Exploring movements, organising and community together 🌞
We have some exciting in-person events coming up and would love to see you there!
Access an audio version of this newsletter here.
Dear friends,
Wishing you an ease and joy filled 2022 - we know our wishes are coming in a bit late but many of us have had a bit of a slow tumble into this new cycle. We hope the start of the year has been gentle on you. We’re feeling nourished, hopeful, and excited for the year to come after the break and we’re so happy to have so many new things to share with you!
We have been busy behind the scenes planning our first in-person event of the year! Join us on the 19th February to celebrate and learn from the rich tradition of South Asian organising in Britain. You can find the details and how to sign up below. We’re also excited to be invited by Toynbee Hall in East London for the third instalment of their When We Speak volume series! We’ll be holding a workshop and discussion about our movement work and hope you can join us. (Keep your eyes peeled on our socials for more announcements in the coming weeks! 👀)
We also wanted to let you know that our planned strategy feedback sessions have been postponed to later in the year as our team have been recovering from or supporting people with covid, as well as generally prioritising rest during these challenging times. We will be in touch with those who signed up soon to let you know next steps but don’t worry you’re still on our radar! If you haven’t signed up but want to, click here.
In solidarity,
The Rights Collective 🌻
☄️‘To Move Forward, We Must Look Back’: Learning from South Asian community organising in Britain, from past to present
Our first in-person event of the year is here, and it’s going to be beautiful! Join us for a night of food, film, music and panel discussion as we learn from the rich history of South Asian community organising and activism in the UK.
In order to collectively envision better futures for our communities, we must connect with our local and international histories. We must trace the path of social change movements from the past to the present, learning from the successes and mistakes in order to move forward to build a better future.
We hope to use this space, not only to explore historical understandings of South Asian organising, but also forge inter-generational and cross-communal connections, learn lessons taught to us from these histories, as well as making room for joy, laughter and community.
💬 Join us at Toynbee Hall for the When We Speak Series
We’re excited to present Building a Movement: Challanges in making change together at Toynbee Hall. We’ll be talking about how we hold space for conversations away from the state gaze, aligning our actions with our values and community organising online during a pandemic.
📖 Anti-Caste Reading Circle: Resources
As most of you know, we hosted an anti-caste reading circle, facilitated by Jyotsna Siddharth and Varun Khanna. Carrying on from our last newsletter, this is a regular column in our newsletter where we will share anti-caste resources with you every month - from readings to videos to events. Feel free to send us anything to feature and check out some of this month’s readings below.
This months readings focus on the relationship between caste and food.
Caste on the Menu Card is a short film exploring the idea of food as a site of exclusion by focusing on beef-eating practices in Mumbai.
Freedom to Eat: The fight for beef as a democratic right by Kanchah Ilaiah
Caste on your plate: Where is the Dalit food? By Manjiri Indurkar
📣 📣 Shaheen Bagh: A Graphic Recollection, Launch & Discussion
We’ve teamed up with Shalimar Books to bring you the online launch of Shaheen Bagh: A Graphic Recollection, a graphic account of one of the most famous political sit ins in recent times, which started in Delhi in December 2019 and continued until March 2020 when the nationwide lockdown was announced.
The launch will include some incredible discussions with Ita Mehotra, Arpita Das of Yoda Press, and protestors and activists Atia Khursheed and Safoora Zargar, both of whom were involved in the Shaheen Bagh sit in and Anti-CAA movements. Grab your tickets and a copy of the book at the link below.
🔊Events we’re attending…
Neelam’s Don’t Sleep On Us is back at the Richmix with UNBAMED; a party and networking event with Black, Asian and minority ethnic change makers! Book tickets for this event tonight, here!
Niijor Manush’s political education program Bangla Fora continues with session 4 on the 7th March looking at ‘Khobor aar Kichcha: Shaping the narrative for campaigns in the media.’
📚Things we’re reading…
Shefali Rafiq writes about the small but vibrant transgender community in the city of Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir; meet Reshma.
In a recent victory, California State University added the category of caste to its anti-discrimination policies. Read more here.
“‘Coming out’ is mostly used in the context of queer experience. But for South Asians or those of South Asian origin, the term embraces the Dalit identity, and resists the stigma and shame associated with it.”- Read Coming Out of the ‘Caste Closet’.
International sentiment is shifting as Amnesty International joins two other major human rights organisations, including B'Tselem, in ruling Israel as an Aparthied state. Read Yara Harawi’s piece for Tribune Mag.
#HijabIsOurRight: Muslims students have been protesting in the state of Karnataka after a ban on the hijab, stifling religious freedom. Read the full piece here.
💭 Have you checked out our resource hub yet? We’ve compiled articles, podcasts, and videos to expand and aid existing knowledge on issues including caste, class, and race.
🖊 We’re accepting blog pitches!
The Rights Collective blog not only seeks to amplify the lived experiences within our communities, but also to invite dialogue, critical thinking and introspection. We invite writers to explore issues through personal essays, socio-political analysis, thought pieces, and more.
We can pay a stipend to anyone whose pitches are accepted and published! If you have any questions, you can email our blog editor Tasha.
Support Us
Most of our spaces, workshops and events are free but if you feel called to contribute to the community and invest in sustaining our work, please donate here.