A "Sand-Nigger" Bridesmaid
Antiracism work is uncomfortable, challenging, and a journey that has no finish line. It requires us to “look in the mirror” and examine our relationships to race and racism. My journey into the antiracism space was not strategic or planned. It was my own experiences of racism endured as a South Asian person navigating a White world that led me to this work. In guiding others to develop their racial consciousness and anti-racism lens, I’ve come to realize that storytelling is a powerful and necessary tool. It is when we tell our personal stories, that we affirm our existence and lived experiences, but most importantly, it is our stories that help us heal from the traumas of racism. While I do not have the time or space to write about all the incidents of overt and covert racism I’ve endured throughout my life, my early experiences of growing up in a predominantly White community were profound enough that they caused me to feel a deep shame towards my Indian ethnicity. As a result ...