Unpacking the Past, Present, and Future of Safe Abortions with Dr. Allison Berry

During episode 16 of Art of Citizenry Podcast, Manpreet Kaur Kalra is joined by Dr. Allison Berry, a family physician, mother, and trained abortion provider. Together, they discuss the nuances of the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, explore the inequities that come from banning safe abortions, and unpack how religion + politics have dictated the physician-patient relationship. As a primary care physician and Public Health expert, Dr. Berry offers her personal experiences caring for patients and humanizes the fight for reproductive justice.

📌 IMPORTANT NOTE: For medical providers like Dr. Berry, coming out as an abortion provider is very risky to their safety. I want to thank her for her time, compassion, bravery, and for sharing her expertise with us because it is important that we humanize abortions and give voice to our medical experts.

Topics Covered: Dr. Berry will be talking to us about reproductive justice, what getting an abortion actually means, the recent Supreme Court ruling, the way language shapes narratives around abortions, the nuances around abortion access irrespective of the state you reside in, and her own upbringing as a member of the Catholic church.

Meet Our Guest

Dr. Allison Berry, MD MPH — Health Officer for Clallam and Jefferson Counties

Dr. Allison Berry is a family physician, mother, and trained abortion provider. She graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and received her masters from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Most recently, her work has been focused on the COVID-19 pandemic as she has served as the health officer for Clallam and Jefferson Counties, in Washington State.

📌 LISTENER NOTE FROM DR. BERRY: I work as the Health Officer for Clallam and Jefferson Counties and as a family physician for the Jamestown Tribe. My views expressed here are my own and have not been vetted by or approved by my organizations.

For access to the complete show notes, please visit: artofcitizenry.com/episode-16

Human trafficking is a complex issue with layers of deep seated power structures influencing the way we both understand and think about trafficking. All too often, the narratives we read and share fail to capture the nuance that makes this industry so complex. The images we see are compelling -- those of young women, mostly women of color in the Global South, looking weak and disempowered. Their stories, often told through a translator, are powerful and typically follow the same storytelling structure, subconsciously etching stereotypes of communities and cultures into our psyches. Those stories coupled with a call to action pull at our heart strings, captivating our attention and compelling us to either donate or buy a product in hopes that we too can feel like heroes, saving these poor women from modern day slavery. 

During the last episode, host Manpreet Kaur Kalra spoke with Madina Wardak about the ways in which the global narratives about Afghan women perpetuate harmful stereotypes that deny any form of agency. We see these same themes play out in conversations surrounding the anti-trafficking industry. From refugee resettlement efforts to anti-trafficking organizations, often “doing good” centers the “hero,” all while continuing to sideline the voices of those who are being “saved.” This puts the “savior” up on a pedestal while turning those whose stories are being used into nothing more than a metric with a marketable soundbite. The blatant stereotypes that are often perpetuated by anti-trafficking organizations reinforce the pervasive assumption that women of color are oppressed by using terms such as “rescuing” or “saving,” which take power and agency away from the individual. With a hyper-fixation on sex trafficking, anti-trafficking organizations often fail to recognize the many other forms of trafficking that exists, including forced labor. 

A lot of the narratives surrounding Human Trafficking upheld by the Rescue Industry are influenced deeply by the work of Nicholas Kristof, a Pulitzer Prize winning NY Times journalist and the author of many do-gooders’ bible, “Half the Sky." His reporting, writing, and stereotypical interpretations of human trafficking have not just influenced the narratives within the industry, but have also inspired many to start social enterprises, especially those dedicated to addressing trafficking.

During Episode 15 of Art of Citizenry Podcast, Manpreet Kaur Kalra is joined by Rachel Faller, the co-creator of zero-waste fashion brand, tonlé. Together, they deconstruct the ways in which the anti-trafficking industry is a perpetuation of Christian supremacy, rooted in imperialistic and colonial power structures that further the belief in Euro-American superiority.

Rachel Faller is an entrepreneur by trade and a creative at heart. She dedicates most of her time to rectifying harm within the garment industry using a systemic approach- encouraging people to think about the root of systemic injustice and tackling these issues at their core rather than simply treating the symptoms. Rachel is a co-creator of tonlé – a zero waste, ethical and sustainable fashion line that is both a brand and a manufacturer. Rachel is also a co-founder at Reclaim Collaborative. Rachel’s personal and community care practices include crafting, painting, mending, gardening, and foraging.

Art of Citizenry is a community supported podcast dedicated to decolonizing storytelling. Please consider supporting by visiting:  patreon.com/manpreetkalra

White feminism is built on centering Euro-American so-called progressive views as the pinnacle of women’s liberation. It rejects intersectionality and complexity, instead manifesting in the form of white saviorism, fueled by the very system it claims to challenge: misogyny. 

Over the past week, much of the conversation around Afghanistan has been focused on the “liberation of Afghan women.” These calls for “liberation” are a manifestation of Euro American imperialism under the guise of white feminism. The same narratives of “women’s liberation” that were used to justify war 20 years ago continue to dominate headlines without acknowledging the ways in which war, forgein occupation, and imperialism only further exasperate harm.

