By The Jilted Indian Podcast

And we are back with season three! Thank you so much for your patience. There are some format changes coming this season that we hope you enjoy and that will allow us to bring you quality jilted indian goodness.

In our first episode back we answer the big question

Why Should South Asians Celebrate Black History Month?

First of all we want to make it VERY clear that we believe Black History is American History. However, it has come to our attention that there are some members of the diaspora who aren’t on the same page as us. Therefore, and what will probably be in future episodes, we want to scratch the surface about our community’s anti-Black sentiments. As Miranda points out in this episode, it can be painful to admit out loud. Join the Jilted Indians as they discuss why it is important for South Asians to recognize and celebrate Black History Month.

Listen to Season 3 Bonus Episode 1 – Black History Month

 

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Show Notes

Because we are educated and enlightened young women, we fully realize that American history is all of our history, and therefore contributions from ALL Americans should be included and celebrated all year long. February, being Black History Month, serves to highlight the too often forgotten histories of those who literally and figuratively built this country. In this episode we focused on the most basic, but most tangible reason South Asians should CELEBRATE Black History Month: Immigration. 

The Tumblr Black Desi Secret History is a great starting off point to move beyond the “MLK adopted non-violent protest from Gandhi.” The history is so rich.

Erika Lee explores the legacies of the Immigration Act of 1965 on Indian immigration in this 2015 article for South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA).

Speaking of the legacies, non-violent protests and hunger strikes are still happening:

• The incarcerated worker’s organizing committee was part of the 2018 US Prison Strikes that exposed the slave-labor like practices across US Prisons.
• Similarly, immigrants held in detainment camps in the US are attempting hunger strikes, but are being force-fed by ICE.

We bring back a favorite segment THE SHADE TREE, where we gather one of our own / call them out for something that needs correcting.

Under the Shade Tree this time is Padma Lakshmi, host of Bravo TV’s Top Chef.

This is what Padma wore to the judging on Season 16 Episode 10 of Top Chef:

 

 

 

 

SIGH.  Yes, she wore corn rows and a white tank top to judge’s table. We’ve talked about cultural appropriation before, and this is an example of it.  We explained why this is appropriation in the episode, but in case you needed more proof, NY recently passed a law making it illegal to discriminate against Black people based on the NATURAL HAIR GROWING OUT OF THEIR HEADS. So the fact that Black people can now wear their hair legally (at least in NY), this type of appropriation by Padma is inappropriate.

Miranda touched on the fact that Nixon and Reagan’s drug policies were criminalizing Black America during a time when South Asian immigrations were coming over in waves. Did this contribute to anti-black sentiments and reliance on the model minority stereotype to assimilate? We aren’t ruling it out. For examples of anti-Black rhetoric within South Asian Communities, we recommend watching the premeire episode of Patriot Act with Hasan Minaj: “Affirmative Action.” 

We gotta do better. Hopefully the cognitive shift happening, as evidenced by Rom-Com projects where neither of the main pair is white. Yay Issa and Kumail (Puja just says yay Issa).