Since the Presidential Inauguration, watching the government’s actions has been especially rough for people of color (POC). Not that every day isn’t already rough for us but with the recent Executive Orders passed which threaten the rights of so many marginalized groups, getting through one day at a time is even more frustrating, exhausting and draining for so many of us.
And those of us with white friends who are blinded by their privilege and just don’t seem to grasp how dire the situation is are increasingly finding ourselves placed in difficult positions where we must choose between salvaging friendships now wrought with tension or standing our ground and calling our friends out on their microaggressive behavior and demanding better from them. Oftentimes, they mean well but end up repeatedly putting their foot in their mouths and normally we’d let it slide. But these aren’t normal times and we cannot afford to let anything slide that dehumanizes us and contributes to the systems in place that deny us our rights.
So frequently have I been subjected to microaggressive language over the last several weeks, that I have compiled a list of things which have actually been said to me multiple times by well-meaning white people including friends, but which have just proven to be harmful rhetoric which further perpetuates the racism that runs rampant far more visibly now than what it seemed before. I am certain that almost every POC has had these and similar things said to them. Frankly, we are tired of it and it needs to stop and I’m going to particularly address our white friends and explain exactly why they shouldn’t say the following to us.
1. “I don’t see color. We are all the same.”
This is a classic. Colorblind ideology: seemingly good in theory, but awful in practice and counterproductive to progress.
First of all, you had better see our color because we’re damn proud of it. See it, appreciate it. Our complexion is a big part of who we are, our identities and histories. We are all human, yes, and it’s beautiful. But we are undeniably different and are treated as such. Which is why we’re in this mess in the first place. Acknowledge this.
We must celebrate both our differences and our common humanity together. Honestly, a homogeneous society kind of sucks and doesn’t often allow for much challenge and growth if everything is pretty much the same. But power and strength lie in diversity and inclusion where we can learn and grow from each other. So see our color and love us as we are because it is a part of us, not in spite of it.
2. “I have nothing to do with that [insert form of racism].”
News flash: You have everything to do with it. Anyone born with the privileges that come with being white perpetuates and benefits from racism. There is no getting around it. But what you can do with this privilege is use it to your advantage to speak up to amplify and support the voices of marginalized groups. You may not feel responsible for those who are outright racist, but it is still 100% your problem. It matters that you speak up and use your voice in the struggle. You can help end racism. POC cannot do it alone.
Do not dismiss our anger just because you don’t like it or can’t handle it. It’s completely valid and we will express it how and when we please. White people do not get to decide how POC react to and fight our oppression. We have been fighting a long time and have every right to be angry because we’re still fighting while some are just now waking up to this reality. Give us space and time to be angry, accept it as part of our journeys, and understand that the anger comes from a place of great pain. Deal with it the same way we deal with ignorance daily.
4. “Your aggressive tone makes me not want to try or be your ally.”
Your allyship should not ever be conditional on whether we are polite in tone or not. If it is, you are being selfish and will prove to be useless in the resistance. POC need allies who will stand with us through it all, both the good and the bad. Our humanity should be enough for you to be our ally and should never be based upon how our tone comes across when we speak and express ourselves. POC should never have to convince you we are worth fighting for. We are worth it. And if we have to prove it, you are no ally to us at all and never were.
5. “Why are you being mean? Speak to me nicely.”
To put it simply, don’t be a baby. Racism is harsher and more brutal than any “mean” words we use to call you out. We aren’t being mean, we are telling the truth and it won’t be pretty. Again, any anger or frustration we express is fully warranted. The truth hurts, but racism hurts far, far worse.
6. “How dare you accuse me of being a racist, one of the worst things ever???”
See the above explanation. If you think being called a racist is worse than the actual racist and horrific crimes committed against POC, as history and current events have shown and continue to show us, then your ignorance and self-centeredness are off the charts. Open your eyes. RACISM KILLS.
7. “I don’t need to educate myself.”
Oh yes, you do. And POC will not do it for you. Pay us for our work and emotional labor if you want our help to guide and raise you out of your ignorance. The work we do is not easy. Every time we call you out and willingly try to educate you a little, we’re doing you a favor. But it is not our job to teach you. Do your own research. The internet is free, full of resources and at your disposal.
