Equality Labs

✊🏽✨“Desi Love Beats South Asian Hate” is more than a message. It is a refusal to be defined by fear, erasure, or discrimination. Across the world, South Asian communities continue to face rising hate, fueled not only by individual acts of racism but by policies and rhetoric that seek to exclude and divide. Terms like “Muslim invasion” and “H1B invasion” are not harmless phrases. They are rooted in white nationalist narratives that dehumanize our communities and question our belonging. 🩵This AANHPI Heritage Month poster challenges those narratives by centering love, solidarity, and truth. It reminds us that our identities are not threats. They are sources of strength. Our histories, cultures, and contributions cannot be reduced to stereotypes or scapegoated in moments of political fear. 🫂We know who we are. We know where our power lies, in our communities, in our collective voice, and in our refusal to stay silent. ⚖️And we move forward with purpose to fight for our rights, to stand against discrimination in all its forms, and to build a truly representative democracy where all of us are seen, heard, and valued. 🫶Desi love is resistance. And it will always be louder than hate.

📢 New Event Alert! 📢 On June 1st, EBMC is honored and thrilled to host Rima Vesely-Flad, PhD, the author of the recently released book "The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde"! Dr. Rima will be in conversation with Thenmozhi Soundrarajan, a dear friend of EBMC, the author of "The Trauma of Caste", and the Executive Director of Equality Labs. 📅 Monday, June 1st 2026 ⏰ 5:30-7pm 👥 Hybrid at EBMC (2406 Webster St., Oakland) and on Zoom We hope you’ll join us for this deeply intersectional discussion about two iconic Black queer writers, timeless Buddhist teachings, and our current work toward social justice and collective liberation. This event is for lovers of literature, Buddhist teachings, and social justice activism. All are welcome to attend. ✨ Link to register in our bio! ✨ Books will be available for purchase courtesy of @nomadicbookshop We will be fundraising for EBMC, so anything you're able to contribute will be deeply appreciated and will help us sustain our programs. Thank you and see you on June 1st with @blackbuddhiststudies , @dalitdiva , @equalitylabs , and @nomadicbookshop !! 🖤🖤🖤

📣Hey community, remember the update we flagged back in April? There’s new reporting that makes it even more important to stay on top of your device security, especially when it comes to apps like Signal. 🔒Protect your Signal messages and notifications now by installing your iPhone’s latest Software Update to iOS 26.4.2. 📲Apple’s software update means iPhones and iPads should no longer save copies of deleted messages from Signal or other apps, and the update also deletes already saved and related notifications. 🚨Law enforcement has used digital forensics in the past to extract messages from encrypted platforms like Signal and other sensitive apps. 🔐 Protect your messages in a few taps: iPhone → Settings → General → Software Update → Download & Install iOS 26.4.2 💻 Don’t forget your other devices: • iPad → Settings → General → Software Update → Install iOS 26.4.2 ⚠️ Digital privacy isn’t “set it and forget it.” Updates = protection. If you are enjoying our Digital Alert Series, please like this post, share with your community members, and DM us with other ideas for the series. 🗞️Read more in the article by @404mediaco at the link in bio!

SHAKTI — Official Trailer When her mischievous daughter falls mysteriously ill, a single mother is drawn into Kathmandu’s supernatural underworld of shamans and secrets—where resilience may be their only path to redemption. Streaming May 22 on Amazon. Watch now. — Deeply grateful to our extraordinary cast: @laxmi_bardewa @pradhanmenuka @shristishrestha @_akashnepali @maotsegrg @ghimire_prakash @girisaru12345 @nktsering @rivathapa2023 featuring @polinaoli8 And an unforgettable team: Writer/Director/Producer – @naniswalker Executive Producers – Snehal Fulzele, Vrushali Satarkar, @rakeshmmehra , @gannonlowell , Grady Craig, Luke Taylor, Matthew Helderman Producers – @candivision , @ida_da_da , @jered.everson Cinematographer – Keiko Nakahara, JSC Gaffer – @juanmacinemusic Colorist – @andreas_brueckl_colorist Production Designer – @candivision Editors – @naniswalker , Agusta Einarsdottir, Juli Vizza Original Score – @williamryanfritchmusic Original Song – @dmriti_ , @shyamnepalisarangi22 Casting Director – @loonibhatuladhar Costume Designer – @nuzhatqaziofficial 1st AD – @myrhnajames 2nd AD – @maho_astha Line Producers – @pramod.partha , @arun.regmi.96 Associate Producers – @ppariyar2020 , Pranali Garud, @salona_salona9 Paintings/artist @pariyar_pramila Sound mixer – @sargam_esha Re-recording mixer – @the_audiopilot Sound – @prince_carelet 
 Additional Music – @preezol_ Distributor – @buffalo8pro And the hundreds of craftspeople who made this film possible. On Buddha Jayanti and Labor Day, we reflect on the inner and collective work needed to dismantle caste.

