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

Seeing Lal

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prerna Lal.jpgThis weekend, Desi youth will be convening in Oakland, CA and Washington DC for the primary purpose of getting activated and politicized. DCDesi Summer will be holding it down for the East Coast, and I personally have been involved in getting Bay Area Solidarity Summer (BASS) off the ground here on the West Coast. Not only am I excited about the FUNraiser we have scheduled, I am particularly excited about the opening keynote speakers for the weekend – author of Desis in the House Sunaina Maira and dream activist Prerna Lal.

I met Prerna Lal last summer at Netroots Nation in Las Vegas. I quickly learned that she was a quite the firecracker. Desi via Fiji, Prerna is a founder of DreamActivist, a current law student, a writer, a SAALT Changemaker, queer, an activist and… is undocumented. Her journey as a struggling youth trying to navigate the broken immigration system is one she is very vocal about sharing, whether on blogs or on twitter. Her tenacity is one to be admired and bravery is one to be inspired by.

Just a few months ago, Prerna was served deportation papers – but being who she is, she’s not leaving without a fight. Here’s what she had to say.

Taz: What made you tweet this?

Prerna: It’s how I feel on most days. We are always asked to prove our worth to our countries. But I have yet to have America prove its worth to me.

T: What is your legal status?

P: Out of status, allegedly accruing unlawful presence that could lead to a 10 year bar from the United States if deported.

T: Where are you from? How did you end up in the US?

P: Fiji Islands. Father brought me here when I was 14, kicking and screaming.

T: Your grandmother is a citizen, your parents are greencard holders and your sister is a citizen. How is it possible that you are considered undocumented?

P: That’s simple. I aged out at 21. You see, when a visa petition is approved, a family has to wait many years to actually get a “priority date” in order to immigrate legally. I was 24 by the time my parents received their priority date. Regardless of the fact that my name was on the original visa petition filed for my family, I was automatically castigated and separated from my family. My parents were no longer considered my “immediate relatives.” I find it morally repugnant, but I’m sure there are many young adults who have experienced the same horror of family separation due to an arbitrary age out of our control. Continue reading →

A Rome Memorial Day

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Memorial Day #MusicMonday is the album Rome by Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi and featuring one of our favorite Desi songstress, Norah Jones. I was going to post up the YouTube video for my favorite song on the album featuring Norah Jones – a song called “Black” – but I decided to post this video which basically allows you to stream the whole album in one straight shot.

Sorry, no free downloads today. Just an awesome album to soundtrack your Memorial Day. Continue reading →

The Ultimate Dhaba Roadtrip

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Taste of India.jpg

Clearly what resonated the most with my California Desi population map wasn’t the population. It was the fact that I said, “I’d love to do a Cali road trip based on this map, and hit up the Indian restaurants along the way.” Y’all a bunch of foodies, aren’t you?


View Ultimate Dhaba Roadtrip in a larger map

So let’s do this again, crowdsource style. This time the google map lists those to-die-for hole-in-the-wall dhabas in the middle of nowhere. I’ve already taken the liberty to map the ones listed in the previous comment thread. Do you have a Desi food place that is a must hit up place on a “kao, kao, kao” summer road trip? Do you have an interesting picture at one of these places? Please list it in the comments and I’ll drop it into the map as soon as possible. and it doesn’t have to be Cali centered. I only ask that you make recs for food that is good, places obscure and with a great story.

Photo credit: Me, taken somewhere off the I-40 in between Arizona and California on my ultimate Taqwacore roadtrip in ’09. Continue reading →

Why Are There No NY South Asian Electeds?

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ny-senate-map.jpgAn interesting piece out of WNYC this morning on the increasing population of South Asians in New York but a lack of political representation.

The Asian population in the five boroughs spiked 32 percent in the last decade, and New Yorkers of South Asian descent had a lot to do with it. Numbers from the Census Bureau show that Indian American numbers alone skyrocketed 77 percent in Manhattan to reach 25,857, and in the city over all there are now 192,209 people who identify as Asian Indian. [wnyc]

So there’s a large population. That we all know. Why are there no South Asians in seats of political power?

There are segments of the South Asian community–particularly those in Manhattan–who are affluent and vote….Other segments of the South Asian population, particularly in the outer boroughs, tend to be less politically active and more economically diverse. But with this spring’s redistricting opportunity, there’s a growing movement in Queens to redraw district lines in hopes that the South Asian population can increase its political power. [wnyc]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the civic engagement tools that are in place are disproportionately constructed to marginalize voices of people of color. The access that South Asians have to the electoral process is oppressed by the system in place. It’s not just about voting, but about having access to an electoral system. One of the tactics to dis-empower South Asian communities is in the process of how district lines are drawn.