When it comes to Afghan women, we have equated what they wear to degrees of oppression. By doing so, we have made “freedom” synonymous with western fashion standards instead of centering what “freedom” means to Afghan women themselves which includes their self-defined priorities around access to economic, education, and political agency. By centering Euro American standards around what liberation looks like, we are sidelining the voices that we should be listening to: the voices of Afghan women who are on the grounds challenging the systems they live in. 

Madina Wardak is a displaced Afghan settled on Tongva Land (Los Angeles, CA). Madina studied Political Science with an emphasis on the Middle East, and Social Work. She is the founder of Burqas & Beer, a social media platform Madina that explores identity, mental health, SWANA current events, and truth-telling. She currently serves as a Youth Advocate for a transitional living program and is on track to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Art of Citizenry is a community supported podcast dedicated to decolonizing storytelling. Please consider supporting by visiting:  patreon.com/manpreetkalra

Take Action

1. Make space to listen, learn from, and amplify Afghan voices
2. Check out the show notes for resources on ways you can take action and help Afghan refugees who are having to rebuild their lives. 
3. Reach out to your local Congressional representative, ask them to increase refugee quotas and accept All Afghan asylum seekers. You can do this also by texting Crisis to 52886
4. And finally, avoid using oversimplified language and tropes rooted in imperialist ideologies about Afghan people.

// Trigger Warning // During this episode, we discuss loss, exploitation, systemic racism, and the devastating results of healthcare inequities. If you need to at any point, pause, step away or just stop listening, I understand. Unpacking moments of profound communal trauma can be incredibly difficult.

A History of Anti-Asian Racism

Anti-Asian racism is systemic. From terrorizing the very Chinese immigrants who built America’s infrastructure in the 1800s to Japanese American incarceration during WWII, anti-Asian racism is baked into America’s history. It continues to manifest through harmful imperialist narratives that further the dehumanization of Asian communities - perpetuating exploitative power structures in the form of white supremacy, giving validity to hate and violence. They are furthered through stereotypes that fuel microaggressions, exotification, and sexual violence.

To understand the complex intersections of hate that influenced the horrific shooting in Atlanta, Georgia that killed 8 individuals, 6 of whom were Asian women, we need to unpack white-American Imperialism and conservative Christian ideologies around sexuality.

White supremacy continues to terrorize anyone outside the bounds of whiteness. Hate, however, is further compounded by various forms of systemic oppression. Religious hegemony, white supremacy and toxic masculinity are all deeply interconnected. Though, to truly understand how this reality intersects with anti-Asian hate, we must first deconstruct a history of white sexual Imperialism.

Imperialism is this notion of exerting force over another community, culture, or country to expand power and control.

Take Action

Over the last year, over 3,800 incidents of hate against Asian Americans have been documented. Please visit StopAAPIHate.org to volunteer, donate, and access helpful resources.

The unfortunate reality is that human rights violations are part of the fabric of India’s history. From police brutality to unlawful arrests and disappearances, genocide has become normalized. Which is why, if you are a minority, your rights are constantly under threat. As has been the case throughout history, protestors are being painted as terrorists by state-owned news outlets and are being met with government-sanctioned police brutality, tear gas, and water cannons. Citizen journalists are being unlawfully arrested and detained. The police have attempted to cut off access to food and water at protest sites to starve the protestors away. The Internet has been cut off in the area surrounding protest sites and social media is being heavily regulated to make communication amongst protestors and access to outside information more difficult. The United Nations has made it clear that cutting internet connections as a means to stifle dissent is a violation of human rights.

A Note to Impact-Driven Brands + Organizations:

The farmer’s protest is about worker rights, it’s about land rights, it’s about equity, and it’s about justice amongst so much more. If your goal as a business is to advocate for global justice and fair living wages, then standing in solidarity with India’s small farmers and farmworkers is critical because that is exactly what they are standing up for. They are advocating for themselves against a government that is built on systemic oppression rooted in exploiting those who have historically been and continue to be marginalized.

Join in Solidarity: A  Statement  Championed in Collaboration with Fair World Project

If you are a brand or organization working in the intersection of social, climate, and economic justice, please consider adding your name alongside many others: https://www.artofcitizenry.com/solidarity-statement

Nationalism in Trump’s America and Modi’s India

Over the past week, I took some time to reflect on last Wednesday’s white supremacy insurrection. From Modi’s India to Trump’s America, there is no arguing that nationalism thrives on the polarization of the other. 

Two of the world’s largest democracies are currently grappling with the realities of autocratic leaders who have managed to create deep divides within their countries through nationalist appeals. From the farmers' protest to BLM protests, neither Modi nor Trump are strangers to protests, but both have managed to disregard democratic norms to strengthen and test the extent of their executive power. 

Polarization + Islamophobia

Trump’s Muslim Ban Executive Order, which now feels forever ago but really wasn’t, blocked the entry of individuals from several Islamic countries, especially Syrian refugees seeking protection in the United States. The Trump administration cited terrorism as a reason for the Muslim Ban, giving validity to white America’s inability to think a terrorist can be anyone other than a brown skinned, Arabic-speaking Muslim or anyone that “looks Muslim.” The events at Capitol Hill would certainly counter that narrative. On the other side of the world, Trump’s dear friend Modi, played his own page from the Islamophobia for World Leaders playbook. 

