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In which I make my podcast debut!
So much we didn't get to talk about in this episode, so here's a couple of extra thoughts and links: https://twitter.com/ttsgpod/status/1294272675045453828
So much we didn't get to talk about in this episode, so here's a couple of extra thoughts and links: https://twitter.com/ttsgpod/status/1294272675045453828
Some perspectives from Britain on BAME and POC from @WritersofColour , an online magazine dedicated to supporting non-white voices in British media: https://mediadiversified.org/2016/07/16/past-poc-and-bame-the-terminology-we-use-to-define-ourselves/
What's happening in Portland: the protests here are largely Black-led and mobilize a multi-racial coalition against police brutality and racial injustice. And the city had a win this past week, Portland State University disarmed their campus police: https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2020/08/13/28732429/after-years-of-student-protests-psu-disarms-its-police-force
If you want to know what's happening in Portland, follow and support Portland media. You will see that these protests are Black-led and embrace a diversity of voices.
To disrupt the narrative that Portland is so white, Intisar Abioto started The Black Portlanders project in 2013 https://theblackportlanders.com
And there is a huge range of organizations here working to preserve Black Portland history and to sustain Black communities. Like @vanportmosaic : https://www.vanportmosaic.org
And @DontShootPdx . I can't be comprehensive, but if you have been wondering about Portland, please know there are Black Portlanders. There are immigrant Portlanders. There are and have been communities of color here. https://www.dontshootpdx.org
And then on Indian Matchmaking. In thinking about this show and the responses to it, I kept coming back to the questions, why this show now? And what does this tell us about the Indian diaspora now?
And I didn't get to say this in exactly the way I wanted, but this show reinforces the view of Indians as Hindu, upper caste, and wealthy. However, in doing so, it also shows us the fissures in that project.
Seema acts as the invisible hand of the marriage market in trying to satisfy her clients in their visions of a good match and marriage. But ultimately, SHE IS A BAD MATCHMAKER!
She assumes that the best match for Nadia, a Guyanese American woman, will be a Guyanese American man. No!
And ultimately, none of her matches lead to a marriage. Not even Akshay and Radhika (!!), whose engagement we see in the last episode.
More than giving us a representation of Indians we want to see and want to identify with, the show, I think, ultimately shows us how tenuous the project of Indianness is.
I think in the disidentification with these “characters,” Indian Americans can find new ways of thinking about political community beyond identity.
But I also think this show is not primarily for Indian-Americans. I’m struck by pop culture commentary on the show and how podcasts and sites need to round-up Indians to be able to speak on the show!
Copy-editors, former interns, whatever media Indian can be found! And the question seems to be: am I allowed to watch this show? Is this this show “true”?
I keep thinking of @priyakrishna , who said that her first thought on hearing of the show was, oh no, now I have to explain arranged marriage to my friends. Instead, she had to explain the show to a podcast audience!
These invitations reinforce the idea that there are legitimate arbiters of cultural authenticity, and thus also the obverse illegitimate arbiters, but authenticity is the point.
In a moment when Kamala Harris is being judged by *white people* as to if she is Black enough, Indians need to refuse to adjudicate authenticity and the “truthfulness” of Indian culture.
So, if you are Indian and have to talk about Indian Matchmaking, remember Nadia, Vyasar, and Ankita, and their complicated relationships with Indianness and marriageability. That messiness is an opening.
And the thing I really wanted to say in the podcast, but didn't get to is, why do we have to talk about Indian Matchmaking when we could talk about so many other cultural productions coming out of India right now?
For instance, the documentary /Is It Too Much to Ask?/ directed by Leena Manimekalai that was shown through Film South Asia's traveling festival. It follows two trans women as they face gender discrimination and casteism in their search for housing. https://scroll.in/reel/859489/two-transwomen-in-chennai-go-looking-for-a-house-to-rent-is-it-too-much-to-ask-is-aptly-named
So, I guess I had more than a couple things to say! Thank you for coming to my Tweet Thread.
