Honouring Dalit History Month! 💙
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Hi everyone! Wishing you a gentle and opening start to springtime here in the UK. This is Nishma and I’m happy to be opening this newsletter because it’s going to be our last one for a couple of months.
The collective has decided to pause all existing and new project work for a few months as we are deep in imagining, planning and strategising mode. In fact, we have our first ever group retreat - reimagining the collective - this weekend. We’ll be doing some play, exploring some ongoing questions and challenges we’ve faced over the last few years, learning from some collective reading, eating together and more! As someone who’s been with The Rights Collective since it’s inception, I can’t tell you how much joy and pride fills me when I think of who and where we are today. It’s all down to the really incredible people involved in their many different capacities - people who have become my friends, my community, my fellow learners and my rocks! We’ll share more about the retreat with you all in a few months. We expect to be back around early July so watch this space!
In the mean time, this newsletter is packed with some juicy resources for you. Check out our final reading circle summary, along with the whole transformative justice series over on our website. It’s also Dalit History Month so we invite you to think about your relationship to caste - to help you, check out some of the materials linked below.
Wishing you a wonderful spring - see you in a few months!
Love, Nishma
📖 Transformative Justice Reading Circle: Disability, Race and Culture - Addressing Harm in the Community
In March, we held our last reading circle in the series, led by Sage Stephanou where we explored themes of disability and care in our communities and how that relates to our transformative justice practice. Some of the questions we discussed were:
What tensions do we hold whilst trying to move towards community care as marginalised and racialised communities who have been disabled by white supremacy, colonisation and (racial) capitalism?
How do we provide care to sick, mentally ill, disabled family and elders when they also cause harm as part of, or in the mix of disability and/or mental illness?
Check out a full summary, along with the resources, on our website!
Anti-Caste Reading Circle: Summaries
For Dalit History Month, we’re re-sharing our anti-caste reading circle summaries! All six summaries are available to view on our website, complete with reflection questions covering topics across entertainment, food and love. We invite you to explore these with friends, family and community to unpack your relationship to caste.
Anti-Caste Resource Pack
We wanted to re-share our anti-caste learning resources for your all this month. Following on from our anti-caste reading circle a few years ago, these further readings serve as educational learning tools for some of the key texts we discussed in the sessions.
Each reading includes a summary of the key ideas and arguments as well as reflection questions. We encourage you to use these guides as an educational tool in your communities and study circles when discussing caste.
If you want more information, have questions, or would like to let us know how you’re getting on with these resources, please drop us an email.
In Conversation with Jyotsna Siddharth
Last Dalit History Month, collective member Inaya sat down with Jyotsna Siddharth - an actor, intersectional artist, activist and founder of online platform Project Anti-Caste, Love, who is currently based in India.
“We are constantly fighting intergenerational wars on our bodies, psyche and communities, which needs authentic, critical and nuanced solidarities.”
Jyotsna shares her thoughts on Dalit History Month, her journey into activism and her hopes for the future of Dalit communities. Read now!
📖 Anti-Caste Reading Circle: Resources
This month we are sharing anti-caste resources with you along the themes of caste and entertainment.
‘Geeli Pucchi’ Is a Lesson in Intersectional, Inclusive Filmmaking by Jyostna Siddharth
Eugenics as Entertainment: “Indian Matchmaking’s” Lighthearted View of Caste Oppression by Aditi Natasha Kini
"Soft power is still power": Mehta, Funny Boy and the Tamil genocide by Sinthujan Varatharajah.
Caste and conservatism in our TV serials by Aakar Patel.
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