8. “Not all white people/white women …”
Yes, all white people. All white people benefit from racism. The same way “yes all men” applies when we fight sexism because they benefit from it. Here’s a graphic to explain this concept succinctly.
Furthermore, white feminism is a problem. Feminism, or any movement for that matter, must be intersectional. Racism, classism, sexuality, disability, etc., it must be inclusive of all this and more. False solidarity will get us nowhere. We cannot talk of “sisterhood” in feminism, for instance, if we cannot first acknowledge that women of color, in particular, have additional struggles white women have never and will never face.
9. “Stop making generalizations about white people.”
The generalizations made about white people when POC collectively group them together are not harmful because white people hold all the power in society which protects them, whereas POC hold no power and the generalizations made about us are dangerous and can, in fact, harm us by reinforcing negative stereotypes about us. There is a significant difference here and false equivalences must not be thrown around. We must be conscious of this.
10. “47 percent of us (white women) voted Hillary …”
Women of color did our part during the election. We showed up. The majority of white women didn’t. You may be part of the 47%, good for you, but you’re still part of the whole demographic of white women in general, so you can’t distance yourself from it just because it makes you uncomfortable. It’s about accountability. Own it. Unfortunately, the 53% are your shame. You are responsible for holding your own accountable and getting them to educate themselves. Grouping you along with the white women who voted for this administration won’t hurt anything other than your ego. As citizens and fellow human beings, we are responsible for our communities and those like us. We are our sister’s keeper.
11. “You’re being divisive.”
No, actually we’re not. White people divided us by race and created the social construct of race in the first place. This is history. We are just holding up a mirror to you to see the racism internalized and conditioned within you so you can better yourself. We all have to work hard to unlearn racism and beat it out of ourselves. As previously stated, when we call you out, it’s a favor to you.
12. “You see racism everywhere.”
Racism is everywhere. It is in every aspect of life and affects POC daily. Just because you don’t see it, it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. It isn’t just the overt, in-your-face racism we’re talking about. It’s the subtle, covert microaggressions around us every day that are just as harmful too. Pay closer attention, you’ll start seeing it.
13. “I’m not racist, I have black/brown friends!”
Except that’s not how racism works. Please see above. You can have friends of color and still say and do racist things without meaning to. Besides, you being friends with POC is not doing us a favor, nor does it prevent racist behavior on your part by default. It’s practically the bare minimum. Don’t expect credit for it.
14. “You’re not listening to me. You’re hurting my feelings.”
This is not about feelings, this is about fighting injustice and oppression and correcting it. You must decenter your feelings and consider the very real dangers POC are facing. You contribute to the silencing of POC’s voices when you make this about how you feel. And believe it or not, your friends of color have always listened to you and prioritized your feelings first to make sure you are comfortable but we cannot afford to put your comfort first anymore. Lives are at stake. Understand that. It is time for you to listen to us when we speak of our experiences which you will never truly understand.
15. “Reverse racism …”
Ok, don’t even go there. It does not exist. It does not go both ways. None of that. POC in majority-white societies cannot be racist to white people. Racism is prejudice + power. Nevermind what the dictionary says, it’s inaccurate anyway and is written by white men the same way history was so it’s not very reliable in comparison to what goes on in real life. POC might be prejudiced, sure (which I might add is usually in reaction to how poorly we are treated by white people), but we hold no societal/structural/systemic power to discriminate. So to reiterate: Reverse racism doesn’t exist. It’s not up for debate. Discussion closed. The end.
Having been on the receiving end of these and more, I can tell you it honestly is damaging and hurtful especially coming from friends. I could probably handle seeing the KKK on my front lawn because at least I know where they stand in their beliefs and I’ll know what I’m up against, but what I cannot take after so many times is someone who claims to be a good friend, yet refuses to show empathy, compassion and understanding for those who are adversely affected by things that don’t affect them as much, if at all.
I expect better from those I call my friends, I demand better, I insist on it. The time to choose which side of history we’re on is NOW. Each of us must make this choice. Neutrality or apathy is not an option. And I want, no I need, to know that my friends stand with me the same way I stand with them. It starts with being humble, acknowledging our faults and owning when we slip up and hurt our most vulnerable friends, and realizing there is much work to be done both within ourselves and out in the world.
