THENMOZHI SOUNDARARAJAN on Annihilating Caste Systems /314

For The Wild

Philosophy, Society & Culture, For The Wild, Anthropocene, Story Telling, Religion & Spirituality, Decolonization, Progressive, Liberation, Land, Media

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 30 November 2022

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, Ayana is joined by Dalit American civil rights activist Thenmozi Soundararajan in a profound conversation detailing the wounds of caste within the United States and across the world. Thenmozhi brings just conviction and soul-filled commitment to the fight to annihilate caste-based supremacy. The very involvement within systems of punishment, carcerality, and discrimination deepens a wound that separates us from each other and from the broad web of life. Speaking to the ways that carrying the trauma of caste manifests within the body, Thenmozhi emphasizes the importance of slowing down to process the grief and pain caused by mindless oppression.

Thenmozhi Soundararajan is a Dalit American Civil rights artist, organizer, and theorist who has worked with organizations around the world to address the urgent issues of racial, caste, and gender equity. Her intersectional, cross-pollinating work helps to create a more generous, global, expansive, and inclusive definition of South Asian identity, along with safe spaces from which to honor the stories of these communities. She was also an inaugural fellow of the Robert Rauschenberg Artist as Activist, Atlantic Foundation for Racial Equity, and is a current fellow at Stanford Center for South Asian Studies. She is also the author of the newly released book The Trauma of Caste by North Atlantic Books.

Music by Justin Crawmer, June West, and Te Martin. Visit our website at forthewild.world for the full episode description, references, and action points.

Support the show

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by our incredible community of listener supporters on Patreon.
0:05.3	Our Patreon offers listeners' exclusive archival content, extended episodes,
0:10.4	and access to community conversations diving deeper with past guests.
0:14.4	Your monthly pledge ensures that for the wild has the funding to keep producing informative,
0:19.6	thoughtful, and rooted conversations and programming.
0:23.0	All funding supports our small team of creatives, podcast production,
0:27.3	and special for the wild projects like our zines and slow study courses.
0:32.0	To support us on Patreon, please visit patreon.com slash for the wild,
0:37.2	or if you would rather make a one-time donation or recurring donation outside of Patreon,
0:42.4	please visit for the wild.world slash donate.
0:47.0	Hello and welcome to For the Wild Podcast. I'm Ayane Young.
0:52.0	Today, I'm speaking with Denmarker Sander Arachen.
0:57.2	It's not accidental to me that we see a rise of polarization and anti-democratic forces
1:03.7	at a time when the earth itself is unstable because of our actions around climate catastrophe.
1:10.8	So in many ways, for us to come back into the alignment with the law of life,
1:17.0	we have to choose life, which means choosing each other,
1:20.5	choosing to slow down, and to try to heal in our relationships with each other.
1:27.3	Denmarker Sander Arachen is a elite American civil rights artist, organizer and theorist,
1:33.7	who has worked with organizations around the world to address the urgent issues of racial,
1:39.3	caste, and gender equity. Her intersectional cross-pollinating work helps to create a more
1:45.7	generous, global, expansive, and inclusive definition of South Asian identity,
1:51.7	along with safe spaces from which to honor the stories of these communities.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from For The Wild, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of For The Wild and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.