🌱As Dalit History Month comes to a close, we present to you Shantabai Kamble (1 March 1923 – 25 January 2023), an Indian Marathi writer, teacher, and Dalit activist whose life story reflects courage and persistence in the face of social exclusion. 🌱 📚She was born in a Mahar Dalit family in Mahud village in present-day Maharashtra, where caste discrimination shaped everyday life and limited access to education for many Dalit children, especially girls. With encouragement from her parents and her own determination, Kamble continued her schooling despite caste based discrimination that sometimes forced her to sit outside the classroom. 📚 💙✊🏾She later became a teacher and dedicated many years to education. After retirement, she wrote her autobiography Majya Jalmachi Chittarkatha, published in the 1980s. The book is widely regarded as one of the first autobiographical works by a Dalit woman in Marathi literature. Through honest and compassionate storytelling, Kamble documented the everyday struggles, resilience, and aspirations of Dalit women. ✊🏾 💙

💛🌼Kumud Pawde (born Kumud Somkuwar in 1938) is an Indian Dalit activist, educator, writer, and pioneering scholar of Sanskrit. Born into a Mahar Dalit family in Nagpur, Maharashtra, she faced entrenched caste-based barriers yet persisted in her education, ultimately becoming one of the first Dalit women to study and excel in Sanskrit, a language long associated with priestly caste scholarship. 🌼💛 📘Her experiences of discrimination and determination are reflected in her autobiographical work Antahsphot, especially the essay “The Story of My Sanskrit,” which candidly explores how caste and gender shaped her journey toward academic achievement. Pawde later served as Head of the Sanskrit Department at the Government College in Amravati, Maharashtra. 📘 ✊🏾✨A committed Ambedkarite, she embraced Buddhism along with her parents during the historic 1956 mass conversion movement. She is also a founder member of the National Federation of Dalit Women, advocating for equality, dignity, and empowerment. ✨✊🏾

🌼T. N. Sadalakshmi was a well known political leader and social reformer who worked for the rights of marginalized communities and women in the Telangana region. 🌼 ⚖️She made history by becoming the first woman from a Dalit community elected to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1957. During her political career, she also served as the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly (1960–1962), marking an important milestone for women’s representation in regional politics. ⚖️ 💛As a minister in the government led by Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Sadalakshmi handled portfolios such as Social Welfare and Religious Endowments, where she introduced reforms aimed at expanding opportunities for disadvantaged groups. Inspired by the ideas of B. R. Ambedkar, she remained committed to social justice and political empowerment throughout her career. 💛

💚🌱Our #DalitHistoryMonth series highlights women who sowed the first seeds of anti-caste resistance—women whose courage took root and grew into the movement we are carrying forward. Today, we introduce you to Annai Meenambal Sivaraj. 🌱💚 💪🏽Annai Meenambal Sivaraj was a pioneering advocate for the rights of marginalised communities and women’s empowerment in South India. Born in Rangoon (now Yangon) to a politically active family, she moved to Madras and became deeply engaged in social and political reform, working alongside leaders such as B.R. Ambedkar and E.V. Ramasamy (“Periyar”). 💪🏽 ⚖️She insisted that caste discrimination and gender inequality be addressed together, urging women to step into public life and demanding access to education and broader opportunities. Meenambal was the first woman president of the South India Scheduled Castes Federation and presided over major women’s conferences in Madras and Bombay. She also served on important civic bodies, including as a member of the University of Madras Senate and the Madras City Council. ⚖️ ✊🏾Her fearless leadership made her a key figure in anti-caste and women’s movements, leaving a legacy of sustained activism for social justice. ✊🏾