Earlier last year, Modi pushed into effect the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which authorized the use of religion as a criteria for determining whether undocumented migrants in India can be granted citizenship. What’s interesting is that Islam was specifically not included as a fast-tracked religion while other religions were. Islamophobia at its finest.  

While on the surface the simple notion of granting citizenship to the country’s undoucmented population sounds like a move towards creating a more equitable society, this layer of religious hegemony feeds into India’s push towards a Hindu-centric nation.

Nationalism Exists because of Systemic Oppression

Nationalism at its core, creates dangerous divisions that can easily be stoked through false narratives. It builds on fear, giving hate the fuel it needs to thrive. 

So, why do we keep saying things like “America is better than this” or “This isn’t who we are” when America was built on the genocide and exploitation of Indigenous and Black people?  My fear with many of the conversations currently happening in light of last week's events is this notion that Nationalism is somehow a new construct. It is not. It has always existed, it is now just planting its flag at the nation’s capital.

India and America might be called democracies, but both are currently navigating the result of an autocratic government, which thrives on the consolidation of power, oppression of dissent, and nationalism. This consolidation of power is built on the existence of structural oppression and its exploitation. There will always be people who wield power and those who yield it. 

Where do we go from here?

We are seeing the realities of polarization -- with hate running through the veins of nation states and dripping off the tongues of their leaders. So where do we go from here? 

1. Understand that uprisings are not the problem, in fact they are a necessity in any healthy system because they challenge the consolidation of power. However, motivations when rooted in hate must be addressed by unpacking the systemic structures breathing life into hate. 
2. De-bias language. Address why we use “softer words” to describe white people who terrorize the nation’s capitol by simply calling them armed protestors instead of what they really are: terrorists. Language has power and using the right term leads to more accountability. 
3. Recognize how we benefit from and at many times reinforce systems of oppression. By reflecting on where we stand in relation to power and challenging the systems we operate in, we are not accepting the status quo at face value and naming our privilege. For example, if it wasn’t for the Civil Rights movement led by Black Americans, my family would have not been able to move to the United States under the Immigration Act of 1924, which was overturned in 1965 after the Civil Rights movement challenged white-America’s racist systems.

Looking back at Nazi Germany, we might tell ourselves how obvious it must have been to identify fascism, but that’s the thing. History repeats itself because in any given moment we struggle to name moments what they are. Throughout Trump and Modi’s term, there have been countless policies driven by hate, but it took one of the most outrageous events in American history and the world’s largest protest for us to finally recognize the ways in which we are letting history repeat itself. 

Thank You!

Thank you for listening! This podcast is dedicated to creating a safe space to discuss and challenge topics surrounding how we each navigate our personal advantages and disadvantages. 

To amplify and continue these conversations, please subscribe, download, share and leave a review for the Art of Citizenry Podcast — I appreciate your love and support! Follow me and share your thoughts on Instagram @manpreetkalra +  @artofcitizenry. To learn more about Art of Citizenry and for information on future webinars and workshops, please visit artofcitizenry.com.

Deconstructing India’s Agricultural Industry

At this moment, the largest protest in human history is happening. 250 million farmers and workers across India, many from the states of Punjab and Haryana, have taken to the streets in protest of three new agricultural bills that threaten to obliterate their livelihood. On the surface, India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has claimed that these bills promote a “free market,” but like everything we cover in this podcast, we know that not everything is always the way it seems.

Punjab: A Land Divided

We can’t begin this episode without understanding the history of a land divided. What is now considered the state of “Punjab” is just but a fraction of what used to be the land of lush green fields and flowing five rivers. In 1947, as the British left India, they divided Punjab between what is present day Pakistan and India. What followed was the world’s largest mass migration, resulting in the bloody displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. Families were uprooted from their homes, forced to leave the land they had lived on for generations. During the journey, many lost loved ones due to violence caused by the displacement.

Post 1947, Punjab was even further reduced in size from 58,000 square miles to 19,000 square miles. However, despite its relatively small size, it produces a disproportionately high ratio of India’s crops.

Why India’s Push for a Free Market is Exploitative

In most “developed” countries with a free market system, farmers have protections, farm subsidies, that essentially help reduce any financial risk related to weather, commodities brokers, and disruption in demands. But as with any capitalist system, these systems usually only benefit larger producers, but still, they exist, discouraging the complete monopolization of the agricultural industry by corporations.

“The world farmers protest currently underway in India opens up a pandora’s box of questions that humanity is going to face in next few years. What is the future of sustainable growth, food diversity, ethnic cultures, urban migration in a profit-driven economy? Should our heroes be the next billionaires or farmers fighting on ground to retain food diversity - something that makes this world worth living? These are the questions we all need to ask.” - Arvinder Singh

Capitalism at its core is built on the existence of inequities. The goal of any business operating in a capitalist society is to maximize profits for shareholders, prioritizing profits over people. This notion leaves those at the bottom, the workers and small farmers, with only a small share of the wealth, if that. Addressing these layers of complexities when understanding any issue is critical.

In India, the main security blanket that exists for small farmers in particular is the Minimum Support Price (MSP), which has not been included in writing under the new ordinances. Without significant subsidies and a MSP, India’s small farmers are likely to be priced out and unable to compete. As is the case with free markets, when corporations get involved, the marketplace becomes competitive, allowing corporations to undercut prices to the point at which small farmers are unable to compete, left with no farm, and no land. 

