South Asians for America Looks at a “Year in Review” for Activism in the South Asian Community

The Asian American community has a profound impact on the political movement nationwide. In an interview with The Yappie, Madalene Mielke, the president of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS), stated: “It’s about including people who are usually not involved in office…And this year AAPIs overperformed in each state compared to 2016.” (Hu, 2020).

Furthermore, a new generation of politicians and organizers emerged as a result of the vast mobilization efforts across the South Asian diaspora over the past few years. Neil Devani, a co-creator of Votella, which aimed to engage youth voters through fun virtual events, shared some reasons why South Asians are not only participating in politics and activism, but also running for elected office. “Growing racism and xenophobia domestically alongside rising fascism globally have driven the demand for safety and representation,” states Devani (Devani, 2020).

South Asians for America wanted to explore the impact of South Asians in the political and advocacy space this year and hosted a virtual panel discussion in December to help answer an important question: “Has Activism Fundamentally Changed in 2020?”

The panelists included, Senator Jeremy Cooney, the second Indian-American to be elected to the New York State Senate, Hira Shaikh, a co-chair of the New Jersey Young Democrats’ South Asian Caucus, Anooj Bhandari, artist and activist at the Restorative Justice Initiative, Shivana Jorawar, co-founder and co-director of the Jahajee Sisters, and Nadia Hussain, co-founder of the Bangladeshi American Women’s Development Initiative and Campaign Director at MomsRising.org, who moderated the panel.

The impacts of COVID-19 has contributed to the way organizing has fundamentally changed. Organizations such as the Jahajee Sisters needed to pivot to meet the moment. Many members of the Jahajee Sisters could not pay their rent or feed their children and out of necessity, the organization began providing direct services such as groceries, PPE, and other essentials to the community. Due to the organization’s shift to direct services, they started to see an outpouring of support from the community. “Although we had many people donate money or time to the Jahajee Sisters, it did not necessarily mean they agreed with Jahajee Sisters’ politics,” said Jorawar. Nevertheless, these people understood that the community members the organization was servicing did not have food or a roof under their heads and assistance from the community was greatly needed.

“This was interesting to see and a way to help build power for social justice. I wanted to challenge people’s mindset of charity to power-building and solidarity. We made sure we provided services the government was not offering, but at the same time, we used the opportunity to mobilize the new folks in our network to become political — we activated them to contact their lawmakers and demand more for their community,” added Jorawar.

Additionally, the panel addressed the lack of engagement within the South Asian community in America. South Asians have been in a bit of a bubble for many years. In the 1970s, there was a large influx of primarily Indians immigrating to upstate New York. Despite the fact they came to a new country to start brand new lives, many Indians stayed in their own suburban towns, remained insular, and did not even register to vote.

“When I wanted to engage the community about issues such as healthcare, I ran up against a wall. I thought the community would engage with a person that looked like them, but it took years to change those dynamics and get them engaged. In 2020, we realized that we cannot be living in these bubbles — there are issues that impact our communities at the federal, state, and local levels. Our voice matters too and we have something to contribute — we need to get involved, whether it’s running for office or even having an opinion and writing about it,” said Cooney.

The barrier of entry into the organizing world is very low, but this is not evident to all folks. “Something the young Black Lives Matter organizers did so well and effectively this year was addressing the hunger for action that exists online. We often see upsetting content online, but most people do not say anything about it and then move on. The activists combined this upsetting content with accessible and easy to understand action items like petitions. I believe this trend of digital organizing will be a driving factor that will continue beyond COVID-19,” said Shaikh. Now, many young South Asian organizers are realizing they do not need to be tied to some group to organize and get involved. It can start with simply putting a donation button on your Instagram post and taking action about an issue that is important to you.

New tactics and tools will emerge in organizing, but it’s always important to stay engaged and amplify our voices. “This work needs to take place interpersonally in your everyday life,” said Bhandari, and thus, organizing will and must occur beyond electoral and issue campaigns.