Author Archives: Rajani Gudlavalleti

May 31, 2023 How does AAPI Heritage Month serve you? When I have chosen to engage in it, AAPI Heritage Month has served as a dedicated avenue to lean into systemic political analysis, community organizing, and public education. The underlying premise being that AAPIHM is not for me or us, but a time to mobilizeContinue reading “AAPI Heritage Month #31”

May 30, 2023 Edward Said’s term “orientalism” describes positioning of us as a threat to “the West,” validating war and imperialism. Reflections? The Orient. An “olden days” term sparking images of trade ships and bazaars. Language for the magical mysteries of the unknown. Suburban Chinese restaurants with dingy fluorescent lighting and perfectly fine ma poContinue reading “AAPI Heritage Month #30”

May 29, 2023 Do you feel a personal connection to the Memorial Day holiday? Memorial Day was not created with me in mind. It was created to remind me that if my foreign family fought in any wars, they were the Other. Any semblance of freedom I feel on this land is a mockery ofContinue reading “AAPI Heritage Month #29”

Monday, May 29, 2023 We have made it to the final week of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! This has been so revealing and relieving. I have used the past week’s theme of politics to really dive into specific areas that I have been eager to explore for a while but never carvedContinue reading “AAPI Heritage Month: Week 5 Prompts”

May 28, 2023 Is there a term you used to identify with that makes you cringe now? A Minority. Although I am of the Global Majority. It is intended to diminish our power. To allow us a small container for the wholeness of our immense beings. It validates that unkind voice in our head whoContinue reading “AAPI Heritage Month #28”

May 27, 2023 Does the term “person of color” apply to you? In fall of 2014, I participated in a 7-week workshop series by Baltimore Racial Justice Action (BRJA) designed by and for people of color. That is the term BRJA uses to describe people with Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander heritage. The workshopContinue reading “AAPI Heritage Month #27”

May 26, 2023 Describe your first friend of your race or ethnicity. Wide-eyed and full to the brim with joy Small in frame Heavy in love Our friendship had two iterations Meeting in a middle childhood Trick-or-treats and rollercoasters Rejoining in a teenage adolescence Sleepovers and third wheeling dates Indian Club for solidarity beyond myContinue reading “AAPI Heritage Month #26”

May 25, 2023 Did or does your family talk about politics? How? In reflecting on the T***p administration with my dad, he compared it to the political energy in India just before they moved to North America in 1980. This is how my family talks about politics. With a lens on where we come fromContinue reading “AAPI Heritage Month #25”

May 24, 2023 Do you follow politics or news where you live? In my last post, I claimed that I don’t follow politics in Asia or the Pacific Islands. This hasn’t been sitting right with me all day. I feel I need to rethink that self-perception to better understand how I “follow” politics or newsContinue reading “AAPI Heritage Month #24”

May 23, 2023 Do you follow politics in Asia or the Pacific Islands? In talking with my Amma recently she had shared with me a deep sadness about the “terrible treatment of women that continues in India.” She said she had been reading and watching the news about it and how upsetting it was. IContinue reading “AAPI Heritage Month #23”