This is booktv on cspan2. [inaudible conversations] good evening. Good evening. Welcome to politics and prose at busboys and poets in brooklyn. Thank you all for coming out this evening. Politics prose is very pleased to join busboys and poets in bringing authors and events to brooklyn. Now, if you would, please silence your mobile phones. After the event well have question and answers. Books can be purchased at our register on the way out the door. You can have them signed by this at this table right here at the door heading out of this space, and ill give it over to my friend andy. Thank you so much, and welcome, everybody. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. How many are here for the first time . Oh, its always exciting you have not been here for the first time. And this one, okay. [laughter] how many are lying . I want to thank you all, and i want to also say a very special thank you to politics prose and the partnership that we have with them. Were very thrilled to be part of this great partnership. Two great brands, we feel, coming together makes five great brands, right . So its great to have you here. This is a very special event because it has two of my favorite people. Langston hughes and deepa iyer. [cheers and applause] so deepa, of course, as probably everyone knows here is a Racial Justice issue person. Shes been working on these issues for a long time, and she works on immigration justice as well. And together she and i are on the board of race forward which is an organization that deals with Racial Justice on a national basis. And its great that this conversation about race is taking place and this is being extended beyond this black white paradigm but really bringing other people of color into the picture because its going to bring everybody to a unified, cohesive, human family, so to speak. Of course, we too sing america is a Langston Hughes poem, and it speaks about being black in america at a time where you feel like youre the outsider. And as many of you probably know, busboys and poets is named after Langston Hughes. He was, he worked as a busboy while writing poetry. And for those of you who may not know, it was back in 1924 when the Young Langston was working at the Wardman Park Hotel which is in woodley park. Its still there today. He was working as a busboy, slipped some of his poetry next to a famous poet by the name of lindsay. While he was working as a busboy, he was being entrepreneurial and slipped some of that poetry next to lindsay who in turn read the poem, he was so impressed by it that the next day he announced to the press he had found the next busboy poet. When i first was opening busboys and poets, we actually had a poem that was sketched on the top of the mural at our 14 and b location, and it was let america be america again which, again, speaks to the same issues that i too sing america speaks, the idea that america is this dichotomy, this sort of confused adolescent where it feels like its supposed to be something, but it doesnt quite act up to its standard. And i think thats the thing, i think, that makes america so interesting and to full of possibilities. Even back in 1936 when the poem was written, the young Langston Hughes, a black man, living here many this country which was not a very has pit call place for black young men in the 1930s, he saw the possibilities of what america could be. He saw that america was a place that had the potential to be amazing. To be the place where the dreamers dreamed. The place where no one is going to be crushed by one above. The place where he says i am the white man being pulled and pushed apart. I am the indian pushed from the land. I am the negro bearing slaverys scars. I am the immigrant clutching to the hope i seek but finding the same old stupid plan of dog eat dog the mighty [inaudible] this is about the immigrant experience that Langston Hughes was experiencing back in the 1930s. And some of that still happens today, doesnt it . This is why i think this book is so important to talk about the issues. I make up 50 of in this book because im muslim and arab, and [laughter] so im excited, looking forward. I havent had a chance to read it, it just came out, so ill look bard to reading it, and ill look forward to the conversation and the q a afterwards. Id like to present to you deepa iyer. [cheers and applause] this is not deepa, by the way, but shell introduce deepa. One minute until the star of the show comes on. I want to thank im jenelle wong, and i want to thank busboys and poets and politics prose for hosting this very special event, this reading and this discussion about we sing america by our friend, deepa iyer. To get us started tonight, we are very fortunate to have someone here to do a special spoken word performance. A poet, a teaching artist, a journal editor and a lawyer whose affiliations include bloomberg, busboys and poets, beltway poetry quarterly and u. S Political Action council. Please join me in welcoming her. [applause] good evening. As many of you know, hindus and south asians around the world have been celebrating the holiday yesterday and today. Its known as the festival of lights. When light overcame darkness. My parents immigrated to the United States from sri lanka. The island of lanka plays a role in the story of the holiday. I wrote this poem yesterday, and its first poem id like to share tonight, because for many of us in talking about our families immigrating to this country and talking about the experiences weve had here, its also important to acknowledge the histories of where we come from and some of the reasons for why many of us will not return. Look for light in sri lanka. We celebrate the night when light overcame the darkness, when rama returned from exile, when returned from lanka and the grips of the demon king. Seetha was abducted, according to mythology. Many are vanished. It is becoming history. When the government commits atrocities with impunity, keeps peoples faiths a mystery, agrees to reforms without accountability, where is the light . What can we see . Seetha suffered abuses in the evil custody. Many are now being tortured at the hands of the police and military. What are their names . When will they be free . Where is the light . What can we see . The flames from our lamps guide us. We carry our fires like torches. If we keep seeking justice, will it be achieved . We march toward the night when light will overcome this darkness. [applause] thank you. The last poem id like to share with you is one i wrote a few years ago when i was invited by the executive director of south asianamericans leading together [laughter] who at the time was deepa iyer to be one of the activists and writers who were doing pieces for the salt blog as reflections during the oneYear Anniversary of the oak creek murders. This poem reflects on the experiences of certain communities in our country, but i dedicate it to all victims of xenophobia at the hands of our fellow americans. America, the beautiful. When my parents moved to this country, they expected the warmth of melting pot but not the burn of go home spray painted across the first house they thought was theirs now. As a child, i stood beside my Mother Holding up Grocery Store checkout lines because the cashier