Everyone must play their role in the resistance against fascism which is rising again so quickly. And we must get to work now. Or we all lose.
Miranda Deebrah is an Indo-Guyanese writer and storyteller based in New York. Proud of her roots and heritage, she is an advocate for South Asian voices not yet heard and the stories not yet told. She is passionate about the arts and their ability to create change in the world and hopes to make her own contributions through her work. Her interests include traveling, reading biographies, spending evenings at the theater, reenacting choreography from Lady Gaga’s music videos, taking flying trapeze lessons, and making all kinds of magic happen.
Over the past few weeks we’ve all seen Mindy Kaling shoulder the blame for misrepresenting the South Asian diaspora in her work. I want to expose us to the flip side. She’s not “Indian enough” for some in our communities and “not American enough” for mainstream television and media. But I don’t know a single South Asian living abroad who doesn’t feel this dissonance. We’re a generation born to parents who strived to stay connected to their homeland but knew they had to assimilate to survive. Many of us got lost in the mix. I definitely did. And from the looks of it, Kaling did too.
I feel like I’ve oscillated between these two extremes all my life. I’ve had moments of code-switching — performing as a white version of myself, melting into the groups around me. And moments of being a “coconut” (or an “oreo” depending on where you come from) — suddenly donning an accent as if Hindi was my first language. It wasn’t conscious. It also wasn’t fully unconscious.
It wasn’t until I watched Netflix’s“Never Have I Ever” as a 35-year-old mother of two that I realized what teenage Ambika was up against. Still wearing tank tops in secret, while girls my age had moved on to the midriff-baring trend of the early 2000s. Not thinking it was okay to explore my sexuality. Not seeing that sometimes I knew what was better for me than my parents did. Not understanding that it was okay to expand my romantic interests beyond the few Indian boys I knew. And then I rewatched “The Mindy Project” while on maternity leave with my second kid. And I ate it up.
I rewound dialogue as Dr. Lahiri got engaged, left a man who lost his drive, fell in love with the unexpectedly handsome curmudgeon, got pregnant, learned to mother, and found a new version of herself. She addressed her pregnant body insecurities on-screen (in “What to Expect When You’re Expanding — brilliant!). She grappled with her ambitions in the face of motherhood. She owned who she was when most of us were taught not to. She dated outside of her race. Her audacity and levity gave me so much oomph at a time when I needed it the most.
Art comes from lived experience. And when individuals reflect their life back to the masses through art, it’s a tenuous balance. Comedians in particular have to toe a fine line between hyperbole and reality, having the paradoxical job of speaking the truth (the dark truth, often), and simultaneously making people laugh.
Even though I didn’t speak Spanish — my parents don’t speak Spanish — early in my career when I would portray my parents in a bit, they would have an accent. They would speak in broken English. Any time I would talk about my mom, it was like, ‘ay, mija.’ My mom doesn’t call me ‘mija.’ My mom will leave me a voice message and be like, ‘hey, girl!’ She talks like me. You know what I mean?
This is the inherent paradox that exists in Velma as well. Kaling, as she often does, takes her own experiences as a young Indian girl growing up against the backdrop of white America, and amplifies them. And now, Kaling is a grown, Indian woman whose career is evolving against the backdrop of an America, too.
Critics across different racial groups frequently talk about “the representation trap.” Even if a minority group is represented in a piece of art, literature, film, or television, the manifestation of that group is still filtered through the white gaze. In Ismail Muhammed’s New York Times piece “Can Black Literature Escape the Representation Trap,” he says:
Our current problem isn’t an insufficient amount of Black representation in literature but a surfeit of it. And in many cases that means simply another marketing opportunity, a way to sell familiar images of Blackness to as broad an audience as possible.
The debate about whether minority artists properly represent their cohort is marred with capitalism and white supremacy. When so many industries are gate-kept by the typical, euro-centric, generationally rich man, is there really any way to be wholly true to our experience?
Let’s not forget that many of us (or maybe all of us?) came up in a society that devalues women, and horrifically devalues people of color. Let’s not forget that the majority of executives across every field still don’t look like us (if by chance you’ve forgotten, read this piece byRuchika Tulshyan). Let’s not forget that when people are introduced to something foreign and unknown to them, their default is to reject it (again, if you’ve forgotten, read about “the mere exposure effect” and racism).
