definitely be sure to check it out! And Kavitha's book is available now at the link above. Her non-fiction flows beautifully and is as powerful and evocative as any fiction I've ever read - an important book for anyone who wants insight into an important chapter in recent American history.

Happy Vaisakhi!

Today is Vaisakhi, a Sikh high holy day. April 14th was the day the Khalsa was created - a collective Sikh body of sant-sipahis (warrior-saints), armed to overthrow oppression and injustice of any kind. The Sikh scriptures are one of the only religious writings with equality for all races, castes, classes, and *genders* written directly into the text.

I grew up with a devout mother and an atheist father (that's where Sharan, the main character's mom in SHINE got her atheism--from my dad :P). My father would drive us to the temple and sit outside until my mother was ready to go. We had the choice of going in with her or staying in the car (listening to lefty radio) with my dad. My brother and I would go in or stay out depending on whatever our mood was that morning. It gave us a bit of insight into different ways of seeing the world. But both my parents were outspoken advocates for justice. Still are.

I would say I grew up "culturally Sikh". We were a mish-mash of Hindu, Sikh, atheist, agnostic, and just plain open. I'm grateful to have grown up in a home where the religious scriptures were about equality. I had those words in my vocabulary early, in both Punjabi and English. Don't know if this made things easier for me, or harder. But what it did do is give me a basis for rebelling. Ha! Not sure if that's what my parents were hoping I'd glean from the writings in the holy book, but all the founders of the faith were rebels (maybe this is true for all faiths...?).

In any case, wishing a hearty happy Vaisakhi to all.

ETA: I just discovered that April 15th is Pohela Boisaakh, the Bengali New Year. Given that many Sikhs pronounce Vaisakhi with a 'B', as in Baisakhi - the similarity in names is making me ask ALL sorts of questions. But whatever - Happy Pohela Boisaakh, as well!

Fabo Hair

Beautiful, sunny Easter Sunday in NYC and we're inside packing and cleaning in preparation for our trip to Toronto. I've been having a bit of a hair crisis around it all, but other than that I'm doing okay.

The hair thing -- nothing new. Whenever I'm going through real stuff, I focus on my hair. Much easier. And controllable.

So, if you're in Toronto and coming to my launch, you will know this secret: my hair has always been the site of all anxiety. It might be a Sikh thing or it might be a girl thing . . . not sure.

But for this launch, I may suddenly spring fuschia streaks. Or I may buzz everything off entirely. Or I might just throw on a hat and be done with it.

In any case, my family and friends will be at the launch and my many different, contradicting worlds will be colliding in one place. But my hair . . . it will fabulous, dahling. :D

Hair's to Freedom

I'm bringing this entry on over from my now defunct LJ blog so that it can be here with the rest of its friends ;). If you want to see the comments thread for that post, go here; there are some cool responses. Anyway . . .

This weekend, I was interviewed for a magazine article. Nothing to do with my book, or even writing, for that matter. The topic of the hour was body image. This is a topic I could go on and on and ON about (and have, on several occasions), but I'll refrain just this once :D. Before the interview, all sorts of thoughts went through my head about what I might talk about -- will I do the usual issue of weight and body size/shape? Would I go to the more familiar topic of areas of my body I've waged war with? Or would I go into the skin shade territory? So many areas to cover (no pun intended), not enough interview time . . .

So, when the lovely interviewer called me, we had a fantastic, lively, friendly discussion. It was fun and hilarious. We were about forty-five minutes through when I realized all I'd talked about was my hair. My hair. Not the usual trilogy: butt, boobs, belly. Not flab, sag, and lumps. Hair. And not body hair, either.

I had no idea what a huge issue hair has been all through my life. But as I talked to Ms. Lovely Interviewer, I realized that as a Sikh girl-child, then young woman, so many battles over control and power in my house were fought around the territory of my hair. I was not allowed to cut it, there were certain hairstyles I could not wear, and there was just so much IMPORTANCE placed on what I did or did not do with my hair.

As a little girl, I thought cutting my hair would be the answer to all my problems. I thought not being allowed to cut it was what kept me apart from the "rest" of the world. It was what kept me from connecting. And that was something I so very much longed for. Later, as I began to question things, I wanted to know why the religion allowed my father and brothers to cut their hair, but not me or my mother. Obviously, the religion intends both men and women to keep long hair, but in mah house this was not the case. That's a whole other post, though :D.

Also interesting was just how much the interviewer and I could relate on the hair topic. She happened to be African-American and went through many different periods in her life where she struggled with the "Natural or straightened?" question. Her hair was a site where many inner and outer battles were fought, too.

I thought about movies where, whenever someone wanted to change their identity, or get a fresh start in life, the first thing they did was cut off their hair. Even with makeovers on popular daytime talk shows, the biggest way to make a difference in one's appearance (thereby, in one's life?) is to change the color/cut/style of their hair.

Through my conversation with Ms. Interviewer, it hit me that whenever I wanted things to change in my life, whenever I felt smothered, or not in control of my destiny, I went to a salon. And later, I bought a good pair of scissors and clippers and took matters into my own hands. Doing what I wanted with my own hair felt like a kind of freedom. It was a defiance and a breaking and a challenge. "This is mine," was the message. And it got across alright. Found its way straight into a whole heap of punishment when I lived at home.

Ms. Interviewer said she had a site like that now, too--where she thought that if only such and such were different, her whole life would somehow be better. We wondered if this was something others experienced in terms of body image. I had a friend who, whenever she wanted to feel pampered or taken care of, she'd go to a salon and have them wash her hair. That's it--nothing else--just a wash.

I also marveled at the fact I could meet another woman from any other racial, social, economic, or political category, and we could easily have identical body image schtuff. The article I was being interviewed for will include the experiences of seven or eight women from all walks of life and is set to hit the stands soon. Will keep you posted.

In the meantime, I'd love to know what your experience has been with body image. Has it even been an issue? If so, where did it center around? Where are you at with it now?

Countdown

In light of some recent hate crimes against South Asian Americans and those perceived to be Muslim (in one attack, the victim was called "Obama"), SAALT (South Asian Americans Leading Together) has re-issued a "basic fact sheet about hate crimes." They also list the reported crimes from September to present.

What's interesting is that these attacks took place in NY and NJ -- both solid blue states in this past election.