Author Archives: Taz

About Taz

Taz is an activist, organizer and writer based in California. She is the founder of South Asian American Voting Youth (SAAVY), curates MutinousMindState.tumblr.com and blogs at TazzyStar.blogspot.com. Follow her at twitter.com/tazzystar

Like Tina Fey. But Brown.

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Mindy Kaling.jpg Mindy Kaling could quite possibly be the next brown Tina Fey.

Under terms of the two-year, seven-figure deal, Kaling will continue to write for and appear on “The Office” next season while simultaneously developing a comedy in which she would also star.

Much like “30 Rock” star-exec producer Fey, Kaling is known for both her writing and acting skills. Behind the scenes, Kaling is a co-exec producer on “The Office,” having written notable episodes including “The Dundies,” “Diwali” and this season’s “Golden Ticket.”

In kicking around different development ideas, Kaling said she’s drawn to workplace comedies but is also interested in buddy shows in the vein of “Flight of the Conchords.”[variety]

Buddy show, huh?

Hi Mindy. Let me introduce myself. My name is Taz. I have great comic timing and we could get into fun twitter/blogger hijinx together. We’re born a week apart from each other. We are both brown. My Indian accent sucks too. We could do a Diwali meets Eid show. The only thing that sets us apart is about seven figures. But I’m sure we can work something out in that arena. 😉 Call me! I’ll be following you on twitter in the meantime! Continue reading →

Sexy Slide Sharing

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Sexiest CEO.jpg Playboy just published the latest greatest list – America’s Sexiest CEOs. And a brown chick made the list.

[I]n a top 10 that includes several CEO’s in more traditionally Playboy-friendly industries such as lingerie and adult films, one of its most intriguing picks is Slideshare head Rashmi Sinha. (Slideshare is the world’s largest presentation sharing website and has been hailed as the “YouTube of Powerpoint presentations.”)…

She holds a Ph.D. in cognitive neuropsychology from Brown, she’s running an online media company that is blowing away its competitors and consistently scoring high marks among users and tech reviewers…[disgrasian]

Of course she holds a Ph.D. in cognitive neuropsychology, of course she does. Only a South Asian can pull off Ph.D. in something smart and pull off reppin’ a Playboy list at the same time. Talk about overachiever. I wonder what Savita Bhabi has to say about that… Continue reading →

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

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I’ve been fascinated with the politics of hair, especially since the days of living in the hood of L.A. and having to drive by signs that said, “100% Indian Hair” on a regular basis. I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea that women of color were exploiting other women of color. And of course we all now know the story of where that hair comes from…But what about for those that are obsessed with plucking hair, keeping it natural, or not cutting it at all?

“Hair” Documentary from Will Ellis on Vimeo.

I like how in the doc Sonny Singh of The Sikh Coalition talks about how his turban is a symbol of fighting against tyranny. Additionally, Sonny recently blogged about the Northeast Turban and Personality Competition where young people strut with turban tied high.

To have hair or to not have hair. To chop it, dye it, fake it, or to liberty spike it. It’s all political, in one way or another. What does hair mean to you? Continue reading →

Wake Up, It’s King Khan

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Today, I received the video below in my inbox along with this message — “Canadian desi fronted old school r&b-detroit rock. He’s like a mix between fela/prince/ and someone’s cool 70’s desi uncle (not mine unfortunately) sigh…” My interest was piqued. I watched. Then decided you should too.

Oddly, the video reminds me of some of the yellowed photos of the 1970s from my father’s photo albums (minus all the haram activities). King Khan seems like quite the trip. He and the Shrines are touring right now at a hipster spot near you. Who’s with me? Continue reading →

South Asian Summit: Me Too!

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Last weekend at least 200 people congregated on D.C. to workshop around South Asian American issues and social justice.

With the nation confronting urgent issues such as the economic downturn and reform of the immigration system, more than 200 individuals, including representatives from 33 organizations in 17 states, gathered for the 2009 South Asian Summit to amplify local voices and experiences at the national level. The Summit, co-sponsored by South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) and the South Asian Law Students Association (SALSA) of American University Washington College of Law, was held from April 24th-April 26th in Washington, DC.

