👀 The Dalit Problem

#131 | It starts with listening

A few weeks ago, Dolly introduced us to Michael Harriot’s Twitter feed, their go-to for Black American history. 

For me, the parallels between the Black Lives Matter and Dalit Lives Matter movements have always been striking. And I’m inspired to tell you about Round Table India, my go-to place for the Dalit-Bahujan perspective.

This website has become my one-click-away source about our history that wasn’t part of any curriculum growing up. 

It offers much contemporary context if you want to learn about gender from the caste lens, caste discrimination in India’s urban private sector, or even how mainstream feminism fails Dalit women.

It has the widest expression of Dalit-Bahujan voices – a treasure trove of perspectives on the intersectionality of the Dalit-Bahujan experience with the institutional and cultural dominance of India’s caste structures, past and present.

I’ve spent many hours exploring its vast resources – Manusmruti Dahan Din, Ambedkar’s interpretation of Dhamma and its critique, or the history of Dalit-Bahujan resistance. 

Someday, the collective works of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar will be essential reading in every school – I hope. But until then, if you want to educate yourself on the Dalit-Bahujan experience, you know where to go. 

Yours,
Nikita