Welcome to The Rights Collective newsletter! We have a few exciting things going on and can't wait for you to be involved.
With August marking an important point in some of our South Asian freedom movements and histories, our team has put together a digital teach-in on the topic of partition within South Asia, particularly looking at the gendered impact on women and girls. You can scroll down to see our speaker line-up and to register. We are also planning the next edition of our quarterly zine, and are asking for your submissions.
We've shared our recent blogs on what it means for the South Asian community to co-conspire for BLM. We continue to reflect on this and our roles in fighting oppression.
And we'd love for all our British South Asians to join us for our Ansuni Stories Workshop where we unpack and explore the complicated relationships we have with community as South Asian diaspora.
In Solidarity
The Rights Collective
Histories, Ancestry, and Freedom: Our Next Zine
We are currently accepting submissions for the 4th edition of our zine centred on 'South Asian Histories, Ancestry, and Freedom'. We're looking for creative pieces, short prose, photographs, visual documentation, and more. The deadline for submissions is the 2nd of August 2020 at 23.59. Take a look at our submission guidelines here. We look forward to reading all your beautiful work!
Forgotten Stories: Partition Remembered
Join us for 'Forgotten Stories: Partition Remembered', a digital teach-in on Tuesday 18 August at 6pm exploring the topic of independence and partition within South Asia. We will be looking at the gendered impact of partition and the various roles women played in the movement with our incredible speakers:
Dr. Fatima Rajina, SOAS University of London
Dr. Eleanor Newbigin, SOAS University of London
Amrit Wilson, South Asia Solidarity Group
Ansuni Stories Workshop & Project
Next month, we will be hosting an interactive workshop where we will unpack the idea of community among the South Asian diaspora.
We will be discussing themes such as support systems, expectations, pressures, relationships, sex, body image, and more.
Please note, this workshop is strictly only for individuals who identify as part of the U.K. South Asian diaspora community. We particularly encourage you to sign up if you identify as a womxn, non-binary, queer, or trans.
We're also still accepting submissions to Ansuni Stories, our research and storytelling project inviting you to share your experiences of collectivist culture within the South Asian diaspora. You can participate here.
Brown Women [Un]Learn: Reading Circle on Religion & Caste
This month we held a reading circle as part of our project, Brown Womxn [Un]Learn - more on this soon, watch this space!
Our friend and advisor, Varun Khanna, whose research sits at the intersection of Sanskrit Grammar, Advaita Vedānta, and Social Justice, led us in an eye-opening discussion exploring the definition of religion, systems of power and the role of these in our work. Our next session will look at the unpacking and unlearning topic of caste in more detail.
For now, our reading circles are for The Rights Collective team members only but if you’re interested in getting involved, keep and eye out in our newsletter and follow our socials to find out about the public launch of Brown Women [Un]Learn.
Co-Conspiring with Black Lives Matter
After attending several events organised by South Asians for Black Lives this month, our team felt it necessary to further reflect individually and as a collective on what South Asian solidarity for Black lives actually means at this moment and always. You can read some of our reflections so far on our blog:
Exploring the role of South Asian Solidarity with Black Lives
What Political Blackness can Teach South Asians in the Current Moment
Video from our 'On the Frontlines' Teach In
Our 'On The Frontlines' teach in recording is now available to those who missed it! Listen to Dr. Mathi, Dr. Niro, and Pharmacist Yasmin Sultan about their experiences on the frontlines battling the Covid-19 pandemic.