📣 Exploring Brown Bodies Workshops
Issue 6 of our zine on 'Brown Bodies' is out now and to celebrate the launch, we're excited to host a mini-workshop! Read on for highlights from Dalit History Month, and new blog posts
Hi folks, we hope you are all keeping well and taking care as we continue to navigate the tricky terrain we have found ourselves in. We wanted to check in and say hi and share some updates on our work. April was Dalit History Month - the team is committed to unlearning the ways in which we uphold caste oppression and amplifying Dalit voices. Read on to find the summary of our ‘Caste & Food"‘ reading circle as well as a blog with activist, Jyotsna Siddharth.
We’re also excited to present our much awaited ‘Brown Bodies’ zine which is available to download on our website. We want to express our gratitude to all the people who submitted and have engaged with it since the launch - we received an amazing response. To celebrate our launch and delve deeper into exploring our relationships with our bodies, we’re excited to offer a mini course on Brown Bodies facilitated by Ameira Sikand. More information below.
As always, in solidarity.
The Rights Collective
Exploring Brown Bodies Workshops
We're very excited to be hosting a mini course on brown bodies in order to create space for deeper and nuanced conversations around this topic - to learn more about what our bodies mean to us, how they are politicised and oppressed for profit and the ways in which we might resist in our own lives.
Issue 6 Zine: BROWN BODIES
Issue 6 of our zine on Brown Bodies is now live on our website to download! We have an amazing selection of personal essays, poems, and beautiful art pieces capturing the varied experiences of our community.
We wanted our contributors to lean into the broadness of this topic and they most definitely delivered. Each of us knows the beautiful complexity of being a brown person in a world that doesn’t entirely understand us. Whether it’s how we are judged within spaces that should be safe or the unsolicited advice about how we should dress, sit, be. Sometimes this brings us to tears and sometimes it makes us laugh. The bountiful and visible hair on our heads, bodies and faces. How we manage our health or food. Our longing to connect. The joy we feel in our culture and clothing. The proud moments we share with our families. The frustration and disappointment when the way the world expects us to be doesn’t match our love for ourselves.
While reading this issue, we invite you to listen to this playlist curated by each of the featured writers in the Zine. If you want to learn more from the contributors and listen to some readings, you can catch up on the IG Live conversation here.
Anti-Caste Reading Circle: Caste and Food
Session 4 of our reading circle looking at Caste and Food is now available to view! We had a great session looking at the politics of food and discussing the associations of different food whether that be religious or caste based whilst growing up.
We've included reflection questions put together by our facilitators Jyotsna Siddharth and Varun Khanna, and a snippet of an ice-breaker exercise participants did during the session where we attempted to deconstruct daal.
TRC Podcast Season 1 - FINAL EPISODE
Our final episode of season 1 of our podcast is out now on Spotify and Apple! This week, Habiba spoke with Tasnima Uddin - writer, organiser and campaigner working across race, gender, abolition and citizenship. She is the co-founder of Nijjor Manush - an advocacy group for Bangladeshis in the UK - and project lead at Restless Beings.
Tasnima and Habiba discuss navigating faith & identity through Islamophobia and racism, the need for community-focused organising and the importance of recognising difference in order to strengthen solidarity between campaigning groups. Read the show notes here.
Watch this space for season 2 - coming soon!
EMERGENCY FUNDRAISER FOR INDIA
India’s devastating second COVID-19 wave undoubtedly took place within the context of a global healthcare inequality, where richer countries tend to get first dibs and hoard access to vaccine advancements.
Articles & Blogs
With the recent proposed hijab ban by the French government, team member Habiba traces the trajectory of colonial though that informed this to French Algeria. Read Gendered Islamophobia here.
How does one assert their identity and navigate being asexual in India? تØریر // Tehreer participant Sivakami Prasanna writes about her experiences in ‘Reframing Desires’.
Tamil’s Healing Journey is a short story taking us through an account of healing through yoga, meditation, and journaling. Written by Tehreer participant Sorubiha Kamalanathan.
This Dalit History Month, The Rights Collective interviewed Dalit activists working within Dalit liberation and rights movements. This conversation takes place between Inaya Hussain and Jyotsna Siddharth - actor, intersectional artist, activist and founder of online platform Project Anti-Caste, Love, who is currently based in India. Jyotsna shares her thoughts on Dalit History Month, her journey into activism and her hopes for the future of Dalit communities. Read here.
The Battle for Brick Lane - Dr. Fatima Rajina and Sotez Chowdhury from campaigning group Nijjor Manush spork to Taj Ali at Tribune Mag as to why proposals for a new shopping mall at the site of the Old Truman Brewery is disastrous for the local community.
The Asian Youth Movements were set up in the 70’s to organise against racism in the streets of Brittan- read about the trial of the Bradford 12 and the activist who demanded their acquittal.