Interview Summary

• Difficulty in making alliances with cultural, linguistic religious communities because the messaging gets lost. Find other ways to access that space in order to promote issues outside of these organizations’ scopes
• Need to connect with different movement within the South Asian community and see issues in consortium together
• Need to work with people of color communities and broaden our network. Inject South Asian perspective but not be identity -bound
• Challenging progressive and mainstream spaces
• Creation of a coordinating mechanism

Manavi 1985

• Getting resources and support at cultural events
• Social change work includes engaging the community.
• The alliances are hard to make. Sometimes our interests are not seen in line with other orgs
• Manavi has been seen to “destroy” the community
• Manavi has a strong political analysis and so we have to talk about our work in a different way. Sometimes our messaging gets lost

Trikone 1986

• Did progressive South Asian Progressive conference. Brought together various movements and coalitional activities.
• Integrating sexuality with other social justice movement
• Realization of resources, organizations and projects (helpful when Special Registration came)
• Dialogue with feminist and queer people
• Religious institutions: have social justice issues but not sexuality workshop
• Pretty close relationship with local and national organizations

South Asian Network 1990

• See how policies affect all communities
• There is recognition of being part of a community of color.
• Post 9/11 change could be taking place and people are drawing parallels with other communities of color

Foil 1992

• At Mutiny parties, tabling, passing Taxi Workers Alliance (TWA) materials
• TWA and its efforts, seen important moments in South Asian mobilization
• Development groups in U.S. often don’t take stand on anything.  FOIL forced them more to left
• Congressional Committee of Religious Freedom – Hindutva was pushing two people.  Topic surface on FOIL, people mobilized, Went to SA Christian group to push names (they were right wing but also didn’t want Hindutva)