Bay Area Solidarity Summer (BASS) is a 5-day political action camp to cultivate South Asian American activists, ages 18–23.

It runs Aug 10-14, 2023 in Oakland, California.

Applications are now closed.

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Afghanistan • Bangladesh • Bhutan • Burma • India • Maldives • Nepal • Pakistan • Sri Lanka • Fiji • Diaspora

1. What is BASS?

Bay Area Solidarity Summer, or BASS, is a 5-day training program specifically for emerging progressive South Asian American activists and organizers, ages 18–23. (We explain “South Asian” below.) The training is low-cost or free, and includes curriculum, readings, and access to mentors and a network.

BASS is open to participants from across the U.S., with priority given to people from the West Coast.

Applications were open in February/March 2023, and are now closed.

2. Why should I attend BASS?

BASS will strengthen your skills as an organizer working for a just, equitable, and sustainable world:

• learn concrete skills for creating real-world change
• sharpen your analysis of race, gender, and power
• explore the 100+ year history of South Asian activism in the U.S.
• connect with a multi-generational community of peers and mentors

3. When and where is BASS? What about housing?

BASS 2023 will run from Thursday, August 10 to Monday, August 14, 2023 in Oakland, California.

If accepted, we expect you to be with us all five days, from Thursday morning to Monday afternoon, to gain the full experience. We provide housing for all participants, and plan to have wheelchair-accessible options.

We are committed to running a COVID-safe in-person event, but are ready to fall back to an online or hybrid format if required.

4. Should I apply?

Here's what we’re looking for: people who are excited to build movements for justice, interested in learning, open to receiving mentorship, and with at least some prior experience around activism or organizing. You don’t need to know social justice vocabulary, or have a fancy resume.

And yes, we absolutely want you to apply, even if you don’t always feel comfortable in South Asian spaces, or maybe feel impostor syndrome in activist spaces.

5. Who will I meet at BASS?

At BASS, you might meet a Sikh feminist working for climate justice, a Bhutanese refugee youth organizer, a South Indian computer scientist challenging ICE, or a queer Bangladeshi activist taking on Islamophobia. You'll get a chance to connect with a multi-generational community of activists, and maybe even find the mentor you never knew you needed.

6. How will you handle COVID-19 safety?

BASS will require vaccination, testing, and potentially masking. We will adjust plans based on the public health situation, and can fall back to a hybrid or online format if needed. Contact us if you have questions.

7. What will BASS be like?

Alumni often describe the program as a life-changing experience. Recent participants have said:

• "I'm SO excited to have a new, caring network of folks to work with for years to come. Practical organizing trainings, trauma and healing, and multiracial organizing! So concrete AND agitating in the best way!"
• "BASS gave me skills, network, and inspiration…Without BASS, I wouldn't be a community organizer."
• "We all cared so much for each other…I never felt any aspects of competition for who was the most woke, etc."
• "Nepal and Sri Lanka…Foster Farms and the Jakara Movement…I loved the way the sessions integrated storytelling with skill development."
• "I really liked getting the chance to speak to so many organizers and activists…that I had sometimes heard of or read…and learn from their experiences."
• "I learned how to take care of myself mentally and address many of the feelings that come up during this work. I don't have to feel guilty about working for-profit and doing organizing after my day job."
  
• "Spending that entire time in a pandemic, it's been really hard to feel motivated to learn…This [helped] bring me back to my childhood excitement about learning and growing."
• "I grew up in a community that did not have South Asian organizations or even really POC people, so it was amazing to awaken to all the South Asian history, organizations, tactics"

8. What do you mean  by “South Asian”?

When we say “South Asian,” we mean people with roots in places like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and related regions not always defined by national boundaries. Our community includes immigrants from the global South Asian diaspora (from Fiji to Italy, Malaysia to the Gulf), as well as people who are mixed-race, transracial adoptees, and third culture individuals.

9. Do I have to be from the Bay Area?

BASS is open to participants from across the United States, with priority given to people from the West Coast.

10. Can I afford it?

We will ask you to put in at least $50, but nobody gets turned away because of inability to pay. If you have financial need, just check the box in the application form to request a scholarship.

11. What if I have access needs?

We will do our best to accommodate your health, religious, or technology access needs. Please contact us for details.

12. Who runs BASS?

BASS is organized by a core group of volunteers who spend nine months every year organizing the program. We invite some of our favorite South Asian and POC organizers to be trainers, and get a lot of help from a loving community of volunteers, donors, alumni, and former core. BASS is a project of ASATA, the Alliance of South Asians Taking Action.

13. Why does BASS exist?

BASS was founded in 2011 by South Asian organizers committed to supporting and mentoring the next generation of South Asian organizers, building on the legacy of programs like Youth Solidarity Summer, Organizing Youth, and Rad Desi Summer.  We hope BASS will:

1. expand the network of organizers in the South Asian community fighting for justice and working in solidarity across movements and communities
2. build a cohort among participants and create lasting relationships between mentors and youth
3. create a forum to innovate and share political strategies for a just, equitable, and sustainable world

14. Are there other options?

Some other programs that our community members have recommended include Chicago Desi Youth Rising, the Seeding Change fellowship, the LavNix summer organizer program, the DRUM summer organizer program, the Asian Refugees United camp for emerging Bhutanese leaders, and South Bay Youth Changemakers. Also take a look at trainings and campaigns from some of these South Asian American groups.

15. I have another question!

You can email us, or send us a quick DM on Instagram or Facebook.