Collective Engagement in & Commitment to Research

Many members of the SAYHU community are scholars engaged in a range of research projects at various stages in their academic journeys—from undergraduate research to associate professors at Texas universities.

Why do we at SAYHU invest in research?

In 2022, there is a very limited amount of published research on South Asians in Texas and we know that our writing and research will help others see the diversity of our identities and experiences. We are invested in research as a powerful tool to enhance our collective learning, community engagement, and action. We view research not only as an opportunity to learn about complex social inequalities, but also to make visible and accessible the narratives, images, maps, and numbers that are too often overlooked. We are committed to engaging in and supporting research that lifts our voices, tells our stories, preserves our history, and creates spaces and opportunities to learn and grow in community. Through interviews and oral histories as part of our research practice we empower community members to claim and share their stories.

What kind of research is SAYHU involved in? 

SAYHU community members strive to do feminist research, meaning research that questions power dynamics and uses an intersectional lens to account for numerous aspects of our lives including but not limited to how gender, sexuality, race, and national identity inform the lived experiences of South Asians. 

We have gathered information about our own community and asked questions of individuals about such topics as geography, identities, language, and community interests in order to respond to what our unique and diverse community might want or need. Through our research we have learned more about feminist ideas and applied these to our practices in writing about our own communities and in building SAYHU as an intellectual and activist space. 

Some of the projects related to research on South Asians in Texas that members of our community have initiated include:

 

What kinds of research are OUr Individual SAYHU members Doing—and what motivates their work? 

Sharan Kaur Mehta (she/her)

I’m a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology at Rice University and have been a SAYHU community member since 2017. My research examines diverse social boundaries and intersectional inequalities with a focus on race, (pan)ethnicity, racism, and religion. My dissertation titled “From South Asia to the Southern US: Exploring South Asian Racial Identity, Religion, and Collective Action in Texas” explores how religiously diverse South Asians across generations in Texas understand their racial identities, the lived impacts of racism on their everyday lives, and how they respond to these challenges civically, politically, and in their local communities. It shows the links between anti-Asian racism and Islamophobia, the contemporary landscape of South Asian collective action in the Southern US, and the challenges and opportunities of building racial solidarity on the ground. My dissertation builds on research I began for my master’s thesis titled “Negotiating Race in a Climate of Islamophobia: How Muslim and Sikh Americans Perceive Discrimination and Construct Racialized Religious Identities.” Through in-depth interviews with Muslims and Sikhs in Houston, I explored how community members perceive and negotiate discrimination in their everyday lives and the impacts of these encounters on the formation and assertion of racialized religious identities. Website: www.sharankaurmehta.com

Usman Mahmood

I’m a graduate student at University of Houston studying Public Administration and I produced the the Political Engagement & South Asian Americans resource page for SAYHU in 2021. In my undergraduate years, I conducted research on the power dynamics between the U.S.’ executive and legislative branch before taking a larger interest in local government operations. Each election cycle, I’d notice the complete lack of attention, care, and resources given to South Asian Americans by candidates to ensure the community’s turnout. In 2020, I volunteered for candidates who were implementing “relational organizing methods” to get community engagement. I created my SAYHU research page in a similar manner: bringing awareness through facts and accessible resources to motivate South Asians to think of our growing influence and wisely choose (or run for!) leadership positions with our needs in mind. Now I work with the Community Assistance Program at Houston Food Bank and recently became a Volunteer Deputy Registrar to register citizens to vote, after doing the same for three years in Travis County.

 

Saaj Patel (he/him)

Hi! I’m a graduate of the University of Houston and currently Fulbright grantee in Paris, France. I was previously an intern with SAYHU from January-August of 2021, where I worked on projects like the Community Survey, the SAYHU Instagram, and the Sexualities & Sexual Health Education resource page. The Community Survey was a great project to work on to learn more about who is present in our network and where interests lie. Not only could people talk about their past and current roots, but what they look for in the community, how SAYHU can provide that, and how they can give back. During my time at UH, I studied anthropology, English, and French. Soon, I hope to begin an ethnographic project revolving around the identities, backgrounds, and motivations of English teachers in France.

 

Dr. Rachel Afi Quinn (she/her)

I teach courses at University of Houston on Black girlhood, feminist theory, globalization My transnational feminist cultural studies scholarship focuses on mixed race identity in the African diaspora, gender and sexuality, blackness and visual culture. I love black film, art and exploring questions of identity.  I was even part of the team that produced the documentary film Cimarrón Spirit (2015). I’m one of the co-founders of SAYHU and the SAYHU Preservation Project, and I have worked collaboratively in Houston to build SAYHU as a feminist space both in person and online. I have an article coming out about how SAYHU used technology to organize ourselves during the pandemic and another essay I am working on about all we learned from creating SAYHU as a feminist project here in Texas.  My first book, Being La Dominicana: Race and Gender in the Visual Culture of Santo Domingo, was published in Fall 2021. More about me at rachelafi.art