didnt want to understand her foreigntongued english. Just like she didnt want to understand when i shamefully descended kindergarten bus asking why do they call me the color of ketchup . After all, i was born speaking american. Just like my parents didnt want to understand when my brother and i flew home in the year after 9 11 and told them of the Airport Security agent who looked at the two of us and said i have to pull one of you out of line for questioning. You can decide which one. Like my 3yearold niece didnt understand when i explained, your mom is from india and your dad is from sri lanka, so youre from both. Replying, but i was born in minneapolis. Im from this is america, from this is our home, from we have been here for decades, from were not going back now. Im from politics being something to discuss at dinner parties but hide behind learned vocabularies of american assimilation in public. Im from still feeling like a foreigner in certain places in this country where i would blame myself for being there if something were to happen to me. Over 50 years ago, four black children in alabama were murdered at their church because they were proof of what america could be. Over four years ago six sikh adults in wisconsin were murdered because they were proof of what america still is. In february three Muslim Students in North Carolina were murdered in their home because they were proof of what america still is. In june nine black adults in South Carolina were murdered in their church because they were proof of what america has always been; a country whose fingerprints are caked with the blood of those it calls other. As it claims to crown thy good with brotherhood, hoodie, white hood, yamaka, cowboy hat, do rag, baseball cap, turban, habit, head dress, hid job hijab. None of these things is more american than the others. [applause] thank you so much. And please join me in welcoming deepa iyer, the author of we too sing america. Deepa is currently a senior fellow at the center for social inclusion. She led south asianamericans leading together, and she was legal director at the asianpacific American Legal Resource Center here in d. C. Deepa has also taught in a program i direct, the asianamerican studies program at the university of maryland. As many of you know, deepa has been at the forefront of many fights for justice in our communities. She has never been silenced. She has helped lift our voices, and she has done so with love. And that is what we see in this book, a lifting up of the voices of so many whose stories were not told in the wake of 9 11. Its a passionate call to action and all under the banner of love for her fellow activists and Community Members. Please help me welcome deepa iyer. [cheers and applause] hi, everybody. How are you . Are you good . Yes . So great to see so many of you here, so many faces and smiles from a lot of different jobs i have apparently held. [laughter] in washington. Its just great to be here at home with all of you to talk about the themes in this book. And for the sake of time, im actually going to keep my thank yous very brief. I had the opportunity at our book launch last week in new york to really thank a lot of people, and theyre all named in these acknowledgments in here, but just a few shout outs to a few folks who i think are here. Julie enzo, my editor, really helped me climb a lot of mountains while writing this book. And i also wanted to thank a couple of other people, victoria, christina, kay lin who have also helped with so Much Research and getting this book out there. And thank you to busboys and poets. Andy, you know, i really appreciate that you came tonight. I know how busy your schedule is, and ive told andy before that i literally wrote most of this book at a busboys in poets, the one in heightsville. And, of course, thanks to politics prose for hosting and presenting this. And to jenelle. Jenelles leadership as the asianamerican studies program at the university of maryland is really a model how we should link up community and academia. So thank you. [cheers and applause] and, yes, weve got a lot of maryland folks here. And for that amazing, powerful performance, im so happy that we could integrate art and spoken word into these conversations, because i think that it is critical to have cultural spaces to talk about this. So thank you for being here. So we too sing america, a book whose title draws upon the raw injustice of Langston Hughes powerful poem is a love story to my community and to the people who stand up for us. Some who are professional activists and some who are moved to action because of attacks on who they are. Just a quick personal note. You could say that the post9 11 environment have shaped who i am as a person and as an activist, and its influenced my consciousness as a person of color. I was 28 and an attorney at the department of justice on 9 11, and for the past 14 years i have been submerged in policies and practices that many havent heard about from countering violent extremism to spending time in places like oak creek, wisconsin, the site of a horrific massacre targeting sikhs and in murfreesboro, temperature. And in that time tennessee. And in that time what has sustained me have been the people who have become part of my tribe. Now, theres a perception out there that the post9 11 backlash was limited to the months after 9 11, but thats simply not the case. It has actually become even more entricep. Ed over the last entrenched over the last 14 years. This book, i hope, puts in black and white print many of the stories which are not heard, not shared, not validated in a post 9 11 america where the forces of xenophobia, racial anxiety have marginalized a section of people based on their faith, immigration status and country of origin. The impact of the post9 11 climate means that our people are forced to confront the horror toes of hate violence that tears at fabric of families and communities. Our people have become known as the disappeared after being interrogated, profiled, detained and deported by our government through the conflation of National Security and immigration policies. Our people are told time and again that safety is elusive whether it is within the walls of our mosques, our temples. We receive daily signals through political rhetoric and the media that this is not our country, that we should go home. That we are diluting the true nature of america. That our languages u customs, traditions and backweaking work are breaking work are acceptable when it comes to the jobs many do not want to do but not acceptable to when it comes accessing rights, benefits and a country to belong to to feel safe of and to feel welcome. I want to share with you a part of the book that tells the story of some of these people from a community that has become very dear to me, the community in oak creek, wisconsin, where in 2012 a white supremacist barged into that communitys church and killed six people. It was early on a sunday morning in august 2012, and a woman was going about her morning routine. Her two sons wanted to sleep in a little longer, so she set out on her own to the local sikh temple of wisconsin. She was a familiar presence at the church which had had become a is second home to her family and to so many