I’m unsure how Kaling has inherited the immense responsibility of representing all of the South Asian American diaspora? And is then being criticized for her representation of it. Third-generation South Asians are very different from second-generation, who are very different from first-generation. Our identities and how we fit into American culture, mainstream media, and business, are still forming as we speak. We are not a monolith.
And plenty of men have done exactly what Kaling is being criticized for, without anywhere near the same level of criticism. All men I (hopefully, we) love.
Riz Ahmed has taken on roles in which his race isn’t the central focus. Hasan Minaj doesn’t get criticized when he uses stereotypical accents to represent South Asians or for using politics as a launch pad for his content. We don’t hate on Kumail Nanjiani when he suddenly gets a six-pack, even though he also once played a nerd. I loved when Aziz Ansari went to Italy to make pasta and didn’t make it Indian.
Why are we tearing down one of the only women in America who is working to showcase South Asian culture and people? Because she uses humor and caricature? Because she’s not putting herself in the mindset of the type of Indian person who has learned to thrive at the intersection of their upbringing and their environment? Newsflash: that person doesn’t exist!
It’s not on Kaling to represent every dimension of this diaspora. She’s done her job.
I’m a proud, second-generation, Indian American woman, married to an Indian American man, with two Indian American children. I was nerdy just like Kaling. I had arm hair just like Devi. I pined after white boys in my teen years just like Bela from the HBO Max’s “Sex Lives of College Girls,” too. And Kaling is an absolute inspiration to me.
I see a South Asian woman who chose to have children on her own. Whose career, post-children, skyrocketed. Who committed herself and her craft to tackle the most deep-rooted stigmas of South Asian culture — mental health, sex, and interracial relationships — while still honoring the way it manifested in her life.
It’s now our job to get out into the world and dimensionalize our cohort. Show the world what us supposed “ABCDs” have grown up and done; who we’ve become and what we’ve accomplished.
It’s what I’m trying to do. It’s what I’m trying to fight for when I’m told things like “maybe tone down the diversity angle in your writing, we don’t want publishers to think they’re just buying a diversity book.”
We still exist in a house of cards. Why are we kicking the building blocks of our own home?
I’ll leave you with this quote from Kaling herself:
People get scared when you try to do something, especially when it looks like you’re succeeding. People do not get scared when you’re failing. It calms them. But when you’re winning, it makes them feel like they’re losing or, worse yet, that maybe they should’ve tried to do something too, but now it’s too late. And since they didn’t, they want to stop you. You can’t let them.
I hope this woman never gets discouraged. We need her in more ways than one.
The opinions expressed by the writer of this piece, and those providing comments thereon (collectively, the “Writers”), are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Brown Girl Magazine, Inc., or any of its employees, directors, officers, affiliates, or assigns (collectively, “BGM”). BGM is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the Writers. It is not the intention of Brown Girl Magazine to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. If you have a complaint about this content, please email us at Staff@browngirlmagazine.com. This post is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you’d like to submit a guest post, please follow the guidelines we’ve set forth here.
June 21, 2023June 22, 2023 4min readBy BrownGirlMag
The following open letter is written by Hindus for Human Rights, an organization advocating for pluralism, civil and human rights in South Asia and North America, rooted in the values of Hindu faith: shanti (peace), nyaya (justice) and satya (truth). They provide a Hindu voice of resistance to caste, Hindutva (Hindu nationalism), racism, and all forms of bigotry and oppression.
Dear President Biden,
As Indian-Americans, human rights organizations, and concerned allies, we are writing to urge you to engage publicly and meaningfully to push back against the Indian government’s escalating attacks on human rights and democracy, especially ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the United States.
Despite objective evidence that India’s democracy is under critical attack, you have not spoken out about this crisis. In early 2023, Indian authorities conducted retaliatory raids on the BBC’s Delhi and Mumbai offices for releasing a documentary about Prime Minister Modi. The week before the Summit for Democracy, the Indian government made three successive attacks on Indian democracy. First, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party expelled Rahul Gandhi from Parliament. Second, the Indian government shut the internet down in Punjab, severely impacting the rights for Sikhs to peacefully organize and protest. And third, the Indian Supreme Court ruled that Indians can be found guilty by association for terrorism. And yet, not one representative from the Biden Administration said anything about even one of these developments. Instead, while Islamophobic violence gripped India in late March, you invited Prime Minister Modi to speak at the Summit for Democracy. Mr. Modi visits DC at a time when the state of Manipur has experienced heavy communal and anti-Christian violence after Modi’s ruling party pushed an initiative to undermine Indigenous rights in the state.
