On January 31st, 2022, the Forever Foreign series invited lawyer, activist, and writer Deepa Iyer to talk about solidarity post the 9/11 era in the webinar “From Silos to Solidarities: 9/11 and Beyond.”
“Solidarity” is one of those terms that have been thrown around quite a bit in relation to activism, but…what is “solidarity” and in what contexts has “solidarity” been used? How has “solidarity” been practiced? Through a quick Google search, solidarity (noun) is the “unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group.” What Iyer addresses is how solidarity can be a verb when it becomes a practice and a strategy by living every single day showing up for people you share similar values with and care for even when times are tough. That, is transformative solidarity, and the struggle for transformative solidarity did not begin post 9/11.
Transformative solidarity has been an ongoing form of resistance against oppressive policies, people, and power that continue to enact racial violence towards marginalized groups in the United States. In particular, Iyer centers her talk on the historical, political, religious, and hate violences that brown folks have continued to face since before 9/11 because of the idea that they would be “forever foreign.” To white Americans, brown people were “savages” and “job stealers,” so their presence is perceived as a “threat” that needs to be taken care of through racialized forms of discrimination and violences.
Post 9/11, Arabs, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus – or essentially, anyone who looked “South Asian” or “brown” – were seen as terrorists on a national, and perhaps even global, scale. From 2001-2002, Iyer mentions that brown folks, especially brown men, had disappeared. Young and old disappeared men who were “arrested for no reason, cursed at, assaulted, and abused” showed up in prison (Maulik 495). In October 26, 2001, the USA Patriot Act was enacted to “deter and punish terrorist acts…[by] enhanc[ing] law enforcement investigatory tools” (Pub.L. 107-56) In other words, Iyer points out that this “patriot act” essentially expanded the policing of brown folks. In 2002, the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) program was initiated by the Bush administration to register people coming into the U.S. through “fingerprinting, photographing, and interrogation” (“National”). Rather than feeling protected, this increase of surveillance made brown folks feel violated and insecure – especially when they were the targeted group of NSEERS.
For Iyer and other active community organizers, the key goals for building transformative solidarity is to 1) push back on inequitable and unfair policies 2) protect, defend, and build community power 3) build community power across other communities who are enduring similar forms of unfair treatment (i.e. undocumented immigrants). Some community organizing Iyer brings up include: Ending JTTF (Joint Terrorism Task Force) in Oakland, South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), and DRUM (Desis Rising Up & moving).
There are four main “C’s” in building transformative solidarity: centering, co-conspirators, co-liberation, and connections and commonalities. Centering is the practice of making sure those who are directly impacted by certain policies are the ones driving the change. Co-conspirators are those who are taking action to reach the goal(s) of the community. Co-liberation is a strategy of believing in mutual freedom and engagement, in which the person figures out what their stake is on the issue – even if it does not directly affect them – and understands how the issue is affecting the communit(ies) involved. Connections and commonalities is finding the connections with each other without equalizing or dismissing each’s own histories and experiences.
Author: Min Pan
References
Authenticated U.S. Government Information. Public Law 107-56. U.S. Government Publishing Office. http://www.congress.gov/107/plaws/publ56/PLAW-107publ56.pdf
Maulik, Monami. “Our Movement Is for the Long Haul: Ten Years of DRUM’s Community Organizing by Working-Class South Asian Migrants.” Race/Ethnicity: Multidisciplinary Global Contexts, vol. 4, no. 3, Indiana University Press, 2011, pp. 455–67, https://doi.org/10.2979/ racethmulglocon.4.3.455.
“National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request.” Center for Constitutional Rights, https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do/ our-cases/national-security-entry-exit-registration-system-nseers-freedom.
