Hidden Histories #7 – BlindianProject — The HOME of Black x Brown Culture
The BlindianProject is a social impact media platform and community at the intersection of Black x Brown culture. We aim to normalize Black x Brown relationships and dismantle anti-Blackness and Indophobia.
SOAS Decolonising Working Group (DWG)
Hidden Histories
A seminar series curated by the Library Decolonisation Operational Group, led by Farzana Qureshi, Dr. Ludi Price, Amma Poku and Angelica Baschiera
Hidden Histories seeks to highlight stories from African, Caribbean and Asian communities in the UK and beyond, bringing to light a shared vision of decolonising knowledge production, and documenting the unique voices and experiences of diasporas in Britain and across the world.
Tuesday 28th June 2022 at 5pm-6:30pm (BST)
Venue: Online (Zoom – register)
Title: BlindianProject — The HOME of Black x Brown Culture
The BlindianProject is a social impact media platform and community at the intersection of Black x Brown culture. We aim to normalize Black x Brown relationships and dismantle anti-Blackness and Indophobia.
Known as the “Home of Black x Brown Culture” we create immersive, cross-cultural experiences that unite our communities and inspire solidarity.
Our work has been featured in international publications such as The BBC World News, The Lily (Washington Post), The Times of India, BBC Asian Network, and many others.
About the panellists:
Jonah Batambuze is a Ugandan-American, interdisciplinary artist, activist, and the founder of the BlindianProject. He was born in Chicago and raised in the cornfields of central Illinois.
While studying International Business at University College Dublin, Batambuze met a South Indian princess who later became his wife. Then, in 2017, before a family trip to India, Batambuze read an Al-Jazeera article about African students beaten by street mobs in Noida, New Delhi. The event inspired Batambuze to research anti-Blackness within the South Asian community, connect with couples with similar backgrounds, and create a platform for Black x South Asian couples known as the BlindianProject.
In June 2021, Batambuze self-published When We See Ourselves // Black x Brown Love, highlighting ten diverse stories of Black and South Asian relationships. And, in April 2022, Batambuze launched the BlindianProject Carnival in Hackney. The Carnival is a traveling event series responsible for creating, documenting, and archiving Black x Brown history and focused on Black x Brown JOY
Batambuze’s artwork is often participatory, centers marginalized identities and focuses on solidarity-building. By highlighting shared historical experiences and love, Batambuze uses social media, stimulating sensory installations and rituals to inspire unity.
Martha Chandran-Dickerson serves on the Editorial team of the BlindianProject and is also an educator and freelance writer/editor. She also serves on various non-profit organizations in the racial literacy and cultural fluency space. Chandran-Dickerson was born in South India, raised in England, Belgium and Kenya, and resides in America with her African-American husband and African-American and South-Indian sons.
Ayesha Syeddah is a Pakistani-Swiss polyglot and multigenre creative with the spirit of a sociologist. She is a collector of all things people, brands and storytelling. A freelance writer and editor by day and a theatre student by night, her focus revolves around crafting identities, building community, and solving “unsolvable” problems. She currently resides in Dublin, Ireland. Alongside working as the Managing Editor, Ayesha works on other BlindianProject strategic activities.
To register, click this link.