Ramu by Moses Bhagwan
Moses Bhagwan wrote "Ramu," a moving tribute to an archetypal figure in Guiana's history, the sugar cane cutter carrying his cutlass home from the fields, in 1964. At the time, Bhagwan was a political prisoner in a detention camp run by British colonial authorities. He wrote the poem, another one dedicated to his wife, and another invoking freedom in a notebook given to him by his sister.
Poem, "Ramu" Manuscript
This is the original manuscript for Ramu, composed while Moses Bhagwan was imprisoned by the British for his role as an anti-colonial leader, in the youth wing of the Guiana's People's Progressive Party.
repeat movement until by Nadia Misir
"repeat movement until" was composed by Nadia Misir, who holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens College. The poem gives elegaic voice to a wedding ring handed down in a family and evokes its experience with labor, with skin, with surfaces, with temperatures, with grandmothers and granddaughters, with death.
One Last Bag by Elizabeth Jaikaran
"One Last Bag" was composed by Elizabeth Jaikaran, the author of the short story collection Trauma. With its buoyant wit, it levitates what is otherwise heavy: the weight of an overstuffed suitcase and, through the figure of a migrant trying to please her Queens cousin, the weight of family expectations.
Rajiv Maragh Oral History Interview
Rajiv Maragh, an entrepreneur and jockey, discusses moving to Florida from Jamaica, his career as one of the few Indo-Jamaican jockeys, his entrance in the Kentucky Derby multiple times, and his almost 2000 wins. Rajiv comes from a horse racing family with multiple generations before him being involved in the sport.
In this slideshow, you will see:
Savitri Tolan Oral History Interview
Savitri Tolan, a behavioral therapist, discusses her wedding (which was a fusion of Indo-Jamaican/Indo-Guyanese traditions), her faith as a Hindu, her passion for Bollywood dancing, her family's musical traditions with songbooks and memorization, the annual family reunion, and her desire to preserve Indo-Jamaican traditions to teach her son.
In this slideshow, you will see:
Ghanesh Maragh Oral History Interview
Ghanesh Maragh, a hospitality and entertainment professional, discusses his families' origin in India, his faith as a Hindu, and his craft as one of the remaining Nachaniya dancers - a folk dance brought from North India to Jamaica.
In this slideshow, you will see:
Jabin Ahmed Oral History Interview
Jabin Ahmed talks about what led her to form her organization, Jaago Hudson, and her activities during the pandemic.
Content Warning: sexual violence
In this slideshow, you will see:
A Jaago protest in Hudson.
Farzana Musomi and Jabin Ahmed at a Jaago protest.
An illustration by Jabin Ahmed.
A Jaago protest in Hudson.
V. V. ('Sugi') Ganeshananthan Oral History Interview
V. V. ('Sugi') Ganeshananthan is an Ilankai Tamil American fiction writer and scholar based at the University of Minnesota. Her first novel is titled Love Marriage and her second novel was forthcoming at the time of this archived interview. Sugi discusses her upbringing and experiences being in Tamil American spaces.
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.