other sikhst in oak creek sikhs in oak creek. It sits on south howell street just a few miles from the milwaukee patient. On weekends sikh families gathered to pray and connect with one another. The dining hall was filled with the sounds of a people socializing and laughing during a free meal offered to anyone who came. They usually hung out with their friends and played football on sundays while their mother helped in the kitchen and prayer hall. But august 5, 2012, would not turn out to be a normal sunday for the oak creek community. Soon after his mother had left the house, news reached one of the boys that people in the sevenning were in danger. Details were scarce, and he rushed to the site. Authorities asked him to wait across the street in the parking lot of a Bowling Alley where he joined others also anxiously awaiting information. As the day wore on, many of the people who had been inside were allowed to leave, and a fuller picture began to emerge about the rampage that had occurs that sunday morning. Not seeing his mother and becoming increasingly anxious about her safety, he left the parking lot. He called his friends, and together they went from hospital to hospital hoping that she had been brought to one. It would be a full 11 hours before authorities finally notified that his mother had been one of six people fatally shot. When i first found out, i passed out. He told me. I woke up in an ambulance and immediately thought of my little brother. Telling him was the hardest thing ive ever done. This wasnt the future that she had envisioned for her family when she and her two sons moved to america from yaind in 2004 to join her husband who owned a number of gas stations in wisconsin. It wasnt the life that she had manned to build when she mustered up the courage a few years later to begin working at a medical factory in a nearby town. Her determination to care for her family, is a point of deep pride for her sons. 45 days later after his mother was killed, one son spoke about her in testimony before the United States senate. He said my mother was a brilliant woman, a reasonable woman. Everyone knew she was smart, but she never had the chance to get a formal education. He couldnt. As a hard working immigrant, she had to work long hours to feed her family and help us achieve our american dreams. This was more important to her than anything else, but now she is gone because of a man who hated her because she wasnt his religion or his color. She was an american, and this was not her american dream. The path to oak creek though began more than a endly ago. South asian, arab, hindu, muslim and sikh immigrants experienced backlash after 9 11, but hate violence gwen these communities has a much against these communities has a much larger history. Violence in the late 70s and early 90s when the iran hostage crisis and the persian gulf what occurred. Attitudes and no beliefs have moted violence against these motivated violation against these groups. Street violence targeting immigrants in more recent decades. The riots in bellingham, which occurred in the early part of the 20th century, are meaningful in understanding the roots of antiasian sentiment. At the time all along the west coast, chinese, korean, filipino, japanese and indian laborers were exploited for their labor. These racist attitudes reinforced by law such as the chinese exclusion act often took the form of actual violence. And thats what occurred on september 4, 1907, in bellingham where 500 white residents rounded up about 2,000 sikhs and hindus and locked them in the basement of the city hall. They intended to drive out imgrant laborers who worked under contract. And unsurprisingly, bellinghams xenophobic reaction to migrant labor reflected views institutionalized in laws and expressed in the media. The bellingham paper read the hindu is not a good citizen, and this country need not take the trouble to assimilate him. Our racial burdens already heavy enough to bear. What is interesting is that some of these same sentimentses are the ones we hear today. I arrived in oak creek five todays after the massacre occurred to pay my respects for the six victims. As i approached the site of the Memorial Service, i could see hundreds of people waiting in line outside, people of all races and faiths had gathered in the quintessential american space, a high school gymnasium, to mourn the sikh immigrants who had lost their lives to hate violence in americas heartland. The gym ec woes with the call and echoed with the call and response from the sikhs in the audience. As the Memorial Program began, we were asked to line up to view the open caskets. I tried to prepare myself for looking into the faces of the six innocent people who had lost their lives, but next to each casket stood their chirp. What to you say to a child who has lost a parent in an act of hate . Flanking one casket was a 14yearold. I murmured the only words of comfort and reassurance i could muster. Our Community Stand by you. I believed these words fully in my heart, but i also knew they could provide little solace at this time. As i returned to my feet, i saw two sikh american leaders who had become a visible presence. Our emigreses spoke volumes. Do embraces spoke volumes. What more could have been done by us, by the government after 9 11 to prevent this massacre from to conservativing . We would ask is ourselves these questions for months afterward. The Memorial Service proceeded with a number of speeches from Community Leaders and elected officials including attorney general eric holder who said, every, this sort of unfortunately, this sort of violence has become all too common. The public backlash that sikhs and other have experienced since 9 11 did not happen in a vacuum. This violence was reinforced by racist, antimuslim relatic, media narratives that stereotype and dehumanize these communities and by the governments own targeted practices that have profiled them. Thank you. I know that was a little deep, but thank you for listening. [applause] but in this climate, in this climate there are many who continue to push back and rise up and speak truth to power, and those are some of the voices that are in this book. But we need more. We need all of you in this room. Because at the same time that immigrants have been placed into chaos and struggle in a post9 11 america, significant, meaningful, transformative changes are happening in our nation. The Solidarity Economy and human rights and as voters. In we too sing america atrace the rolls of Muslim Americans, young activists. Undocumented young people, like eve, and jonathan, who their actionser ensuring the movement for immigrant rights is expansive and inclusive. At the time when the bodies and lives ofunder people are become a site of a battle with racism and xenophobeia, the american racial landscape undergoing a radical demographic transform make. The book explores questions. Why must muslim, arab we just the culture of american exceptionalism and decline the racial divide. How do communities of color find solidarity when wedge issues threaten to tear us apart. I believe we can build an exclusive multiracial community. I know it from the wronger you do each day and the stories of young people told in the book and the many