“As privileged members of the diaspora, it’s our duty to challenge the repressive practices of the current regime in India. We stand in solidarity with those … opposed to the government’s attempt to reshape the country into a Hindu nationalist state. https://t.co/RxU9wUy2Zy
— Hindus for Human Rights (@Hindus4HR) June 19, 2023
Even when confronted with questions by Indian reporters about human rights in India, your administration has only had private two-way conversations about how both of our governments can always improve. Quite frankly, we find it unacceptable to see such equivocation on Indian democracy from an administration that has been strident in its defense of American democracy and the rule of law.
India is one of the fastest autocratizing nations in the world, mostly thanks to the current government. Freedom House has rated India as a “partly-free” country for the past three years, and has blamed Prime Minister Modi’s government for a rise in discriminatory policies, including persecution against Muslims and caste-based violence against Dalit and Adivasi communities; harassment of civil society, protestors, academia and the media, and the targeting of political opponents. It has also rated Indian-administered Kashmir as “not free,” citing violations of human, civil, and political rights after the Modi government revoked the territory’s autonomous status. In Reporters Without Borders‘ press freedom ranking, India has dropped to 161 out of 180 countries in 2023. India has appeared in the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Impunity Index — which examines accountability for unsolved journalists’ murders — every year for the past 15 years and currently ranks in 11th place worldwide. According to PEN America’s Freedom to Write Index, in 2022, India was one of the top 10 countries that jailed writers globally. The Varieties of Democracy Institute characterizes India as an “electoral autocracy” and blames India’s descent into autocracy on Prime Minister Modi. And the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has said India has been one of the top 15 countries at risk for a mass atrocity event every year since 2017, which reflects the toxicity of Indian politics under Modi.
“If the President meets with PM Modi, then the protection of the Muslim minority in a majority Hindu India is something worth mentioning…if you do not protect the rights of ethnic minorities, there’s a strong possibility India starts pulling apart.” Thank you @BarackObama! https://t.co/RhcMNfiqaR
— Hindus for Human Rights (@Hindus4HR) June 22, 2023
Given the magnitude of this crisis, we ask you to engage directly with Indian-American and human rights civil society leaders to explore solutions to address India’s human rights crisis. We also ask you to employ the tools at your disposal to ensure that the Indian government cannot attack Indians’ human rights with impunity. As the 2022 Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor report details, several government individuals have committed human rights violations that, under U.S. law, would qualify them to be sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Act. Indian security forces that have engaged in human rights violations should have security assistance rescinded, under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
Finally, we urge you to publicly call on the Indian government to honor its commitments to human rights, including calling on Prime Minister Modi and his cabinet to halt the use of anti-terror laws to arbitrarily detain political critics. You can publicly denounce the rising numbers of political prisoners and the weaponization of the rule of law in India to shut down criticism. Even if you are not willing to personally criticize the Prime Minister, you have ample opportunity to criticize the Indian government’s misuse of public trust and public institutions to consolidate power and undermine the will of the Indian people.
This morning in DC, on the lawn of The White House at the welcome reception for Modi.
As President of the United States of America, you hold a unique position to lead the fight against authoritarianism. Prime Minister Modi will listen to you when you speak. But he and his allies will only change if you take a stand publicly. We urge you to listen to those of us who care about India and ensure that one man cannot steal the futures and the rights of our loved ones in India.
— Signed by countless organizations and individuals leading the charge (linked here).
Every year on August 5th, the Sikh American community remembers one of our community’s most devastating tragedies in recent memory — the Oak Creek massacre. On this day in 2012, a white supremacist gunman entered the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, a gurdwara (Sikh house of worship) in Oak Creek, Wisconsin where he shot and killed six worshippers and severely injured others. This violent attack was the deadliest mass shooting targeting Sikh Americans in U.S. history, and at the time, was one of the worst attacks on a U.S. house of worship in decades. Six worshippers — Paramjit Kaur Saini, Sita Singh, Ranjit Singh, Prakash Singh, Suveg Singh Khattra, and Satwant Singh Kaleka — were killed on that horrific day. An additional community member, Baba Punjab Singh, was severely paralyzed and ultimately passed away from complications related to his injuries in 2020. Others, including Bhai Santokh Singh and responding police officer and hero, Lt. Brian Murphy, were seriously wounded during the shooting.