Part of that momentum is “Taking our seat,” a new group applying for non-profit status. The organization is focused on redrawing the lines of the 31st Assembly district in South Eastern Queens to create a ‘brown district.’ Their analysis of Census Bureau data showed that two of the highest density South Asian American census tracts lie within that district and four other high density tracts–which are split between four other Assembly districts–are located just blocks away….Richmond Hill’s South Asian community is divided into two city council districts and five assembly districts. [wnyc] Continue reading →

Inhale Some Gotham Green

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Gotham Green.jpgToday’s #MusicMonday comes out of NYC via LA via TX…via NYC. Gotham Green has traversed the nation, picking up flow, styles, and beat makers along the way. His beats have an easy going West Coast vibe to it, with a bit of NYC in your face grit mixed in. Quick on the heels of his last album, The Haze Diaries Volume 3, Gotham Green has just dropped more music, this time as an EP with El Prez called, Inhale. You can download the EP for free right here.

I sat down via gChat with this hip hop charmer to talk about his journey with music and life. And of course, weed. Here’s what Gotham Green had to say.

Taz: Gotham Green! You have an EP out w/ El Prez that just dropped?

Gotham Green: Me and the homie El Prez released a six track EP on May 5th, presented by ashleyoutrageous and djbooth.net. It’s called Inhale. The songs on Inhale are all basically just a product of two friends smoking and joking around and then, making it a reality. It was dope because I recorded my shit in NYC, then he recorded his shit in LA. This dope producer duo Twigg & Stone produced five songs and Quickie Mart did one song for it.

T: Does it sound like the The Haze Diaries ? “Tell Me Something” on Haze Diaries Vol. 3 is my favorite. Nice video for it too.

GG: I wouldn’t say it does, but all three volumes of The Haze Diaries sound different to me. Thanks, people love that song. It seems to be a lot of peoples favorite. Shoutout to my homie Freddie Gibbs. Yeah, that video came out beautiful. Michael Stine and Nick Vedros really killed that and the “Dirty Filthy Liar” video. Continue reading →

Going Back to Cali

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On the heel’s of my national Desi post, and Razib’s international Desi post, I got curious. What about California? That is a state where data was released for “Asian Indians only” by the Census data so far. A friend asked me for California numbers over the weekend (he wants to set up a practice in California and wanted to see where Desis were living – I never would have thought to use census data for that). To make it visually easier for him (and me) I dropped the data for California cities with Asian Indian populations on a google map.


View Asian Indian Population in California in a larger map

It’s no fancy GIS map nor does the data really tell you much beyond population and concentration – but it was quick and simple. The purple markers represent the top ten cities with Asian Indian populations and the yellow markers are for everything above a population of 3,000. The blue markers are for cities with high concentrations of Asian Indians but did not have a population of Asian Indians over 3,000 people. Once again, this map is for people that marked “Asian Indian only” – it does not account for mixed race, nor does it account for other South Asians like Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, etc…

To me what was the most surprising were the really small cities in the central valley that have a relatively large concentrations of Asian Indians. I’d love to do a Cali road trip based on this map, and hit up the Indian restaurants along the way. Because I imagine, where there’s an Indian population, there’s a saag paneer joint not too far away. Is there an app for that? Continue reading →

Ravi Bhalla Runs

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Ravi Bhalla.jpg Hoboken City Councilmember-at-Large Ravi Bhalla has thrown his hat…(uh, turban??) in the legislative ring – this past week he announced his candidacy for NJ State Assembly in the 33rd Legislative District. The Democratic primary election is June 7th.

“I am running for Assembly because the voters in Hoboken and the entire district deserve a real alternative to the politics as usual in Hudson County. Important decisions are made behind closed doors by power brokers outside of Hoboken instead of where they should be: at the ballot box. I believe voters should be provided a real choice instead of hand-picked political patrons. And, I am proud to say Mayor Dawn Zimmer agrees completely. That’s why she fully supports my candidacy,” said Bhalla in an email from his office. [nj]

For too long, our leaders in Trenton have been chosen by party bosses in backroom deals with no input from the voters they claim to represent. Decisions affecting your future are made behind closed doors and no one has the guts to challenge them. As a Councilman in Hoboken and Chairman of the local Democratic Party in Hoboken, I have seen firsthand the corrupting influence machine politics has on the democratic process. I am running because it is time to give residents a real choice, an alternative to candidates that are pre-selected to represent you by the Hudson County party machine. [bhallaforassembly]

I heard about Ravi’s race rather recently, from members in the community. I’m more familiar with West Coast politics, and had to do some rooting around. I had no idea there was a Sikh sitting on city council in Hoboken, a city with a substantial South Asian population. Who is Ravi Bhalla?

Ravi is a small businessman, managing a four-lawyer law firm with offices in downtown Hoboken and Newark. His firm specializes in employment law, civil rights, commercial litigation, and local government law. He was included in the 2009 edition NJ Superlawyers and NJ Monthly magazine as one of those designated as a ‘Rising Star’ in the New Jersey legal community….Ravi has long been an advocate for the legitimate rights of tenants and landlords, serving for close to two years as Hoboken’s Rent Board Attorney and Special Litigation Counsel for Rent Board matters, and continuing to serve as Union City’s Tenant Advocate. [ourhoboken]

I’d be interested to hear from our readers on the ground in New Jersey to hear what they have to say about Ravi Bhalla. Was his run a surprise? Does he have a shot? Are you volunteering to get him elected? Please let us know. Continue reading →

Where My Desis At…So Far?

