A few months back, I watched the Tamil movie, Jai Bhim, a movie that narrated the struggle of Sengani, a woman from the Irular community in Tamil Nadu who takes on a legal fight against the Tamil Nadu police as she searches for her husband, Rajakannu, who is murdered in police custody over a false… Continue reading Jai Bhim, Justice Chandru, and a pleasant surprise
Thendral
Why Do You Fear My Way So Much?
As we speak, several academics, poets, and activists - Varavara Rao, Hany Babu, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj (since given bail), Stan Swamy (who passed away) Gautam Navlakha, Anand Teltumbde, G. N. Saibaba - are/were languishing in Indian prisons simply because they raised their voices against injustice. The Indian state has wrongfully charged them under the… Continue reading Why Do You Fear My Way So Much?
Happy Red Books Day!
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published The Communist Manifesto on 21 February 1848. Red Books Day celebrates radical books that inspire people's movements! Join us on Red Books Day on February 21, 2022 to mark the 174th anniversary of the publishing of the Communist Manifesto! For more information, check out https://redbooksday.org/ Last year, on 21 February… Continue reading Happy Red Books Day!
A song on Thendral :)
One of my favorite musicians, Tajmeel Sherif, singing an Ilaiyaraaja song is the musical version of a gentle breeze: Thendral in Tamil. When Tajmeel released this cover, I thought, well, this blog has a song 🙂 I miss Tamil. https://open.spotify.com/track/5Pj5jYUArvV4a4xIyx24zv?si=495493d922fb4536 Thendral Vanthu Ennai Thodum Thendral vanthu ennai thodum[A breeze is touching me]Aaha satham intri mutham… Continue reading A song on Thendral 🙂
Running Orders by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha
They call us now,before they drop the bombs.The phone ringsand someone who knows my first namecalls and says in perfect Arabic“This is David.”And in my stupor of sonic booms and glass-shattering symphoniesstill smashing around in my headI think, Do I know any Davids in Gaza?They call us now to sayRun.You have 58 seconds from the end… Continue reading Running Orders by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha
Oppression and Resistance : What it means to be Asian and Asian American
A couple of sociologist friends (Dr. Min Li and Dr. Yiqing Yang) and I wrote a short piece for AAPI Heritage month in the Asheville Citizen Times. We had a longer piece. Thought it might be a good place to share it here! This May, as we commemorate another Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI)… Continue reading Oppression and Resistance : What it means to be Asian and Asian American
A 2020 list: Books
It's late but we can always make a book list, right? Good Reads lets me document the books I read in a year. Of the books I read in 2020, I have some favorites - only because they taught me to think of the world in a different way, or articulated a feeling that I've… Continue reading A 2020 list: Books
Intersectionality in Social Movements: How can Social Movements be Intersectional?
Published paper in Mobilization! You can find the full paper here. Here is the abstract: Intersectional Grievances in Care work: Framing Inequalities of Gender, Class, and Caste How do social movements include or exclude intersectional grievances of individual participants? What do variations in framing within the movement tell us about including intersectional grievances? I address… Continue reading Intersectionality in Social Movements: How can Social Movements be Intersectional?
Travel Tickets by Samih al-Qasim
The day I am killed,my killer will find travel tickets in my pocket One, to peaceOne, to fields and rainAnd one, to the conscience of humankind I beg you,Do not stay and waste themKiller of mine, I beg you to use them.Travel. -- Samih al-Qasim Samih al Qasim is a Palestinian poet. The translation does… Continue reading Travel Tickets by Samih al-Qasim
Many Shades of Gender Violence and their Intersections
As part of a Culture in Conversations series held at Western Carolina University (WCU), I had the opportunity to speak on the topic of gender violence in a panel session. It was a wonderful session and felt great to participate in the panel with these amazing speakers from WCU. Link to the full session here.… Continue reading Many Shades of Gender Violence and their Intersections
Preethi Krishnan 