This in turn, only feeds into an already volatile situation with India’s farmers experiencing an exorbitantly high suicide rate.

“My family went into a lot of debt to try to purchase the supplies and the agrochemicals that they needed to keep up with the changes of the Green Revolution. And that debt got passed down. So it started with my grandfather, went to my dad, from my dad it went down to my Chacha. And so my Chacha, who's still in Punjab and still farming he's still dealing with that debt… For a lot of folks, it seems so insurmountable, and they don't see an opportunity to get out of it just through farming, and suicide becomes the only option or the only option that they see.” - Amrit Singh

It also then allows for corporations to hoard large amounts of crops, increasing demand, and therefore, the market value of the crop. They can, in turn, sell the crops at a much higher price than what the farmer was paid to begin with. This allows for unfair pricing -- hurting both farmers and consumers while lining the pockets of those who already hold most of the country’s wealth.

Global Economic Development

“The economics of a particular country has to be grown there. If you try to import it directly from another country, those models sometimes fall flat.” - Arvinder Singh

The issue with a cookie cutter approach, we fail to acknowledge the complexity of layers that exist in any given society. We see this with social entrepreneurship as well. To assume the same approach to economic development can work in any country is naive. We must recognize that sustainable development and change requires understanding the nuance surrounding why a society exists the way it does. That requires deconstructing the layers of deep seated cultural and often even religious influences. While capitalism on paper has its pros, the way modern day capitalism is built, it not only furthers, but benefits from societal inequities. Capitalism as we see it currently centers corporate profits.

The Environmental Impact of Agribusiness

What is wheat and paddy in India is corn in the United States. Let’s take a moment to step back and reflect on the environmental factors at play when we think about agribusiness.

In the United States, when driving through the Midwest and Great Plains, you cannot miss the sprawling corn farms. Corn has become a staple of the US farming industry because of its versatility. While it can be used to make food like corn meal, it’s primary use in the United States is for ethanol, animal feed and high-fructose corn syrup. Corn receives more subsides from the federal government than any other crop. It also consumes a large amount of freshwater resources and 5.6 million tons of nitrogen in the form of chemical fertilizer which gets washed into lakes, rivers, and the ocean -- hurting the ecosystem.

What has happened in regions such as Ohio is that the farming industry is no longer working to feed people, instead it is working to simply sustain in whatever way possible. Agricultural diversity of fruits and vegetables has been sidelined for the safer pick: corn. In an article published by Scientific American, the author sums up the problem with this key point:

“It would be simply wrong to blame farmers for any of these issues. In this economic and political landscape, they would be crazy not to grow corn; farmers are simply delivering what markets and policies are demanding. What needs to change here is the system, not the farmers.”

Looking at economics alone is just not enough.

Unpacking the Green Revolution

To understand the impact of the Green Revolution on Punjab, we first need to understand all that led to the infiltration of chemicals depleting the nutrients of Punjab’s soil. The thing about the Green Revolution is that it promised self-sustainability to India as a nation. Instead of having to import crops to feed India’s exponentially increasing population, India would be able to produce enough crops for the masses. This led to farmers being forced to use specific high yielding seeds, which they were forced to purchase along with all the necessary chemical fertilizers at retail price, not wholesale. So what we saw during the Green Revolution is that the agriculture economy of Punjab was co-opted by the central government. 

“The old way of farming, it was very much community-centered. The farmers had a role to play in the functioning of their society, but so did everybody else, whether you were a seamstress, or whether you were an ironsmith, everybody had an important role to play to the functioning of everybody else. So you're responsible to each other and for each other.” - Amrit Singh

One of the biggest costs of the Green Revolution was that it was no longer possible for Punjab to self-sustain itself agriculturally with the emphasis on wheat and rice farming. Even the varieties of wheat and rice that were grown were now limited to the ones that satisfied the goals of the Green Revolution, tremendously reducing biodiversity.

Punjab’s Contentious Relationship with the Central Government

Since 1947, India’s Central government has had an unstable relationship with Punjab, especially Punjabi Sikhs. One of the issues that remains at the heart of State versus Central government tension is access to river water, especially after Punjab was further split to form the state of Haryana and Himachal in 1966.

The partition of Punjab between India and Pakistan, left Punjab with only 3 of its 5 rivers. The further divide of Punjab made the rivers inter-state rivers, meaning Punjab lost not just land, but was choked of its water resources. By creating artificial boundaries that split Punjab’s rivers between states, they suddenly fell within the purview of the central government. In reality, under India’s constitution, river management falls under the purview of the state government.

“It's quite common for developing countries to face these sorts of injustices, especially when you have such a dominant government structure that basically just tramples on every single person.” - Phavanjit Kaur

Religion, Nationalism + Politics

“The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and you spend twenty years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Somebody says you have no art, so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdoms, so you dredge that up. None of this is necessary. There will always be one more thing.” - Toni Morrison

From the partition of Punjab in the Sikh massacres in 1984, Sikhs have been consistently persecuted by the Indian state. One of the most tried and tested ways to erase a culture or community is by erasing its history.

