Violence towards Africans in India has roots in Anti-Blackness that has existed for centuries

Continuing his series on Anti-Blackness in South Asia, Dhruva Balram discusses violent attacks on Black Africans in India and how the root of the issue is the anti-Blackness in India that has existed for centuries Read the other articles in the series In January of 2016, in Bengaluru, India, a Sudanese national ran his car… Read More

WWF, human rights abuses and the need to decolonise conservation

Recent allegations of human rights abuses by the WWF not only betray a colonial attitude to conservation abroad but also reflects attitudes to people of colour in conservation worldwide, writes Beth Collier Featured image: A Baka woman fishes in the forest near Lobéké National Park, Cameroon – Tom Warren/BuzzFeed In the latest controversy for the… Read More

Skin whitening creams – the movement for change

In the fourth of his articles discussing anti-Blackness and colourism in South Asian communities, Dhruva Balram discusses skin-whitening creams, how they link to anti-Blackness and the movement for change. Around the turn of the century, a string of controversial commercials appeared on television screens in India. The advertisements had viewers in an uproar. These commercials, which… Read More

The co-opting of Black culture in the South Asian diaspora, hip hop and the n-word

In the third of his articles discussing anti-Blackness in South Asian communities, Dhruva Balram discusses how South Asian people often gravitate towards Black culture and music, and how use of the n-word became an issue.   Moving to Canada from India at the cusp of adolescence, I instantly felt different, out of place – ‘othered’. Within… Read More

Anti-blackness in South Asian communities – how do we break the cycle?

In the first of a series exploring the issue, Dhruva Balram discusses the history and social implications of colourism in South Asia and diaspora communities,  and how this relates to anti-Blackness worldwide. Colourism, and its close relative anti-Blackness, is a pervasive scourge that underpins any notion of progress the South Asian community attempts to make.… Read More