still forming. Our resistance, resilience and audacity can be our inspiration and guide. So thank you for being here, for listening, forshiring, and becoming disrupters and bridgebuilders. With that it turn officer to janelle who is going facilitate an amazing discussion because we have to this is not just bookshelf book. I want this book to be used as tool and resource. There are questions in the back. You have index card on the table. Youre going to take a pledge to generate race talks later and we this to be something that can be used by people, not just read as a document or text. Thank you so much. Now back to janelle. [applause] i know youre all getting excited again. There are cards on your table so that you can write down some take pledge to start generating some ideas for race talks in the future. So, im really pleased to introduce you to some activists and they are going to have a conversation around some of the themes that deepa just spoke about. When i say your name, please come up to the stage. Ssrakhan. She works at the Washington Peace Center where she supports grassroots organizing on antiracism and criminal justice initiatives. Eve gomez is an [applause] eve is an daunted bengally youth undocumented bengali youth and student, ap resistance. Public. And, last but not least, shawnee banks, a local Muslim Community organizer and a recent [applause] graduate from the university of maryland. [cheers and applause] school of behavioral and social scientists. Are you settled . Okay. So, lets start this off with a question. Deepa, you write about the ongoing impact of 9 11 today, 14 years later. We continue to hear about this impact, the headlines over the past few months have included a sick father brutalized on his way to a Grocery Store in chicago, a muslim boy suspended for bringing in a homemade clock to school, and antimuslim rallies at mosques. At the same time, your book remind us that Government Policies and media narratives are reinforcing the negative perception of south asia arab, muslim and sikh immigrants. What is fueling the post 9 11 american environment and what are the implications for the communities being targeted and for all of us . Can everybody hear me . First i want to sea how humbled and honored i am to be up here with deepa, who ailes personal hero of mine, someone i look up to has given me a lot of hope. She mentioned something earlier that some of us war not professional activist or organizers. This irsurvival because her communities have been disappeared. Killed. I have an uncle who is dead because of the war on terror policies. If i dont organize, dont stand up, i dont have a chance of survival in the future. So i want to say that. And in terms of the post 9 11 environment i want to say we have to remember that american terrorism has been played out in the bodies of black and brown people since its inception. We have to keep that conflict in mind. It isnt post 9 11 we saw violence happening. Its been happening for a long time. What i want to talk about is state policies because the vigilante violence, the hate violence could not exist if we did not have state policies that say being muslim is equivalent to being a terrorrivity, which means youre a threat to this country. What happened since post 9 11, we have seen the bombings of seven muslim majority nations, two million muslims killed, communities in this country disappear. I come from the bronx, an immigrant community that was up documented and in the span of two week 70 was gone, and 14 years down the line we still see surveillance of our communities. A few weeks ago we saw a 14yearold muslim brought a itself had been any other person, a white child, the would have been seen as intelligent but he was seen as a potential terrorist. And we have seen right after that president barack obama goes in front of the United Nations and say that courting extremism is the home rights issue of the time, which basically says that profiling muslims and seeing is only through the mary dime of michigan National Security theft is a human rights concern. I want to talk about state policy because without the state policy i dont believe we would see this hatred towards our communities. [applause] eve, do you want to join into this conversation . My names eve, and im lucky enough to be one of the i got down on one knee and asked her to be my mentor. She was like, ive been your mentor, what are you talking about . So, tell you about myself. I am undocumented youth. My family came here in 1994 and my parents were deported in 2009 because our appeal for Immigration Asylum was denied, and they had to back back because of that had to go back because of that. I remember when i was in the deportation process, many times, like we talked about, trying to claim that whole idea of exceptionalism and trying to appear positive in this mainstream american life. So prevalent. And i think im guilty of that as charged. I remember always using that narrative, hey, look, im not a criminal, i work hard, et cetera, et cetera. Very racially coded language and saying that im not black. I remember when people would say, oh, hes undocumented but at least he tried to come the right way. Id accept that. My family is trying to apply the right way. There is no right way because the system doesnt work to help news the first place. I remember when i was on a talk show with this White Christian gentleman who was the host, he was saying he is such a great guy, et cetera, heats, but one condition help has to go back to india if he is muslim. And i remember at the time because as an undocumented person you feel ostracized. And i was like, no, imus him. And reflect ims muslim, and it was made most like obvious to me when my mother when hi mother was in deportation proceeding she had to wear an kell bracelets and was considered high risk because of her occupation. I think relevant nowdays one Year Anniversary of the falling of darpa, and the idea of families not families but if youre not going to qualify for something, youre automatically a felon. How are we going to be bold and uplift the voices Community Members who have been slide from these provisions . How do we open up the numbers of people who have always been criminalized, black people. How to do weapon the stories of black immigrant people who are at the crosshairses of both forms of enforcement . Hello, everybody. My name is im honored to be here tonight. I am very heavily involved in the Muslim Community. My mom would say too much so. I guess shies talk about this more from the perspective of how the impact affects the youth specifically because i do a lot of work with muslim youth and muslim young adults, and a lot of these policies and things we have been talking about thus far have kind of manifested itself in the youth in a way that, okay, i have my Muslim Identity and i have my american identity and im grappling to understand how i can have both, and to think thats tutly completely unnature because you dont need to grapple to have both. Theyre not juxtaposed. Bus we sear our your experiencing this and reflects in either, a. , feeling a fear and anxiety about what would potentially happen to them is in country, or, b. , they would rather shed their Muslim Identity or shed their otherness, whatever