“Every facet of this movement is related to religion, and to try to create a divide and separate those two is a disservice.” - Prabhjot Singh

The Indian government’s response to the protestors has been nothing short of history repeating itself. From being called terrorists to blackouts on fair media reporting, memories of India’s government-sanctioned 1984 Sikh Genocide are resurfacing, opening up wounds that never fully healed. Seeing the army deployed and the police brutally beating protesters is horrifying. It is forcing so many of us to revisit our community’s past trauma and face the realities of our present. Survival is the name of the game, since thriving is a far fetched dream. 

“The farmers protest is the final attack in a larger Sikh genocide that the Indian Government has waged against Sikhs.” - Prabhjot Singh

The protests are being led by our grandparents and great grandparents -- braving the cold winter air of Delhi, the capital of India just to ensure their voice is heard. The reality is, these laws are deadly to the livelihoods of small farmers. So much so, that these farmers are willing to risk their lives to demand that the laws be repealed and that farmers, not just corporations, have a seat at the decision-making table. From Punjab, Haryana and other parts of India, these farmers have been met with police brutality and government-regulated false reporting. It is not uncommon for oppressors to paint people who challenge their power as unpatriotic, but isn't it more patriotic to hold your government up to a higher standard? Painting farmers as terrorists to justify state-sponsored violence is the reality of India’s democracy.

A Look at Healthy Nations of Tomorrow

“No community can survive without the role of farmers, and I think if you're going to look at healthy nations of tomorrow, they have to look at ‘What are the kind of farming practices that we are promoting within our own community?’ and ‘What are the kind of farming structures that we are enabling?’ And if you feel empathy towards small farmers, I think, wherever you are in the world, I think it becomes your duty to raise your voice and to empathize with farmers and to raise your voice for their rights.” - Arvinder Singh

Additional Resources + Links

If you would like to support those protesting in Delhi, please consider donating to KhalsaAid.org. We must demand fair reporting and support initiatives like Trolley Times, which is a grassroots project highlighting the voice of protests in Delhi right now. Also, please consider donating to Sahaita Farmer Support Project.

Articles About the Protests

• Washington Post: History shows Punjab has always taken on tyrants. Modi is no different.
• The Atlantic: Where Nationalism Has No Answers
• Vice News: The Indian Farmer Protest Shaking the World
• CNN: Indian farmers are right to be outraged
• AP: India’s winter of discontent: Farmers rise up against Mod
• NY Times: Angry Farmers Choke India’s Capital in Giant Demonstrations
• Slate: India Just Had the Biggest Protest in World History Will it make a difference?
• MsMagazine: Unprecedented Farmers Protests in India: Lest We Miss This Feminist Moment
• BBC: Are India's new reforms a 'death warrant' for farmers?

Additional Resources Related to the Protests

• Kisan Ekta
• Resources Compiled by KisaanEkta.co
• A Sovereign World: Find a Protest and Know if you own a product by Ambani

Educational Content

• Maps of Partition
• Delhi Fateh Diwas: When Mughals fell and the holy symbol of Khalsa Panth was unfurled at Red Fort
• Who Was Maharaja Ranjit Singh
• Who are Punjab’s Disappeared?
• Free Jaggi Now: About the case of Jagtar Singh Johal
• 1947 Partition Archive
• Vice: Hindu Nationalism in the Age of Modi
• Time: It's Time India Accept Responsibility for Its 1984 Sikh Genocide
• Human Rights Watch: No Justice for 1984 Anti-Sikh Bloodshed
• The Paradox of India’s Bread Basket: Farmer Suicides in Punjab by Mallika Kaur
• Scientific American: It’s Time to Rethink America’s Corn System
• The Green Revolution - Rockefeller Foundation 1943
• The Guardian: Norman Borlaug: humanitarian hero or menace to society?
• ‘The Lockdown Killed My Father’: Farmer Suicides Add to India’s Virus Misery
• Dissent Is ‘Anti-National’ in Modi’s India
• BBC: Why are Sikhs Angry?

Connect with Our Guests

Arvinder Singh is a technologist, entrepreneur and community builder. He currently serves as Entrepreneur in Residence at The Digital Economist, a Washington DC based think tank. In the last decade, Arvinder has served in diverse roles - as CTO of a Big Data and AI company he co-founded, as an educator, an ethnic TV and Radio host, entrepreneur and a civil rights activist. As a civil rights advocate, he convinced a US House of Representative to back a bipartisan call to FBI to track hate Crime and was part of the delegation invited to the Obama White House for its first-ever briefing on Sikh civil rights issues in 2012. Follow him on Twitter: @askang

Amrit Singh aka Noyz is a rapper, spoken word artist, author, community organizer and mental health professional from Brampton, Ontario, Canada. Follow his work by visiting noyzhiphop.com + check out his book and soundtrack, Keep Moving On. Also, be sure to tune into Immigrant Hustle Podcast by Noyz & B Magic

Phavanjit Kaur is passionate about social justice, politics and building sustainable habits + solutions. Based out of Malaysia, follow her work on Instagram: @phvnkaur + @kitaaban.withkaur

Dr. Prabhjot Singh is a Bay Area Sikh activist. He finished his doctorate in educational leadership, and has been working to educate the Sikh community on issues that are affecting them, while also trying to promote the values of Sikhi. Follow his activism work on Instagram + Twitter

Thank You

This podcast is dedicated to creating a safe space to discuss and challenge topics surrounding how we each navigate our personal advantages and disadvantages. I want to extend a special thank you to our guests, Arvinder, Phavanjit, Amrit, and Prabhjot for sharing their valuable insights. These conversations are not easy, and involve revisiting years of generational pain and trauma.

