Ray, I think you’re also missing that a wide swathe of disempowered, socioeconomically disenfranchised desis are more likely to be the victims of heart disease and diabetes than “rich Indians” — for example, look at your local taxi wallah or trucker as a prime candidate.

If your concern is that the subcontinent’s poverty and wealth inequality drives inequality in the subcontinent, then you’re right, SAALT is not going to focus its advocacy on policies abroad. They’re an explicitly U.S.-based, U.S.-desi advocacy organization, and their work is rooted in a thoughtful analysis of the different institutions/social constructs (e.g., how race/ethnicity, language access, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, age, disability, etc.) compound the vulnerability of the desi community within the U.S. Advocacy issues could range from human trafficking, to supporting women in domestically abusive households, to helping workers collectively organize, to providing free health screenings in mobile clinics, to ensuring language access to voters. Which experiences do you believe advocacy organizations ought to focus on?

Your comments speak to a lot of underlying assumptions around who constitutes the SAA community, what their class/experience is in the U.S. (and that such an experience is homogenizing or determinative), and that consequently work to ameliorate social inequality is a luxury, indulgence, or insincere affect. I’m not uncritical of the nonprofit/social justice scene, but it has more often been a privilege, and an incredibly humbling and heartwarming experience, to work with desis who are visionary and passionate about creating a more just and fair society. SAALT does a great job of fostering a conversation that is productive and community building, not ego-driven or superficial.

Ameen!

There’s nothing more annoying than a bunch of privileged rich kids getting together to whine (and wine and dine) over how their lives are so hard and they suffer so much coz someone called them “dottie” in the second grade or looked at them sideways while fueling up at BP.

But I’m glad SAALT is different. Sounds like there’s some real potential there.

fair enough. Part of my feelings toward SAALT come from my experiences in south asian organizations in college and high school. organizations that speak to social justice etc. etc. but just seem like platforms for privileged abd’s to pad their resumes.

“It’s not about living in poverty or not. There’s issues like higher rates of diabetes, or rates of domestic violence – real disparities in our community- that are not about income level, but are about differences in access to resources.”

This is the attitude I take issue with when advanced by SAA activists, genuine or not. If we just think about advocacy for the SAA community as a whole, independent of income, then I feel we miss all the genuinely disaffected people that you brought up. The comment about diabetes further illustrates what i feel the problem might be. I think if we care about South Asians and their diaspora then rich Indians in America getting diabetes seems much less of a problem than infant mortality rates or the spread of AIDS among the most disadvantaged of us.

Here’s the thing ray – those privileged Desis? They don’t represent me. My struggles, my families history, and the stories of the “marginalized” in the South Asian community are whited out like with statements like that. This conference wasn’t for the privileged South Asians that you see at the usual Netip event. It was a space for the others – the ones who fight for social justice. The ones that are undocumented, the ones that see women that are victims of domestic violence, the ones that know that the Desis in our community can’t access public services because they can’t speak the language.

It’s not about living in poverty or not. There’s issues like higher rates of diabetes, or rates of domestic violence – real disparities in our community- that are not about income level, but are about differences in access to resources. It’s about the intersections of inequities between being South Asian and every other social injustice issue out there. I’ve already written about the importance of intersections of disabilities and deafness with the South Asian identity. As well as my thoughts on the conference as well. Sure there’s space to improve for the Summit, but the fact we’ve gotten here is a huge step, and it can only get more powerful from here.

I’m happy to hear the conference was a success and went well. SAALT has certainly been one of the more organized, and thoughtful groups working to address SAA issues “where they lie” while maintaining a national presence, as well as develop partnerships within our community and across other communities.

(sent from my blackberry)

I didn’t read most of the comments above so I don’t know if there was a dismissive tone against SAALT. In any case, I learned a lot and met some great people.