it distancing them. And i guess what really exemplified this for me was while i was at the university of maryland, i was the Vice President of the Muslim Students association, and myself and a couple other people in the room actually helped organize a protest against the screening of the film american sniper. And expectedly we got a lot of hate and hostility, but more unexpectedly from the Muslim Community on campus, there was a lot of, like i mentioned, fear and anxiety about what would happen to them, and there was this idea that, hey, maybe this protest is rocking the boat. And i was kind of really offput by that because i dont think that youth in this country, that anybody in this country, should be questioning the appropriateness of their safety. I will wrap up bit i want to thank them for joining us. Im hoping with these book talks, when i go from city to city, that i can actually make wake up the young activists the city so its great to have the three of you here. I ailes wanted to thing yve because telling your story over and over again is retraumatizing and you took a lot of time he took a lot of time to talk to me and tell me his story and tell it again and again and again. So i just wanted to thank you for making that space and for letting me feature your story in the book. [applause] just to kind of wrap some of this up, i think that everybody talked about the fact that the National Security state we have right now has really ended up criminalizing our communities, and the architecture or narl Security Policies and immigration have come together to do that. Right . And one particular way in which that is playing itself out there are many but one particular way in which its playing itself out, which i talk about in the book, is the surveillance of southeast muslim and arab community, and how that is happening in new york city where the nypd sent out mosque prowl issues, they call them, to spy on mosques. They go to cricket games on the weekend, or soccer to monitor their activities, and they visit restaurants and hookah be bars and any other establishment and that sort of surveillance, which is below challenged in the courts and were sealing a little openness there among the courts there is no National Security justification. What is does, really creates this state of psychological warfare, which is a term that linda, who is in the book exthe palestinian american activist in new york city talked about how on a daily basis people have to make decisions, is it okay for me to wear my turban . Can i speck to my kids in my language . Can i visit my place of worship . Thats not the type of country that anyone wanted to create and for some of the ways in the book there are solutions for that, that come from activists and advocates that have been thinking about it, and one particular one i wanted to point out is that our communities have been thought as being these violent extremists who are National Security thes but the bottom line is that the biggest threat facing all americans in the country right now data shows this over and over again our government agrees are actually rightwing white supremacist groups. [applause] and until we actually get our heads around. That from a governmental standpoint and start to put efforts into monitoring the activities of white supremacist groups were all in trouble. The government continues to define violent extremism as being muslim communities. So, there are some policy solutions in that vein that were talked about in this book. It isnt just about changing cultural narrative or media narrative. It has to be combined with policy change, and obviously our individual buys and bias and stair youretypes we carry as well stereotypes we carry as well. Thank you so much. Lets talk a little bit about this call to action in your book about building crossracial solidarity. Were going to be doing q a after this question so please start thinking about your questions, if you load like to join the discussion. First to set the context, i want to read a piece of what deepa writes from her chapter entitled, ferguson is everywhere. And it i think it helps to set up this question. She writes what does it mean to stand with ferguson in for south asians, arab and muslim immigrants, solidarity with ferguson means supporting the message behind black lives matter without coopting or expanding it. It means articulating the pervasiveness of antiblackness in our society, through the lens of both individual discrimination and systemic racism. It means becoming active participants rather than bystanders or near allies. In in the moth to end police brew fallity but recognizing the impact of flamer to Law Enforcement actions on people of color, and it means working within our own communities to address the role of antiblack racism and white supremacy. This includes having Difficult Conversations with friends, families and Community Members about i ray cyst perceptions of blacks within nonblack communities. So id like to ask yve to comment reflect on this movement to think about crossracial solidarity. Okay. I guess to start, in the context of the work i have been doing as immigrant youth, its been right now, how do we elevate the story and the struggles and create the spaces for black daunted undocumented youth, and i think it was two summers ago, a whole bunch of asian more than asianamerican organizations put together a meeting, and that was a lifechanging experience because for the First Time Ever i got meet other south asian undocumented youth from around the country, who have i never thought existed. Prior to that most of the work i did in maryland in regards to immigrant rights was with latino communities who embraced me, which i love. But at the end of the day you experiences completely overlap, and when we dont include everyones stories people get kicked to the side of the curb and thats been the case with black immigrant youth black immigrant families. Again, i must emphasize, who both criminal justice and immigration enforce i think right now a group of my friends who are black undocumented youth are trying to put together the first ever convening for them to meet, and if you would like to pitch into that or if you know anyone who would be able to support i can connect you. On another note, another part of the work i do if youre in d. C. Is part of a group called api resistance, and i see a lot of you here in the crowd today, and we basically went to local black asked them, what do you want out of us . The here clear demand, show up to events that when we put them together, and we want your support in helping us fundraise for programs programs and thingt to took and using that as ground for building our group, we have been expanding and were doing work on that. And there are amazing members here in the crowd. So if you would like to join in the work we dowant to attend our meetings, you can speak to us on that. I think first if you are a brown person in america, you are a lot of the black Liberation Movement we would not be here and have the right wes have i know its terrible but still we would not have the rights we have was it not for the black power movement. I think in terms of we really want to dismantle white supremacy, antiblackness has to go, if if we want too win for