This episode features the song Land of Promise by Amrit Singh aka Noyz ft. Daysdeaf and produced by EMPWER from his newest album, Keep Moving On. 

Finally, thank you for listening! Please subscribe, download, and leave a review for the Art of Citizenry Podcast — I appreciate your love and support! Also, if you want to connect, please feel free to follow me and share your thoughts with me on Instagram @manpreetkalra + @artofcitizenry.

Deconstructing America's History of Genocide

This special podcast episode features a panel conversation hosted on November 20th by Reclaim Collaborative in collaboration with ESJ and Art of Citizenry as part of Reclaim Black Friday, a campaign calling on brands to redistribute a percentage of their sales to Indigenous and Black land-based organizations instead of running sales during Black Friday weekend.

A Deeper Look into Indigenous + Black Erasure

When having conversations about Thanksgiving, it is important to acknowledge the first people to encounter the Pilgrims, the Wampanoag Tribe. It is unfortunate that while most of us know so much about the Pilgrims’ journey because of the way we have been taught history, most of us don’t know the name of the community that was first colonized in what is now known as the United States of America. This is one simple example of how Indigenous people, or Native Americans, have experienced centuries of dehumanization, genocide, and erasure.

“Land back is rooted in this idea of literally getting to stewardship and restoring that ancestral relationship with the land, and letting Black and Native people lead that conversation around that movement.”

- Charlie Amáyá Scott

Addressing histories of exploitation takes deconstructing the systems we operate in. One simple step we can each take is acknowledge the people on whose land we reside.

“My family has always taken it as a day of resistance and resilience. It's been much more from an aspect of this is what we do traditionally, as Diné people, which is coming together and celebrating each other.”

- Emma Robbins on Thanksgiving

This year marks 400 years since the Mayflower arrived on Plymouth Rock. We must critically analyze the story we have been told and by who. It is time we deconstruct, rethink, and rebuild a more just future. Reclaim Black Friday is a campaign focused on redistributing to Indigenous and Black land-based organizations because it is important to acknowledge the original stewards of this land and return it to those who have historically cultivated regenerative and healing relationships with the Earth.

“Reparations as a whole isn’t just a racial justice issue, it’s also a climate justice issue.”

- Kai Ramey

It is important to hold space for reclaiming and healing, recognizing the trauma and genocide that is widely celebrated through what has been painted as an endearing holiday of gratitude. 

Black Americans, descendants of American Chattel Slavery, were taken captive and brought here to America for textile and agricultural work—building the wealth of this country. The dehumanization, exploitation, and abuse that Black people have had to endure for centuries continues today as Black Americans still face injustices and inequities in most spaces.

“As a Black person, or as an Indigenous person, we're always in the position where we're having to do the work to undo the things that we never had any part in to begin with.“

- Katie Pruett

Despite directly contributing to the wealth of this country, when enslaved Black Americans were freed, they did not receive reparations. Today, Black Americans collectively experience one of the highest poverty rates of any group in the United States. Our acknowledgement of this horrific truth and examination of how we can provide support without causing further damage, is a necessary step if we are to be part of creating real systemic change.

How can non-Black + non-Indigenous people help dismantle the systems we operate within without falling into the trap of white saviorism?

Redistributing wealth is a small way we can give back the stolen wealth and land we have all benefited from. It is by no means the only way nor is it a panacea. White individuals in America have directly and indirectly contributed to harmful cycles of exploitation by the nature of this country’s history. It is therefore, the responsibility of white and white passing individuals to help dismantle the systems that cause harm.

There is a lot of power that white folks do have in the world we live in today, but I think it’s more important to cede power in very silent ways and by that I mean not taking up space.

- Kai Ramey

So what is white saviorism?

It’s a little bit of guilt and a little bit of “Hey, look at what I’m doing. I’m doing good, but I want you to know I’m doing good.” But let me tell you something -- when you’re really about that life and you really are here for change, you don’t get to donate $10 here and there. You have to give up some power and some wealth and you get to be uncomfortable and you get to feel how we’ve been feeling for centuries.”

- Katie Pruett

Reclaim Black Friday

Thanksgiving is steeped in America’s history of genocide and theft from Indigenous people. The weekend of frenzied consumerism that follows further contributes to issues of racism and classism in this country. Reclaim Black Friday is dedicated to amplifying the work and voices of Indigenous and Black leaders, and a call to action for redistributing wealth to those who have suffered the most because of historic and continual exploitation in America.

Join Reclaim Collaborative November 27th - 30th for Reclaim Black Friday, a campaign calling on businesses to not offer discounts, and instead redistribute a percentage of total sales to Black and Indigenous led land-based organizations. This campaign aims to address the problematic history of Thanksgiving. Learn more and take the Redistribution Pledge!

Reclaim Collaborative

This episode of Art of Citizenry Podcast is brought to you in collaboration with Reclaim Collaborative, a values-aligned affiliate network. We are on a mission to build and foster an inclusive community of brands, content creators, and industry experts dedicated to dismantling systems of oppression across all aspects of the fashion and lifestyle ecosystem. We believe an intersectional and collaborative approach, one rooted in trust and respect, is necessary to create widespread systems change. Learn more!