💙💫As part of our #DalitHistoryMonth series, we present to you Du Saraswathi, a Kannada writer, Dalit activist, scholar and theatre artist who has been at the forefront of caste and gender justice for over five decades now, highlighting their intersections. 📖She is particularly known for her Santhimmi plays, centered on a rural woman protagonist who thoughtfully examines questions of caste, gender, economy, and daily life. Apart from her plays, her other important works include the poetry collection Henedare Jedananthe and Jeeva Sampige; Bachcheesu, a collection of short stories; Neera Daari, a compilation of essays; Eegen Maadeeri, an autobiographical narrative; and Baduku Bayalu, her Kannada translation of A. Revathi’s The Truth About Me: A Hijra Life Story.📖 🌺During the 1980s she played a key role as both a core member and editor of Manasa, an early Kannada feminist magazine that raised important questions and debates around the women’s movement at the time. Saraswathi has also pursued academic research, including a doctoral study on the lives of sanitation workers from a feminist perspective, her Ph.D. work being on the ‘pourakarmikas’ of Bengaluru who toil to keep cities clean but never get recognition. 🌺

🌷🌸Nangeli is remembered in Kerala’s oral history as a powerful symbol of resistance against caste oppression in the princely state of Kingdom of Travancore during the early nineteenth century.🌸🌷 💪🏽According to popular accounts, Nangeli belonged to a marginalized community whose women were subjected to the humiliating “breast tax” (mulakkaram) imposed on women from oppressed groups. In protest against this discriminatory system, Nangeli is said to have cut off her breasts and presented them to the tax collector, sacrificing her life as an act of defiance.💪🏽 🌟Her act exposed the brutality of the caste hierarchy and the gendered violence embedded within it. Today, her legend continues to provoke discussions about caste discrimination, bodily autonomy, and the politics of representation, highlighting how the struggles of marginalized communities are often excluded from dominant historical narratives.🌟

When systems built on domination refuse to protect us, we become the winning strategy. 2025 showed us what has always been true: our communities hold a deep well of strength, resilience, and care for one another. In the face of oppression, we chose each other.✊🏽✨ Together in 2025, we strengthened our movements through: 🔐 Digital security support and rapid response for organizers under attack 📊 Research exposing online hate and pushing tech platforms toward accountability ⚖️ Caste equity advocacy, trainings, and mutual aid for impacted communities 🌺 Dalit feminist powerbuilding to support the next generation of caste-oppressed women and queer leaders From protecting activists online to building collective safety and economic power, this work is about one thing: our shared future. Thank you to everyone who stood with us. We’re honored to build new worlds alongside you. 📖🔗 Read our 2025 Annual Report at the link in bio to see what we built together last year—and the future our movements are already bringing to life.

🌱As part of our #DalitHistoryMonth series, we’re proud to highlight Radhika Vemula. Guided by this year’s theme, “Seeds of Liberation,” we pay tribute to the women who planted the earliest seeds of resistance—acts of courage that quietly took hold and continue to shape the movement we carry forward today.🌱 ✊🏾Radhika Vemula, fondly known as Radhika Amma to many, is an Indian Dalit activist who rose to national prominence for her outspoken stance against caste-based injustice after the institutional murder of her son, Rohith Vemula, a doctoral student at the University of Hyderabad in 2016. In the aftermath, she became a leading figure in the “Justice for Rohith” campaign, advocating for accountability and justice for students subjected to discrimination in educational institutions. Born in Andhra Pradesh, Radhika Vemula’s life has been shaped by experiences of social and economic marginalization and discrimination.✊🏾 ⚖️Her work centers on confronting deep-rooted inequalities and discrimination in academic institutions and advocating for meaningful reforms that promote fairness, dignity, and equal access for all. ⚖️ 🌟Radhika Vemula has been closely associated with the demand for a proposed “Rohith Act,” named after her son Rohith Vemula. The proposed legislation seeks to establish mechanisms for accountability, prevent discrimination, and ensure the protection and dignity of marginalized students, intended to address caste-based discrimination in higher educational institutions.🌟