Challenging the Culture

- The Indian Community and the Black Lives Matter Movement

By Joseph F. Kolapudi

From the beginning of the civil rights movement, social justice has been the cornerstone of community action; from Gandhi’s peace marches to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to the current impetus behind the Black Lives Matter movement. However, the Indian community has long-held prejudices against the African and Africa-American community, which has negatively influenced our perspective on the culture and history of those we have benefited from for decades.

As 2020 has shown, the Black Lives Matter movement has not been confined to a sector of society or an international community overseas; with similar peaceful protests occuring in the UK, Europe, Africa, and also here in Australia - all nations with growing Indian populations. Nevertheless, the conversation surrounding civil rights and what action individuals and communities are meant to take have been heavily influenced by negative media portrayals of marginalised cultural communities, to the detriment of the movement.

The movement has also, however, had some positive momentum within the younger demographic, with many Indians becoming quite vocal regarding their stance on the issue of racism, stereotyping, and ethnocentric sentiments long held against African-Americans. Initiatives such as the South Asians for Black Lives movement, Letter for Black Lives, and, most recently, the South Asian Youth Initiative (SAYI), have become heavily involved in advocating for the recognition and rights of culturally diverse communities, and the importance of listening to our fellow minorities.

One such initiative that was recently hosted by SAYI was part of their virtual series panel discussions on the response of South Asian communities to the wider African-American community; which challenged commonly held biases in regards to Anti-Blackness. As a roundtable panel, the speakers consisted of a range of representatives from the nonprofit, community, political and social sectors of society, as well as a collaboration between SAYI and a recently formed initiative known as ASANA Voices (Alliance of South Asians in North America).

From a personal perspective, being an Indian-Australian as part of the panel was very informative, as learning from other leaders from the South Asian community in North America, as well as being able to represent the community from Brisbane was a wonderful opportunity. Additionally, sharing updates from the recent protests in regards to the Black Lives Matter movement locally, and also having African-Americans, South-East Asians, and Causians participating on the call provided a great way to take into account unique cultural responses from the wider society, especially on the topic of social action.

The representation of youth leadership was also an intentional part of the call, especially as a reflection of the topical issues facing the second and third generation of the Indian population on topics affecting the demographic, including the upcoming election, the history of the movement, and also on individual and collective responses to intergenerational conflict, addressing taboo topics, and being able to advocate for other cultures.

As much as the dominant culture has influenced the way the Indian diaspora in Western countries, such as Australia and the United States, the distinct identity of the South Asian community has remained consistent, which has led to unique advantages, but also discrepancies; especially in regards with how we relate to other multicultural communities. Recognition and acknowledgement of this was one of the key takeaways from the discussion as hosted by SAYI, as well as education and continual learning in regards to the history of the civil rights and social justice movement, and its impact on our continued freedom to-date.

For the Indian community, being able to stand in solidarity with others, especially those who are different to our culture, but understand their unique struggles and also our similarities, can be a significant stepping stone in the fight for change.

Being able to challenge our culture and continue the fight for freedom is key to our collective progress.

Collaboration with the Australian Turf Club Brings Cultural and Artistic Diversity to Greater Western Sydney’s Pinnacle Spring Race Event

For the first time ever, the Australian Turf Club (ATC) has partnered with Fabrics of Multicultural Australia (FOMA) to host a creative runway showcase as part of Greater Western Sydney’s pinnacle spring racing event, the Iron Jack Golden Eagle. Held at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse on Saturday 31st October, the exciting new collaboration launched five capsule collections from emerging artists based in Greater Western Sydney exclusively for guests of the Grand Pavilion Luncheon.

Importantly, this collaboration suc-

cessfully introduced many of Greater Western Sydney’s diverse communities to race day culture, providing them with the opportunity to experience first-hand the glamour, excitement, and social opportunities that come hand-in-hand with attending the races. Conversely, delivering this FOMA Runway Showcase provided several major new opportunities for the participating FOMA artists to grow their brands and connect with key personnel in the fashion and arts sectors.

As part of this first-ever collaboration with the Australian Turf Club, FOMA featured five culturally and linguistically diverse artists from Greater Western Sydney who showcased their garments to 300 guests attending the Australian Turf Club’s Grand Pavilion Luncheon during the 2020 ‘Iron Jack’ Golden Eagle Day.