Additional Resources + Links

Interested in reading some of the resources I reference during the episode? Check out the links below curated with support from Charlie Amáyá Scott + Katie Pruett:

• Pre-order ESJ Issue 7 about Reclaiming Space
• Art of Citizenry Podcast Episode 6: Voluntourism, Mission Trips + Dismantling the Savior Complex
• Racism and the Logic of Capitalism
• From Capitalism and Racism: Conjoined Twins
• Truthsgiving: The True History of Thanksgiving
• Decolonizing Thanksgiving: A Toolkit for Combatting Racism in Schools
• CNN Visits Tribe for National Day of Mourning
• Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe welcomed Pilgrims, but loses land on eve of Thanksgiving
• A Collection of Treaties published by the Oklahoma State University
• The Henceforeward Podcast
• Ericka Hart’s podcast: Hoodrat to Headwrap
• [Book] An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the US by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
• [Book] Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum

Thanksgiving-specific Resources:

• The Thanksgiving Tale We Tell Is a Harmful Lie. As a Native American, I’ve Found a Better Way to Celebrate the Holiday by Sean Sherma via Time Magazine
• Do American Indians celebrate Thanksgiving? by Dennis Zotigh via Smithsonian Magazine.
• The Invention of Thanksgiving by Philip Deloria via The New Yorker
• The Wampanoag Side of the First Thanksgiving Story by Michelle Tirado via Indian Country Today.
• The True, Indigenous History of Thanksgiving by Alexis Bunten via Bioneers
• As A Native American, Here’s What I Want My Fellow Americans To Know About Thanksgiving by Corinne Oestreich via Huffpost.
• Thanksgiving | Native Americans | One Word by The Cut via Youtube
• The Indigenous Peoples Thanksgiving Alcatraz Sunrise Ceremony Draws on the 1969 Occupation to Inform Native Resistance by Ray Levy-Uyeda via TeenVogue

National Day of Mourning Resources

• United American Indians of New England
• Thanksgiving 'National Day Of Mourning' For Some by AJ+ via Youtube
• For many Native Americans, Thanksgiving is a day of mourning by Pamela Kirkland via CNN
• Native Americans host ‘National Day of Mourning’ on Thanksgiving via Al Jazeera
• Thanksgiving: The National Day of Mourning by Allen Salway via Paper Magazine
• What is National Day of Mourning? How Anti-Thanksgiving Day Started and Everything To Know About It by Kelly Wynne via Newsweek

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Status Removal

• Trump administration revokes reservation status for Mashpee Wampanoag tribe amid coronavirus crisis by Rory Taylor via Vox
• U.S. Appeals Ruling In Mashpee Wampanoag Land Case by the AP via WBUR News
• The ‘Thanksgiving Tribe’ Is Still Fighting for Food Sovereignty by Alexandra Talty via Civil Eats

Connect with Our Guests

_“There needs to be an intention to build with others. We can't have this future that we're dreaming of if it's just by ourselves.” _

- Charlie Amáyá Scott

Charlie Amáyá Scott is a Diné (Navajo) scholar born and raised within the central part of the Navajo Nation. Charlie reflects, analyzes, and critiques what it means to be Queer, Trans, and Diné in the 21st century on their personal blog, dineaesthetics.com, while inspiring joy and justice to thousands of their followers on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Their English pronouns are they/them and she/her.

Kai Ramey is a community organizer, poet, land steward, & dog dad in Yanawana / Somi'Sek formerly known as San Antonio, TX. They work with Roots of Change community garden and Trans Lifeline, a trans-led resource organization. He has a passion for BIPOC connection to the land as well as Black & Indigenous rest as resistance. Follow Kai on Instagram.

Katie Pruett is the founder and editor-in-chief of ESJ Magazine and has been working to make sure representation exists within the sustainable fashion space, and that real conversations that lead to accountability and action are happening in fashion. Over the past year, her work with the magazine has expanded to create a bigger platform for Black women and femmes, and women of color to take up space in ethical and sustainable fashion. Follow ESJ on Instagram.

Emma Robbins is a Diné artist, activist, and environmentalist with a passion for empowering Indigenous women. As Director of the Navajo Water Project, part of the DigDeep Right to Water Project, she is working to create infrastructure that brings clean running water to the one in three Navajo families without it. Through her artwork, she strives to raise awareness about the lack of clean water in Native American nations. Robbins is also a 2020 Aspen Institute Healthy Communities Fellow. Follow Emma on Instagram.

[Moderator] Julysa Sosa is a Native Xicana visual artist whose work focuses on evocative storytelling, drawing out the obscured imagery existing on the periphery of life experiences. Her work embodies a search for identity and often creates dreamy, moody visual translations of her reality, dreams, and ancestral memories hidden deep in the psyche. Julysa received a BA in photojournalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is currently based in Yanaguana also known as San Antonio, TX. Follow Julysa on Instagram

And of course, don’t forget to follow @reclaimcollaborative on Instagram too!

