Hi friends - our September newsletter is here! We hope you're keeping well and taking care of yourself. Check out what you missed over the last few weeks and dive into some interesting resources below. Note, we take self and community care seriously so our team will be off on a collective break from the 14 September to 2 October. Please feel free to keep in touch via our social media, and we'll see you all soon!
In Solidarity,
The Rights Collective
Histories, Ancestry, and Freedom: 4th Edition Zine Is Out Now
We’re so excited to share the 4th edition of our zine, exploring South Asian histories. We invited authors to reflect upon our shared and individual histories and draw upon what our ancestry means to and for us. During the month that marks the independence of India and Pakistan from British rule, we wanted to explore what freedom means to us today as a diaspora who still lives between identities, between cultures, and, sometimes, between nations. A big thank you to everyone who submitted, we loved reading all your work and hope you do too!
VIDEO: 'Forgotten Stories: Partition Remembered' Teach-In, Part II
The recording of Part II of our 'Forgotten Stories: Partition Remembered' teach in, which took place on Friday 28 August, is now available to watch. Speakers included Amrit Wilson who spoke about the gendered impact of partition, Dr. Samia Khatun who gave a fascinating overview of the construction of gender in South Asia, and lastly, Syma Tariq who discussed the use of sound and testimony gathering to remember partition.
LAUNCH: Brown Womxn [Un]Learn Resource Hub
Some of you may have already seen our Brown Women [Un]Learn resource hub launch on social media this week but we wanted to share this again for those who may have missed it!
We're so excited to finally launch our Resources Hub, a curated lists of articles, books, reports, papers, videos, and anything else that we feel can inform us of the issues we hope to tackle and ideas that underpin our work.
We hope you find this information useful. We encourage you to engage with it in a dynamic way - maybe set up a reading or learning circle to co-learn with others, or read a piece with a family member every month. If you’d like to set something up with our support, feel free to just get in touch.
We are sharing these resources in good faith to help you start your journey of [un]learning. Let us know how you get on.
Ikhatta IG Takeovers This Month
We've got a number of exciting Instagram takeovers on our account this month! Neelam from Don't Sleep On Us will be taking over on the 18th, followed by feminist researcher Kirthi Jayakumar on the 23rd. Lastly, we'll have Taimour who runs Expert By Experience on the 30th! Follow us on Instagram to get involved.
Join our Team
We’re so excited to have grown our work so much over the last few months. We’re now looking for new volunteers to join our amazing team so get in touch if you’re interested! We’re especially keeping an eye out for people who have experience with any of the following: illustrating, designing, editing audio and video, research and writing, communications, creating strategies, and organising in the community.
We will be prioritising applications from people from the South Asian diaspora who identify as womxn, queer, working-class or Dalit / Bahujan and we encourage individuals from Kashmir, Nepal and Afghanistan to apply.
Send us an email with your CV and a one-page cover letter explaining why you'd like to join us. We will be recruiting on a rolling basis but the initial deadline is 11.59 BST on 4 October.
What We're Writing
To those who missed the Ansuni Workshop we hosted last month, check out our blog about the event. Ansuni was an intimate and safe space so we can't share in detail what was discussed but we've given you a snapshot of the conversations.
Project Lead, Habiba also wrote up the partition teach-ins we hosted last month. The piece delves into some of the topics speakers explored such as the erasure of Bengal and how gender was used as a marker or progress for the subcontinent.
What We're Reading
Pakistan has been hit with record levels of flooding in Karachi, leaving dozens dead and thousands in need of help. Read here.
Formed in 2017, Casteless Collective are rapping for Equality- Read the interview with band member Arivarasu Kalainesan here.
Mourning whilst under siege: How Shia Muslims in Kashmir commemorated Muharram - Read here.
"Wherever South Asians go, they bring caste."- South Asians say even in the US, caste has proved hard to escape. Read the CNN report here.