our own community we have to go into our own communities and deal with antiblackness. The last one and a half years, the crux of my work outside of my fulltime job and my fulltime job has been doing a lot of local working with black lives matter, doing antiracism work about what does it mean to actually as an institution, a social justice institution, be an antiracist institution. We have to remember antiblackness is structural and institutional so we have to take a step occupy. Now, if you want to get involved, we also do have a group particularly called the Muslim American policy reform. It came out of trying to unpack antiblackness and south asian and arab communities because we see parallels when the ways in which the National Security state is targeting us and preexisting like the 1994 crime bill, the we holiday thug has been racialized. One thing were trying to do is go into our own communities and deal with that. The other thing is being a muslim in america, the resistance of a muslim person, that gallon with black muslims in the country. We have to build the bridges and make those connections. Otherwise we leave our communities more vulnerable, particularly as a south asian muslim. We think of the problem as not structure and institutional and we are not checking our own privilege and where were complicit with antiblackness in this country. [applause] i just have to reiterate, i in just talking a little bit more about the intersection that exists that sometimes is overlooked, i a lot of times have friends who say to me, feel like rather day they attacking a different part of me and that holds true for a lot of different people and for me misdemeanor one day i might feel my blackness is being attacked or my religion is being attacked or my as a black muslim woman. And a lot of the time that attacker isnt always going to be the characterized, you know, old white rich hash tag trump man. Its sometimes unfortunately that attacker can be within your own religious and within your own ethnic communities. And so its important to look that in the face and be able to handle it, and its not always easy to do but definitely necessary to do, because if our own identities can intersect, then our oppressions are also connected, and in order to dismantle those connections we have to collectively do that and its important to do that structurally. If youre not at the table, then youre on the menu. [applause] how to wrap that up. Ill try to do it in three points. So, i think that one of the ways in which we can actually better understand how to address antiblackness is for arab muslims, and seek and asian communities to really build bridges with black muslims in particular and black immigrants and immigrant rights movements. I think that the bridges that could be built there have not been built, and in my black, several black muslim is spoke with talk about that. That after 9 11 islam became foreign, and so they say that theyre at the crosshairs of both islamophobia as well as Police Violence and statesanctioned violence. How are we building bridges with black muslim communities which is a question in asianamerican organizations need to ask themselves. The second piece is around addressing antiblackness within our own communities that part of that means we also reject this notion of cultural exceptionalism, which is somewhat related to minority myth but that notion, i know many i dont know about many of you but i have gone to plenty of Events People say were the first at this and that and we succeeded at this and that. So, yes, its great we have champions and Silicon Valley crowes, absolutely, but valley vow ceos but the picture is not comprehensive but it creates a lot of wedges, youth cultural exceptionalism, as a way to talk about success in our communities. So push back in terms of having the Uncomfortable Conversations with our uncles and aunties and family members, its something that i am hoping all of us will engage in. This could be great time to look at your index card on your table and pledge to have a race talk with a person, and you have to sign fit put your email address and bring it back to me at that table and ill email you late torii mind you. Then the third part is i really think that theres a quote in the book from an ally of ours, dante berry, who he talks about how nonblack people of color need to be coconspirators in the movement for black lives, i think thats a really important phrase. Its now knot being a bystander or participant. Its important to hold up a sign but more can we and should we be doing . A lot of salvations have been outraged by what happened to patel. The indian grandfather in alabama who was taking a walk in his neighborhood, and someone one of the neighbors called in a tip to say there was a skinny black guy walking around, so the police came and they questioned him and during the questioning realized he didnt speak english because the only words he could say over and over were india, india, india. Yet they assaulted him and partially paralyzed him. The case has gone to trial twice in alabama and both times ended in a mistrial, and the the the conversation is outrageous, we can get more involvement in the movements of black lives because thats where we are seeing these connections between police brutality, between surveillance by the state, and really being able to make those links and come up with a solution. So i know its a messy process to figure at out, and the movement for black lives is still evolving, but i think its important that we get to that stage where people of color are able to become coconspirators, to moore some of the solutions forward, that we need for all of our communities. So i wanted to just remind you if youre tweet oaring facebooking, use the hash tag we too sing america and id also like to invite a couple of questions. Should we invite people up to the mic . Or well bring a mic to them. Okay. Go ahead and signal if you have a question. For any of the panelists or all of the panelists. This is just a Comment Health been doing great dialogues since we opened in 2005. Theyre called talks on race and done on the first sunday of every month, 14 locations. We invite everybody to come. We have different topics we deal with on a regular basis, and everything that deals with white privilege, the black lives matter, we deal with these issues and great to have more people as one of the most diverse groups youll be around and its a great conversation, usually a packed house, and see how many more people are getting interested in this conversation, and lots of what is going on around us, but one of the most key points behind the amount of interest were seeing is the taking place in the city and the tension thats creating between whites and blacks and others moving in. So we invite all of you to come. I did get the back last week [inaudible] what i took as really in the book one of the most [inaudible] how each of us in the immigrant communities have stepped over africanamericans on the way up as the american way, and i÷ v k its a great contribution to a long line of good literature on that. I guess my point i love that you talked about the history because people think that latinos showed up yesterday, and one thing we have to thank the casino magnate