Thank You

This podcast is dedicated to creating a safe space to discuss and challenge topics surrounding how we each navigate our personal advantages and disadvantages. I want to extend a special thank you to our panelists, Amaya, Kai, Emma and Katie along with our moderator, Julysa for sharing their valuable insights. These conversations are not easy, and involve revisiting years of generational pain and trauma.

Finally, thank you for listening! Please subscribe, download, and leave a review for Art of Citizenry Podcast — I appreciate your love and support! Also, if you want to connect, please feel free to follow me and share your thoughts with me on Instagram @manpreetkalra + @artofcitizenry.

How Visual Storytelling Transcends the Impact of Colonization on Language

In Episode 08 of Art of Citizenry Podcast, Manpreet Kalra is joined by Eunice Pais in a conversation exploring the ways in which colonial legacies led to the dominance of the English language, creating barriers rooted in power. They discuss the ways in which photography conveys stories and builds connections at a raw, humanistic level, transcending linguistic barriers. Together, they explore the role of photographers as visual storytellers with Eunice sharing her experience as a Black-Portuguese photographer.

Colonial Barriers Through Language

Throughout this podcast we have explored the power of language and words. As many of you know, I strongly believe that words have the ability to shape perceptions and are an important part of how we share not only our stories, but shape the way others understand our experiences. Unfortunately, the conversation of language is often approached from a subconscious place of dominance. We don't necessarily realize how language itself can play into how we experience and navigate power.

"Most narratives about the Black experience are American centric, or very British centric, which, again, it's not something that is probably conscious collectively, but it does happen. And sometimes I feel like I in a way, I'm privileged because I speak English fluently, so I can convey my experience and my messages clearly in two languages. But if someone doesn't, then their experience as a person of color, who doesn't speak English, is not included in the conversation."

- Eunice Pais

English is the most spoken language in the world with Mandarin following as a close second. The thing that is important to note as a difference between the two is that while the majority of Mandarin speakers are concentrated by region, English is much more spread out. This is, of course, the result of colonization of communities around the world by the British Empire. After all, it was "the empire on which the sun never sets." This idea of English being the language of dominance continued to manifest with the spread of American culture. With English being the primary language of the original colonizers of what is now the United States, the association of English and whiteness became stamped. The persistent idolization of whiteness, as evidenced through the tragic history of slavery in the US, further cemented the roots of internalized racism leading to English taking a dominant hold. English is the de facto language of 70 countries and is the official languages of the skies. It has more non-native speakers than any other language in the world.

Historically, power, specifically political and social power, is intrinsically tied to the ability to speak the dominant language. It has resulted in the loss of culture, which is very much dependent on the survival of languages, many of which are now endangered. The drift away from a language often starts for understandable reasons like a desire to assimilate or even survive. This is something I've seen in my own community. Punjabi, being the language of my ancestors, has become increasingly endangered after years of ridicule as the language of uneducated villagers. Many in Punjab itself choose not to speak Punjabi out of a desire to assimilate and be treated with respect by India’s elite, who speak Hindi and hold power and prestige. Even schools in Punjab that once taught in Punjabi now teach in Hindi. It is important to understand this context especially as I speak to you right now in English, my second language, a fact I have often shied away from sharing out of fear of being considered less than.

So how do you tell a story that transcends the barriers of power that language often creates within society? Over the years, I have come to recognize the power that art has as a universal language. No matter what culture or community you belong to, art, particularly photography, has the ability to communicate the nuances that often language fails to when navigating across cultures.

The Legacy of Colonization: Mozambican War of Independence

One of the things many people don't realize is that colonization also resulted in forced migration. It was as much about power through expansion as it was about the annihilation of communities and cultures. This meant that many people were forced to move to countries where they continued to live in endangerment. People were forced to assimilate, abandoning their identities for the sake of survival.

My family had to flee their own country because they didn't choose their nationality. They have no agency to choose, they were under strict dictatorship. They came to Portugal in '74 with a nationality that wasn't well received here, so they came to the country that colonized them and yet did not accept them as Portuguese.

- Eunice Pais

About Eunice Pais

During this episode, we speak with Eunice Pais, the founder of Pais Ethical Image Making. Eunice is a self-taught ethical fashion photographer based in Portugal. Her journey in photography started three years ago with a question: “Can photography be responsible ?” Partnering with ethical fashion brands, Eunice was able to develop and implement environmentally and socially positive methods of work in her fashion productions. This year, she decided to elevate the initial personal project even further by creating an agency that champions ethics in image-making while pushing for a more equitable industry. She shares her experience with her Black-Portuguese identity, the impact of colonialism on her identity, and together, we explore the role of photography in storytelling.

That even with singular stories and different backgrounds from those who lead the conversation, we are still participating in a common goal: an equitable system.

- Eunice Pais

CONNECT WITH OUR GUESTS

Support Eunice’s work via GoFundMe + follow @pais.agency on Instagram.

THANK YOU

This podcast is dedicated to creating a safe space to discuss and challenge topics surrounding how we each navigate our personal advantages and disadvantages. I want to thank Eunice for joining me today and sharing her valuable insights.

Finally, thank you for listening! Please subscribe, download, and leave a review for Art of Citizenry Podcast — I appreciate your love and support on this exciting journey! 

Also, if you want to connect, please feel free to follow me and share your thoughts with me on Instagram @manpreetkalra.