“The 2009 National South Asian Summit created a space for organizations, community members and activists to reconnect with each other and strengthen networks and strategies that will enable us to continue our work to support social change movements,” said Deepa Iyer, Executive Director of South Asian Americans Leading Together. [SAALT]

It was personally a great experience. I’ve been working as an organizer for 11 years now and in the South Asian community for six of those years, and I think this was the first time where I saw social justice activism merge with the South Asian American community in a strategic, efficient, and meaningful manner at the national level. I know Abhi’s experience was slightly different than mine, and I think we approached the space in different manners. I approached it as a lifetime organizer – many of the people in the room were people I had organized with back in my SAAVY days. The Summit provided space for a continuing dialogue on the evolution of South Asian social justice in America.

But don’t just take my word for it. Listen to Naila and Rahul.

Continue reading →

Deaf Desis

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As soon as the South Asian Summit was over last Sunday, I headed over to the original Busboys and Poets for my first D.C. Sepia Mutiny Meetup. I was nervous since I was hosting solo and we were expecting about twenty people. As people slowly filtered in, I realized that not all twenty would show up – it would be intimate for sure.

As we sat there, this tall guy walked over to our table and wrote down something on a paper. He then signed to his two friends with his hands, and they pulled a table to join us. I walked over and introduced myself. It was clear that they were deaf, so I pulled out a stack of note cards and pens I always carry with me and placed them on the table next to me. The next three hours turned into the most fascinating conversation (using writing, speaking, and signing) about the intersection of being Desi and Deaf in an American world.

There was Shazia the Pakistani/Muslim/Californian who could speak verbally better than the other two, and served as a translator. There was Sharvedh who had just moved back to DC and was raised in South Africa in the same historical Indian neighborhood that Gandhi lived in. Finally, there was SM reader Karthik, the Desi Born Desi who had a Cochlear implant recently done and what English he spoke had an Indian deaf accent. They all represented a different aspect to being Desi, yet they were friends that were brought together in this parallel world of deafness.

“Do you know any Deaf Desis?” Shazia scrawled on a paper and handed to me. I didn’t. But seeing it on paper it struck me how I had just been at the South Asian Summit, listening to a panel on language access and how the Deaf community was not even mentioned. As activists, we fight for in-language resources for government agencies to provide in Hindi, Urdu, Bangla and other Desi languages for our limited English speaking population. But being deaf is a limited English speaking population too. What struck me was how we were having this South Asian Summit in DC talking about the needs of our community and how there was this Deaf Desi community that was not even represented at it. Continue reading →

Taz’s First DC SM Meetup — This Sunday!

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Chaat.jpgThis week Desis will be congregating in the nation’s capitol for SAALT‘s South Asian Summit (registration is closed, but tickets still available for the Change Maker Award). Both Abhi and I will be sitting on panels for the summit and we were thinking, why not incorporate a classic Sepia Mutiny meetup into the mix?

So how about it? A ‘Chaat and Chai’ 4-7 pm Sepia Mutiny Meetup on Sunday April 26th? Though D.C. was home way back in the days, I’ve never been to a D.C. meetup, and would be really excited to meet Chocolate City’s mutineers.

What I need from you:

  1. RSVP in the comments with your e-mail address if you can make it.

  2. Recommendations for the perfect chaat and chai joint for our meetup.

If you’ve never been to a meetup, it’s basically a space where fun is had, friends are made, faces are finally put to handles. It’ll be fun, promise and totally worth the trip to kick it with Mutineers, new and old. Open to bloggers, commenters, lurkers, and the de-lurked. Yes, that means you. Come. Join us. Continue reading →

A Coachella Mashup

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I went to Coachella on the wrong day it seems. Had I known this trio would be a trio, I would’ve trekked desert-ward one day sooner…(Hat tip to Aziz’s twitter).

Coachella with Kanye.jpg
I’m thinking a) M.I.A. lookin’ that skinny so soon after baby?; b) What is Aziz Ansari thinking with that expression on his face?; c) Can you imagine a M.I.A./Kanye/Aziz remixed mashup? It’d be funny, for sure.

