Interview with Madan Vasishta
Madan M. Vasishta was born in India and became deaf at the age of 11. He worked as a farmer for next 10 years and moved to Delhi in 1961 where he met deaf people and learned to sign. Vasishta taught photography in India and worked with the All India Federation of the Deaf before coming to Gallaudet in 1967.
Aanjali Allegakoen Oral History Interview
At the time of this interview, Aanjali Allegakoen is a M.A. and PhD candidate in American Studies at the College of William and Mary.
Pradeepa Oral History Interview
Pradeepa is a Sri Lankan Tamil artist and multimedia creator, as well as a social activist, hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota and based in Colombo, Sri Lanka at the time of this interview. She left Sri Lanka as a young child and grew up as an asylum seeker at constant risk of deportation in the United States.
Tafadar Sourev Oral History Interview
Tafadar Sourev, a New Yorker of Bangladeshi heritage, works in the building trades and helps organize workers' rights campaigns in solidarity with other justice movements around immigration justice, anti-gentrification, and more.
Emmanuel Eric Oral History Interview
In addition to being a doorman in San Francisco, Emmanuel Eric serves at negotiating tables for his union. Eric learned labor organizing from his father when they lived in Pakistan.
Shawn Prasad Oral History Interview
Shawn Prasad, a Sacramento local of Indian-Fijian origin, works at the Sacramento airport and organizes for worker rights there and across the country, including supporting pro-labor political campaigns. His cat helps.
In this slideshow, you will see:
Prem Pariyar Oral History Interview
Prem Pariyar is a Dalit rights activist and social worker whose engagement with workers' rights stems from his time as a restaurant worker when he moved to the US from Nepal. His experience there led him to solidarity with nail salon workers, helping pass legislation to provide protections to them.
In this slideshow, you will see:
Bella and Anibel Comelo Oral History Interview
Bella Comelo and her daughter, Anibel Comelo-Ferris, are both of Goan Christian origin and both have a long history of labor organizing here in the US, Bella through her job with the school district and Anibel through her work as a university professor who also served as a union organizer.
In this slideshow, you will see:
Devi Oral History Interview
Devi and her sisters have owned Karma Nepal Crafts for the past six years and up until the pandemic was running a flourishing business, with profits going towards helping provide their female handicraftsmen in Nepal earn a fair wage.
They began their business as a temporary stall in the NY summer street fairs before finally venturing into a retail storefront.