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Two million South Asian Americans. At least, those are the figures we’ve been working with since the 2000 Census and many of us have been on the edge of our seats to see how these numbers have changed in the past 10 years. The US Census is slowing releasing their data and this week they released numbers the larger Asian subcategories under Asian. Meaning, we now have access to some “Asian Indian only” data for SOME of the states. This didn’t keep the media from publishing findings, and I spent some time trying to suss out their source.

A little surfing on American FactFinder (actually, a really inordinate amount of time surfing – they’ve updated the site and it’s not very intuitive). It turns out the South Asian American population has grown – of the Asian American categories, Asian Indians are the second largest only after Chinese. The South Asian population is at 2,802,676 and these will most likely change as the 2010 numbers get published on the census site.

So. Where exactly are the Desis at?

Concentration of Asian Indians v.2.JPG

I took the population data available and did a county break down of all the Asian Indians residing and divided that by the total population. Please note, since the data is still being released in waves, we are still missing a few states to this analysis – Arkansas, New Jersey and Texas and likely some more. Clearly the data for New Jersey and Texas will change the findings. Also keep in mind that the sub-categories for Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, etc… have not been published yet.

At 11.1% concentration, we have Sutter County, CA listed at the top. Home to Yuba City and a long history of Sikh American farmers, this should come as no big surprise, though the percentage point is rather high. Santa Clara County is next on the list and is considered the “Silicon Valley”, including landmarks such as Stanford University and Google. Third on the list is of course, Queens County, which is where the Indian neighborhood Jackson Heights is.

Largest Populations of Asian Indians v.2.JPG

If you look at raw population count alone, Santa Clara County is number one, Queens County is number two and Los Angeles County is number three. Continue reading →

Giantlike Young’ins

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I stumbled up Young the Giant when the adorable 21 yr old lead singer Sameer Gadhia’s image graced one of my most favorite Tumblr pages. I had to see what kind of music he played and after watching the six “Open Session” video on continuous repeat, I was simply hooked. Here’s my favorite of the mix for your #MusicMonday.

Young the Giant’s self titled debut album just dropped ($5 for month of May at Amazon!), and I can’t stop listening to it. With a clearly California sound, the music takes you through on a road trip of sounds through desert romance to beachy carefreeness. No surprise, considering the band is from Orange County and has just made it big, selling out shows as they tour across the country.

The group won a contest on music-marketing website Sonicbirds to open for Kings of Leon at a January 2009 concert at Chicago’s House of Blues…. That show piqued label interest, and the group played music showcase South by Southwest a couple months later… The band ended up signing with Roadrunner Records, which released its self-titled debut digitally in the fall and physically this January (22,000 copies sold to date). [usatoday]

Sameer also has talked about his Indian background influencing his sound.

I’ve been around a lot of Indian classical. My sister is an amazing singer, and my mom and my dad’s mother used to sing, so Indian classical is something that I grew up listening to. Even though I started getting into different American styles early on, I still had that influence in the back of my head, so when I’d start writing, some of the melodies would twirl along that axis. [lamusicblog]

The band heads out in an international tour in May, but hang tight – they’ll be back Stateside to play Lollapalooza this August. If I was in Chicago, I’d definitely check them out. But if you can’t, this one is for you. Continue reading →

Outsourcing the Shaadi

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It’s time for wedding of the year! No, not that other wedding across the ocean. I’m talking about the wedding where moustachioed Rajiv finally gets wedded to Vimi on the show Outsourced! It’s been a tumultuous first season run for Outsourced, and this Thursday night on NBC the season finale comes to a glorious Bollywood climactic finish. Will the finish be final or will Outsourced be picked up for another season? The cast and crew has been advocating in the community to make sure the show comes back for another season.

I sat down virtually with the bride-to-be, the gorgeous shaadi-rific Noureen DeWulf about her time on set, a real life shaadi, and her perspective on facial hair. Here’s what she had to say.

Shaadi Mubarak, Noureen! This Thursday night you get married, in an all out big Indian wedding on the set of Outsourced for their season finale. Oh so very Bollywood. You came on later as a guest star later in the season, as Rajiv’s fiancée Vimi. What has it been like to be on the set of Outsourced for past few episodes?

Working on the show was a truly great experience. The actors for the most part are a humble and talented group and it is really fun to work with other Indian actors. The producers are pretty incredible people also, having come from and worked on other great shows, so it is a very fun and talented set to be on. I came on in their last few episodes of the season so you could really feel how tight knit they all were and how much they enjoyed their jobs, which is really nice to be a part of.

Outsourced is probably one of the first television series with a largely South Asian cast. I have to admit, I wasn’t a fan of the concept of the show after watching the pilot episode. But the shows that I’ve seen recently are really funny, having moved away from the Tyler-Perry-desified-type jokes, and the characters have far more depth and complexity to them. Do you feel the show has matured? Why do you think it’s important to have a show with a South Asian ensemble cast on American television? Continue reading →