I was at Coachella on Sunday and played ‘Spot the Alterna-Desi’ the entire day — critical mass of Browns for the K’Naan set, if that. Did anyone else go to Coachella this weekend and get to see M.I.A. perform on Saturday night? Any other Desis (famous or otherwise) spotted? Continue reading →

Moving Kahani

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Launching today in Los Angeles at the opening night of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles: The Kahani Movement. A brain child of Dr. Sanjay Gupta (CNN) and Suneel Gupta (Mozilla), the new site “is a social network that aims to capture untold stories from first-generation Indians in the U.S. and provide those stories with a platform to be heard.” But what does that exactly mean? (Hat tip, Chick Pea)


the kahani trailer from Suneel Gupta on Vimeo.

I’m borderline obsessed with the ideas of documenting the history of South Asian Americans, and am completely fascinated with how this project is merging documentary with social networking with user generated content. There is so much potential.

The Kahani Movement…ties the concept of StoryCorps to the technology of Web 2.0 by inspiring Indian Americans to tell stories of their early days in the U.S. from the comfort of their own kitchen tables and then share this content on a newly developed social network.

The project takes a Hollywood 2.0 approach to sharing these stories by motivating young Indian Americans to pick up a camera, interview their parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, and then post that footage to Kahani’s web platform. The eventual audience for this content is a generation of people who may never have the benefit of a real conversation with their immigrant ancestors. [sajaforum]

I’ve been working on documenting my maternal grandparents’ story, and this is a space where I knew I would have been able to share it…that is if it weren’t an “Indian” space, but a South Asian one. My only critique of the site, which I think is substantial considering how integrated the South Asian American migration and historical experience is. Continue reading →

Oblique Brown’s Dust Storm

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dust_album cover.jpgChee Malabar is hitting the internet airwaves once again. One half of the duo Himalayan Project, last month, Chee dropped a solo EP project under the name Oblique Brown. Titled Dust, the four song EP takes us on a lyrical dust storm where hip hop is a religion, words are an ode to life, and poetry slams with beats.

I met up with Chee at a coffee shop in downtown Los Angeles to ask him some questions about his new EP, his life as an artist, and his work bringing poetry to incarcerated youth. As can only be expected with the Murphy’s Law in my life, when we walked out to Chee’s car after the interview, we saw that it had been towed – for a movie shoot going on in the street. So, please, read the interview and after you are done go to Itunes or CD Baby and download Oblique Brown’s Dust today. And hopefully, all will be forgiven.

Taz: When did you first fall in love with hip-hop?

Chee: Is that from the movie Brown Sugar? Uh, okay… Basically, I moved to my neighborhood in San Francisco when I was twelve and all the kids in my neighborhood listened to hip hop. I fell in love with it in the sense that it was so different than anything I’d ever heard before. But I didn’t really understand what I was listening to back then. I liked the beat. I could nod my head. And the kids seemed to like it and I knew I should like it. That’s how it started…I was listening to Ice Cube, Paris, NWA…You start making connections to what they were saying and you start looking around and saying, “Oh wait, what they are saying is kind of important because things are kinda fucked up.” I would say that is the first time I fell in love with hip hop.

T: Was there an album that really influenced you?

C: I loved the Paris album, Sleeping with the Enemy with the song Bush Killer. I just loved that album. And all the NWA stuff and Ice Cube’s AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted and Predator…For me it was like playing catch up, I had missed all the hip-hop history… I remember the kids at school they‘d give me a tape, and I’d ask who’s this what’s that. For them it was something that had past but for me it was something brand new. I‘d go up to friends and say, “Have you heard this?” They‘d say”…uh, yeah. it‘s four years old.”

T: When did you start performing?

C: I started writing a couple of years after that, but I kept it to myself. Talking over a beat, you know. Not seriously until high school. Ray, who’s in Himalayan Project with me, he and I would make little tapes. Ray and I have known each other since sixth grade but we didn’t start really connecting until high school …we started talking about music… and we’d make a mix tape battling each other. I’d make a tape, and I’d clown on him, and I’d give it to him. And he’d respond. So that’s how we started…

I remember that we pressed up a bunch of tape, and we’d try to sell it. We went to somewhere in the Haight where they used to sell mixed tapes. We went to the guy with this cheesy ass cover of us on the tape. Like an actual cover. Photocopied and made with a cheesy tape cassette. The guy was super nice about it. He said, “Yeah, I’ll listen to it. If I like it you guys can stop by and drop more tapes off.”

T: Did he like it?

C: I have no idea. I dunno. We were too embarrassed to go back and find out. We were like kids, pretty much. But that’s pretty much how we started.

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