republican candidate for is talking about the 1950s, harken back to the mass removal to today because the real story of that its that latinos were taken in during the war. Who picked their fruit . Latinos, 20s in, the same thing. When i first found out that a third of wyoming was chinese in the 1800s, amazing. [inaudible] we know that the worst thing right now is that Immigration Law were living with, and the reason the law came around is White Supremacists acts of violence on immigrants, oklahoma city, the burning of black churches, what i think thats [inaudible] thank you, mark. We have a question for the panel . Hi. Thank you all for a great conversation. [inaudible] the question was about state policies and laws and specific kinds of maybe reflections or, i think, suggestions on where we might go in terms of state policies and laws in the way that you have discussed. Really quickly, some positive solutions or possessiontive ideas or recommendations. Ill mention one in particular which is federal might have something more local actually to look at. One particular policy is sort of a guidance that the Obama Administration put out last december, which was around prohibiting profiling on the basis of race, and this is something that actually the Bush Administration had put out, ini think 2003, and advocates since then have been pushing to amendment that guidance and make it better. It was a mixed bag when that guidance came out last december because on one hand, it basically prohibited profiling by federal Law Enforcement on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, gender excited sexual orientation. We all pushed sponsor expandingg the base sees saying you cant profile like that but there were loopholes, clawing loophole on National Security. So if youre a National Security threat, then federal Law Enforcement could profile you and they have an example where they say that the fbi can racially map a community, kind of blatantly out there. And also the profiling is allowed at the border, and at airports, and so who does that affect . It affects latinos, south asian, arabs, muslims, the sikh communities, people traveling in airports can at the border, and who might be, quote, a National Security threat. This is another example of a way in which these policies end up really continuing to sideline our communities for the greater good, and i think one way that we can push is to try to get this policy amended and changed and there are a lot of people doing that especially in washington. I think that is a particular place where we could potentially see some movement over the next year that we have left with this administration. Im going to talk about federal and then talk about local. The number one, one way were seeing this crosssection comment the nonblack and check costume communes, the war on terrorism, terrorism charges are being used against the black lives matter protesters. So those protestes are being thrown terrorism charges and this is ways the state goes to one community, perfects a tool, and then turns it out when we start seeing rebellion in other communities. Locally as well right now, d. C. Is one of the most militarized regions in the country, and recently a lot of the black lives matter focus here was around actually the expansion of polices powers that now, where is the connection between the internal piece and the local piece is the Law Enforcement here got training training in id brought those tactics here and use them against black community nets southeast and sweat, and we have had southwest, and we have had murders Raphael Briscoe is a good example there are ways the Law Enforcement agencies even in ferguson, baltimore they were trained in palestine and brought backieses the policies of surveillance as well. So i think that again, the war on terror, surveillance is one pete that we have to challenge. Right now, surveillance is so normized, people are look, big deal you. Didnt do anything wrong, why worry . We have to worry because the surveillance is become used against black and brown communities and being perfected particularly for the movements emerging with the movement of black lives matter and other communities its used against. [applause] whoever is next with the mic, please frame your comment as a question or put forward a question for the panelist. Im eric. I want to thank everybody for sharing their stories. The question i have is, deepa, your book makes very clear what is true to anybody who looks at the issue of the islamophobia for more than a few moments5z d its a racial problem. Can you talk more about some of what you have already mentioned, which is the conversations that you need to have within the community to convince people that this is a racial issue . We hear so often about how people talk about because for example, i have spoken with activists in sikh and south asian communities who say the appropriate response is to better educate americans, that sikhs are not muslim. The appropriate response is better educate that people from south airings not from the middle east. I think those conversations that you have had to show how this is a racial issue that affects everybody, those are critical conversations. I wonder if you could say more about how those conversations happen. Okay. Lets also thank you so much. One more and we then we can bring me mic back up. I wanted to ask you a bit more about [inaudible] how do you bring native and Indigenous People into the context and the majority of us being a part of the project here on turtle island, or what we call america, and so how do you bring that in . Because i know theyre talking about antiblackness and also critical of something else, the antiindigenous part of the conversation. So, eric, ill try to answer your question quickly. I think that the ways in which muslim arab south asian communities are having these conversations ills not how were having them right after 9 11. Certainly right after 9 11, there were people saying, i am this, not that, and thats not something new to our communities. We have seen that in our out, im chinese, not japan, during speak sevenment, for example. That messaging is something i dont hear in activist circles anymore and i think that activists have made it a major effort to also educate their own communities about the fact that we are all the same. Right . An act of violence against one affects all of us, and the book talks about this specifically in oak creek because just within hours we hat sikh american advocates get on television to make clear this isnt an issue of, michael page, trying to attack muslims. He was a white supremacist and he had antiimmigrant views, and the message was, regardless of who he may have targeted, which we dont know, we are still stand united and strong and were not going to do the divisive message, so especially in Sikh Community theres been a lot or work to talk about anywheretosolidarity so thats what is happening, not just at the activist level but in mosque and if it you look at ore coalition, which is called people call it arab muslim arab some people called ill musa. These kinds of racial coalitions, identities, were formed after 9 11, but what they have enabled us to do is to come together to address issues like countering violent extremism