A panel of activists speaks about the South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy and social justice.
The mission of SANSAD is to develop a secular democratic South Asian diaspora in Canada. Their goal is to create a secular democratic force within the South Asian diaspora through education and engagement in the struggle for peace, social justice, human rights, democratic rights, and a sustainable world. Their concerns embrace their homelands, adopted land, and other lands where people share our interests.
The presenters (in order) are:
Jovian Radheshwar is a rap artist, poet and recording artist.
Born in Bombay and raised in New York, Jovian taught Black Studies and Political Science in Santa Barbara, California. He currently lives in Vancouver where he teaches Political Science at Douglas College. Jovian finds in rap a powerful medium for making a statement both personally and politically.
As MC Bitter Buffalo on the album “No Hooks” (2012), Jovian collaborated with Bobby Musgrave (Pensive Blue Polar Bear) and Ed Keenan (DJ California Condor) in exploring the endangered nature of existence in a technologized modern world. As part of the Endangered Species collective, he performed shows in Santa Barbara, Isla Vista, Goleta, and Los Angeles, California.
Sejal Lal was born to South Asian parents, and grew up in Surrey in a confusing diasporic whirlwind of classical Indian dance classes, classical Western violin lessons, and grew up listening to 90's R&B. She also has a degree in Environmental Geography, where she began learning about natural resource management and the true history of colonization on these unceded Coast Salish Territories. Sejal's learning about her place here on these territories, as a settler, and a young womxn of colour, is where she gets her drive to talk about identities, race, gender, justice and goodness - and music is her outlet. Sejal is a member of the hip-hop/R&B collective Laydy Jams, an all-womxn-of-colour group featuring a mix of 3-part harmonies, electric violin, with a bit of 90's throwback. We work to promote minority empowerment, the arts, and social justice amongst youth.
Sameena Siddiqi is a PhD student in Art History at UBC. She was born in India and studied at Shanti Niketan, the premier institution focusing on fine arts in India.
Samia Khan is a recent graduate from UBC. She was born of Pakistani parents in Surrey, where she has grown up.
The BC Humanist Association was formed in 1984 and many of our members are not on Meetup. We have a regular attendance of about 30 people at our Sunday meetings (rather than the small number who RSVP on Meetup). Keep up to date with our current topics at http://bchumanist.ca
