South Asian Activist Community



Desi Youth
  • DC Desi Summer [DC]: provides a radical and inclusive space for youth of South Asian heritage to examine key social justice issues and take action!
  • Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM) [NY]: was founded in 2000 to build the power of South Asian low wage immigrant workers, youth, and families in New York City to win economic and educational justice, and civil and immigrant rights.
  • Jakara Movement [CA]:  an institution for the recruitment and training of volunteers and a hub for the Sikh Californian youth. With a focus on the interstices of education, health, gender, and social justice, the Jakara Movement inclusively engages large sections of the Sikh youth in various projects to strengthen their identity and consciousness as Sikhs, foster education through service-learning, and inspire activism and volunteerism within the greater Qaum.
  • Organizing Youth (OY!) [SF]: volunteer-based organization formed to provide radical political education and training to South Asian youth, and to facilitate their self-empowerment to organize for political, social, economic, and environmental justice.
  • South Asian Awareness Network Conference (SAAN) [Michigan]: organizes the largest annual South Asian undergraduate conference in the nation. The event, which is entirely student organized, provides participants with the opportunity to connect with prominent individuals.
  • South Asian Youth Action (SAYA) [NY]: is the nation’s only secular youth development organization that focuses on the needs of South Asian youth.
  • Youth Solidarity Summer (YSS) [NY]: a weekend retreat in New York City to share our experiences, reaffirm our commitment to struggle, renew our energies and strengthen our solidarity.

Non-Profit Organizations
  • Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA) [SF]: a San Francisco Bay Area all-volunteer group working to educate, organize, and empower the Bay Area South Asian communities to end violence, oppression, racism and exploitation within and against our diverse communities.
  • Center for South Asia Studies [Berkeley]: One of the world's leading institutes for research and programs on South Asia, the Center for South Asia Studies (CSAS) at the University of California, Berkeley works with faculty members, graduate students, community members, private institutions, and non-profit organizations to deepen understanding of the region and to create new generations of scholars of South Asia
  • Friends of South Asia [South Bay]:  Friends of South Asia works to achieve a peaceful, prosperous, and hate-free South Asia. The group works towards a demilitarized, nuclear-free South Asia; bringing together people with roots in various parts of South Asia, as well as other well-wishers of the region. FOSA promotes respect for and celebrates the diversity and plurality of South Asia, promoting amity between countries and communities and working towards a South Asia where the rights of all minorities are respected and protected; regardless of religious, ethnic, sexual or other differences.
  • Maitri [SF]:  a free, confidential, referral nonprofit organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area, that primarily helps families from South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka among others) facing domestic violence, emotional abuse, cultural alienation, human trafficking or family conflict. 
  • Narika [SF]: was founded in 1992 to address the problem of domestic violence in the South Asian community. Embracing the notion of women's empowerment, Narika set out to address the unmet needs of abused South Asian women by providing advocacy, support, information, and referrals within a culturally sensitive model.
  • North American South Asian Bar Association [National]: provides a vital link between South Asian lawyers and the South Asian community across North America. As a bar association, NASABA affords North American South Asian lawyers a recognized forum for professional growth and advancement.
  • Satrang [LA]: is a social, cultural and support organization providing a safe space to empower and advocate for the rights of the South Asian LGBTIQQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex, Queer and Questioning) community in Southern California through education, networking, and outreach.
  • Sikh American Legal Defense Fund (SALDEF) [National]:  is the oldest Sikh American civil rights and educational organization. We empower Sikh Americans through advocacy, education and media relations.
  • South Asian American Digital Archives (SAADA) [National]: was founded in 2008 in order to document and provide access to the diverse and relatively unknown stories of South Asian Americans.
  • South Asian Forum [National]: aims to tell the story of South Asians through the lens of its organizations and organizing work.  From one-one-one interviews with community organizations to an extensive history and framework of South Asians in the U.S., this Forum hopes to capture the deep and rich history of South Asian collective action in the U.S.
  • South Asian Network (SAN) [LA]:was founded in 1990 to provide an open forum for people of South Asian origin to gather and discuss social, economic, and political issues affecting the community, with the goal of raising awareness, engagement and advocacy among community members leading to an empowered and active community.
  • South Asian Sisters [SF]: a diverse collective of progressive South Asian women dedicated to empowering our community to resist all forms of oppression through art, dialogue, conscious alliances, and grassroots political action.
  • The Sikh Coalition [National]:a community-based organization that works towards the realization of civil and human rights for all people.  In particular, we work towards a world where Sikhs may freely practice and enjoy their faith while fostering strong relations with their local community wherever they may be. 
  • 3rd I South Asian American Film [SF]: From art-house classics to documentary films, from innovative and experimental visions to next-level Bollywood: 3rd i is committed to promoting diverse images of South Asians through independent film. We showcase films from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and the global South Asian Diaspora.
  • Trikone [SF]: Trikone is a San Francisco-based non-profit organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people of South Asian descent. Founded in 1986 in the San Francisco Bay Area, Trikone is the first group of its kind in the world.

South Asian
Arts and Culture

Blogs

Books

Comedians

Films

Musicians

Press & Media

Theater

Vid Clips
Essays & Excerpts

Allies