The participating artists represented a broad range of cultures including the First Peoples of Aboriginal Australia, Jordan, Nigeria, and Afghanistan. Each FOMA artist showcased a unique capsule collection that was produced specifically for this collaboration, and these collections were paired with custom head pieces created by Blue Mountains based milliner, Carol Ma-

her, who used fabrics from the capsule collections of each designer to create special head pieces that combined race day fashion with the signature styles of each FOMA artist. The FOMA Runway Showcase in collaboration with the Australian Turf Club’s Golden Eagle Day featured the following designers:

Colleen Tighe Johnson –

Buluuy Mirrii – Descendant of the First Peoples of Aboriginal Australia, a proud Gomeroi woman (regional NSW) Gina Barjeel – Australian Jordanian Designer Anjilla Seddeqi – Australian Afghani Refugee Designer Mayen Benson – Johjos – Nigerian born Australian Designer Carole Maher – Contributing Couture Milliner, who has made 45 pieces using fabrics from each designer’s collections for the FOMA runway shows.

A diverse range of cultures were also incorporated into the project through the participating models, events team, and volunteers. Through the ‘Faces of FOMA’ program, models from a wide range of cultures including Aboriginal,

Indian, Sudanese, Russian, Ugandan and Dutch were invited to walk the runway. Overall, participants from across 31 different cultures combined to deliver this runway showcase in collaboration with the Australian Turf Club.

Fabrics of Multicultural Australia (FOMA) is a sustainable platform that stimulates economic growth for the creative sector, generates bilateral trading opportunities, and fosters social cohesion. FOMA leverages the influence of arts and culture across a variety of mediums and showcases to a global audience the interweaving threads that collectively form the unique identity of contemporary Australia. FOMA is produced by Gandhi Creations, a multi-award winning social enterprise.

The Iron Jack Golden Eagle is Australia’s third richest race and the pinnacle event of Greater Western Sydney’s racing calendar. Boasting $7.5m in prize money, this 1500m race for four-year-olds also donates $750,000 in prize money to the winner’s charity of choice.

Spooky Encounters

We often experience things that make us uneasy

Whether we believe in the supernatural or not, most of us are fascinated by it. We often experience things that make us uneasy – an unexplained noise at night, a shadow glimpsed from the corner of our eye, a cold hand brushing against our neck.

This is Halloween month and we decided to bring you these dark photos for some spooky fun.

Model Alpana Srivastava has completely transformed her look for this feature. How did this gentle, benevolent looking lady managed to look so malicious and scary, we wonder? Kudos to her.

Model Liana Chakrabarty’s photoshoot took place at the Queen Victoria Building (QVB). If you research the history of QVB you will find that it is said to be haunted. The ghost is rumoured to be a former QVB business owner who died from a violent robbery more than 100 years ago that never left the building. So QVB was the perfect setting and Liana’s expressions and look fitted the theme perfectly.

Model Tiya Gorain frightens us in all her looks. One in which she is adorned by accessories, one without any and one with a skull tattoo. It reminds us of a story we heard long

ago, of a lady who used to roam the cemetery and nearby areas, sometimes decked up with makeup and accessories and sometimes without any, sometimes with a tattoo and sometimes with none, sometimes looking lost and sometimes menacing.

Overall all the models have done an awe-

some job, giving us chills down our spine

Community members gathered in Jubilee Park, Parramatta on 7th November, 2020 to show solidarity with the family of Miss Nikita Tomar, 22 yrs, who was killed on 26th October by in broad daylight in Ballabhgarh, Haryana, India. The community mourned the tragic death with a silence of two minutes and condemned the killing of the young lady.

Nikita Tomar was shot dead outside her college in Ballabgarh, where she had gone to take an exam. She was a final year commerce student. She was very bright, wanted to join the Defence Forces

The accused Touseef, had been pressuring Nikita, for a meeting and she kept turning him down, police said. Two days before the incident, he visited the college in a bid to meet her but failed to do so. Police said CCTV footage from last week captured him at the institute talking to some students, who are yet to be identified.

During interrogation, Touseef told police he used to like Nikita from school days and wanted to marry her. When she didn’t take his calls or respond to his messages, he lost his cool and decided to ‘teach her a lesson’, he said.

Source: TOI

Community gathered for “Justice for Nikita” in Sydney, Australia