In 2022, the community came together to demonstrate that we are undaunted. My organization, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) joined in supporting the anniversary observance at Oak Creek: a remembrance eventcentered around the theme of “Heal, Unite, Act.” The Oak Creek Sikh community hosted a series of in-person events, including the 10th Annual Oak Creek Sikh Memorial Anniversary Candlelight Remembrance Vigil on Friday, August 5, 2022. The program included a representative from the White House, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, Oak Creek Mayor Dan Bukiewicz, and representatives of the families who lost loved ones. Being there in Oak Creek 10 years after the tragedy was deeply meaningful — both to see the inspiring resilience of this community and to remember how much remains to be done.
In D.C., SALDEF continues to fight for policies that improve the lives of Sikh Americans. I had the honor of chairing the most recent iteration of the Faith-Based Security Advisory Council at the Department of Homeland Security, providing recommendations at the request of Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas. Consequently, the three subcommittees published a report that emphasized the importance of greater accessibility, greater equity, and greater transparency in counterterrorism efforts that for too long revolved around surveilling populations like the one that was senselessly attacked at the Oak Creek gurdwara in 2012. Leading the FBSAC as a Sikh woman, and representing a community that was highly targeted alongside Muslims by both white supremacists and in post-9/11 counterterrorism profiling, was an opportunity to push the Council to advocate more fiercely for further information-sharing between communities and law enforcement, extending grant opportunities for security for Gurdwaras and other houses of worship, and building trust between the government and Sikh communities. In addition, I advocated for accountability for the damage needlessly caused to Muslim, Arab, South Asian, and Hindu (MASSAH) communities by federal agencies historically pursuing “counterterrorism” objectives which has resulted in eroded trust rather than the development of strong partnerships.
Although we have made great strides in this country, there is still more to do. Through our work we have partnered with many across the nation to come together and find solutions through tenets central to Sikhism and America — unity, love, and equality.SALDEF continues to strongly endorse the policy framework articulated across the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act (H.R. 350 / S. 963); Justice for Victims of Hate Crimes Act; and the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) Improvement Act (H.R. 6825). We believe strongly in mandating federal agencies to create dedicated offices to investigate domestic terrorism; allowing prosecutors to feasibly indict perpetrators of hate crimes; and allowing religious nonprofits to access federal funding to enhance their own security.
While 11 years have passed, the effects of the Oak Creek shooting are never far from the minds of Sikh American advocates and the community we serve. SALDEF will not stop taking a stand against senseless violence and hate crimes. We continue to work in unity with our community and movement partners, and fight for better policies that will actively keep all of our communities safe. Through tragedy, we find hope. We know there can be a world where people from all backgrounds and cultures can practice their faith freely and, even though it has eluded the Sikh American community in the past, we still believe this world is possible.
Photo Courtesy of Amrita Kular
The opinions expressed by the writer of this piece, and those providing comments thereon (collectively, the “Writers”), are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Brown Girl Magazine, Inc., or any of its employees, directors, officers, affiliates, or assigns (collectively, “BGM”). BGM is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the Writers. It is not the intention of Brown Girl Magazine to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. If you have a complaint about this content, please email us at Staff@browngirlmagazine.com. This post is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you’d like to submit a guest post, please follow the guidelines we’ve set forth here.
Kiran Kaur Gill is an accomplished professional with exemplary executive experience. In her role as Executive Director, she is responsible … Read more ›
Miranda Deebrah is an Indo-Guyanese writer and storyteller based in New York. Proud of her roots and heritage, she is an advocate for South Asian voices not yet heard and the stories not yet told. She is passionate about the arts and their ability to create change in the world and hopes to make her own contributions through her work. Her interests include traveling, reading biographies, spending evenings at the theater, reenacting choreography from Lady Gaga’s music videos, taking flying trapeze lessons, and making all kinds of magic happen.