or racial and religious profiling in a more unique way. The only other point id make to your comment is education is a start but its clearly not enough, and sort of like saying, well, diversity is great and multi culturallism ills great but without equity and addressing systemic inequity, doesnt mean anything. So education is something that does come up in the book that many activists suggest, but there are whole lot of other discussions that are also present and one of. The is to really be in deep connection to each other. To be in relationships with each other so we can talk about shared oppression, and shared values, and a shared vision for how we want to change our communities. Does anyone want to add to any of that . The other question about the title of the book. The poock itle is meant to be both aspirational and subversive. Many of the people in the book that are profiled talk about being american in their way, which doesnt mean sort of necessarily the ways in which White America has constructed it, but they also question that america, right, and they subvert it, and thats part of, think, the disruptive nature of the activist is talk beside in the book, where theyre disrupting the racial ladder that mark eluded to alluded to in order to reshape an america, so, quite frankly, the book does not daze indigenous communities. It is focused on the perspectives and lives and shared experiences of south asian muslims and i wouldnt presume to talk about other communities im not in contact with. Im hoping the book can be a conversation starter. I have noticed that books who are start folks who are starting to read the book not from our community are getting, especially from last chapter, some ideas what it means when we become a quote majority minority people where people of color are expected to be the majority population . What does that mean . Numbers dont equal power and how can we position ourselves in ways to work in solidarity with each other. All right. So, before we wrap up, deepa asked us all to be disrupters and bridgebuilders and how do we do that . What you panelists, what are your ideas for doing disrupters and Bridge Builders and could you please share your answer in one minute. Okay. So, the way that i kind of interpreted disrunters and bridge disrupters and bridge beards is people who step forward and step back. So stepping forward i would see as taking action, as being an active participant in the call for justice, its making those changes and having those of dialogues with people, where stepping back, taking that time to reflect, acknowledging what you do not know, and not only what you do know, and being okay with having someone teach you, being okay with following, being okay with not being in the lead and learning how to use that to collectively Work Together to dismantle the oppressions i talked about. So both stepping back and stepping forward, i interpreted as being essential to being both a disrupter and a bridgebuilder. So when it comes to being a disrupter, i say settle down. I mean that. Reclaim space. Call out state violence. For me i always when i talk about the war on terrorism, its muslim communities who have the genocide happening right now, and you dont know how much backlash i experienced for saying that. Being a for being a connector, building bridges, thats the place where i take a step back when it comes to right here in local communities, other communities. I dont need to be front center stage or on a mic or a bullhorn. I need to be in the back and say what can i do to support you . How i can take my privilege and get you resources . Thats what i think the building bridges person would do. I think personally for building bridges, one really good thing, at least for immigrant people, we can do to build bridges to other immigrant communities, is to give them the spaces to articulate their needs, their unique challenges, and like i said, right now theyre in the process of trying to put together one of those spaces. And in terms of disrupting, i think what i really caution myself, right now im a pharmacy student at the university of maryland baltimore, and i realize im probably. 000 one percent of my community as an daunted person to do that. So, its not a step up but how can i really take a step back and give that space to the people in my community who are most oppressed to voice their concerns . And another way of doing that, i think, is you can still get the mic back. So there have before so many great ideas. Ill judd add two things. One thing we havent talked about much is the importance of building capacity within our own communities, and i think thats really important. Our own communities are in crisis. And i as one who is kind of been part of efforts since the day after 9 11 to now it often times feels like were constantly dealing with crisis after crisis within sikh, muslim, south asian communities, and i think the importance of building capacity and infrastructure, especially of basebuilding organizations, that are actually organizing folks, you know, we dont really have any local organizations here in washington at all that work within our communities. At least not with the south asian community. Its important we have the network of local groups, but at the same time we really need to be able to support the basebuilding; the second thing is this is the time to pick up the index card. So, yes, if you dont have one, raise your hand and well get you one. So, the folks who know me im so grateful if have folks in the maryland community, the university, my Asian American comments Government Community here but yall know me. We always have to do something. Right . And so this has got to be all of us, to shape the multiracial exclusive nation. I want you to take a pledge within the next three to six months to do something. How are you going to be a disrupter and a brimbuilder within Bridge Builder within the community you inhabit, the work places, the people that are close to you . I just want you to put your name on it, pledge something, and put your email down so i can contact you, and the ways in which other folks have been writing these pledges and they have been taking them have been things like if im a teacher who is going to actually convene conversations with a faculty and Parents Book Club to talk about some of the ideas in the book and how they can get some curriculum changes, right . A second person talked about how theyre going to have a conversation with their grandfather about the movement for black i believes, i think an Indian American who said that. That will be very instant comfortable but theyre going to do it. So there can be different ways in which we disrupt and bridge build, i hope that each of you will take action to do that. And i think i will turn it over to you. Well, thank you so much to the panelists. Lets have a round of applause. [applause] thank you, audience, for being here. Thank you for being part of this conversation. I want to thank deepa for brian bringing us together to be part of the dialogue. Use this book as a conversation starter and a tool for being a disrupter, for bag bridgebuilder. Thank you so much. Deepa will be signing books right over here, so final thank you to deepa. [applause] nod [inaudible conversations]