A Queer Desi

memeographs: In case you missed in on Tuesday evening a...

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:39:00 -0400

In case you missed in on Tuesday evening a bipartisan coalition on the Senate Judiciary committee killed any hope of LGBT inclusion in the now less “comprehensive” immigration bill. A sad day for more than 40,000 estimatedLGBT binational couples in the US, living abroad in exile or living in separate countries.

Photo

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:45:04 -0400

Are you going to DesiQ?

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:35:06 -0400

No, studying for the bar so I’m doing nothing else this summer, hopefully.

When are you coming back to California?!!! We hate that D.C. has you :-(

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:34:21 -0400

Aww, unfortunately I’ve a great job here, so I’m not likely to permanently resettle back in California anytime soon.

infinitebollywood: Rani Mukherji & Preity Zinta movie...

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:51:55 -0400

infinitebollywood:

Rani Mukherji & Preity Zinta movie timeline

Uh, when are these two coming together opposite one another in a movie, hello.

Thank you, I really appreciate your opinion. I never got my package back, it seems to have been lost in transit and I need an ID to claim something from the post office and I don't have one. Is it okay if I just send a new one? Also I sent a money order how do I get my money back? O______O

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:24:00 -0400

You have two different problems.

If they said you can resubmit, you can resubmit. The package lost in the mail is irrelevant.

As for the money order that is lost along with the lost package, I googled money order lost in mail. This seemed helpful.

Google is your friend. Use it. I’m not your personal search engine.

Infinite List of Bollywood Films: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (Karan...

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:26:38 -0400

Infinite List of Bollywood Films:
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (Karan Johar, 1998)
Shahrukh Khan ○ Kajol ○ Rani Mukerji

OMG I just rewatched this with my partner. So many memories.

So I found out that my daca was rejected because there was an error in my fees. I called USCIS and they told me I could reapply. They also told me I could get my money back, do you know how that works?

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:23:08 -0400

I can’t help you without a consultation. It is likely that what you are referring to is not a rejection but simply that USCIS refused to accept an application with the incorrect fees, which is not per se a rejection. Just send the package back to them with the right fees.

Hi. I was wondering if you think it's still worth it to apply for DACA? Or should we wait for an immigration bill?

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:20:57 -0400

Of course everyone should apply for DACA if they are eligible (unless they are eligible for a green card). Besides people with DACA would just be grandfathered into the immigration bill, IF it passes, which is a BIG IF. If not, they will have DACA, which is better than having nothing.

Also, read this.

linesofbeauty: Rani Mukerji does not get enough credit for her...

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:13:00 -0400

linesofbeauty:

Rani Mukerji does not get enough credit for her dancing skills. She’s not transcendent like Madhuri or Sridevi or Ash, but she’s very, very good. She’s ON in a song-and-dance sequence, she is mad expressive, she is limber and energetic, she does a variety of styles well, and she completes each and every moment (something most mainstream Bollywood female actors post-2000 don’t give two hoots about.)

Her work with Vaibhavi in Aiyya was FANTASTIC. That’s real choreography - imaginative, spirited, visually inventive, and witty. The world can keep its Chikni Chamelis, I’ll take an Aga Bai anyday.

I find her better than Ash in terms of dancing. I don’t know what’s so special about Mrs. Rai Bachchan, but i digress. Rani is definitely a fantastic dancer, probably overlooked for her dancing skills, because she is perhaps, the finest actor of our generation.

Hi, my partner and I hope to apply for a marriage-based green card for her; it's not possible now because we're in a same-sex relationship. We're waiting to hear what the Supreme Court says about DOMA. Can you recommend any immigration lawyers in DC/MD/VA who we could consult in the meantime, just to discuss what the process might entail if we're allowed to go through with it?

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:09:00 -0400

Andres Benach, Benach Ragland LLP. I’ve heard him on the phone several times over the past few weeks, talking to same-sex couples in similar situations. He’s incredibly supportive and enthusiastic, probably more than I am, about the prospect of same-sex immigration. Good luck! :)

Immigrant Drivers License Bill Nears Passage

Mon, 06 May 2013 16:48:27 -0400

cprcheckandbalance:

[May 6, 2013] Colorado is poised to join a handful of states that grant drivers licenses to people in the country illegally. The proposal won preliminary approval in the state House today.

Immigrants applying for the licenses would have to show proof of identification and demonstrate that they pay taxes in Colorado. They could use the cards to drive legally and get car insurance, not for things like voting or getting on an airplane.

Read More

We are gunning for one city, one license in D.C. All the best!

Why I Sat Down In the D.C. Mayor’s Office for #OneCity,...

Mon, 06 May 2013 11:04:20 -0400

Why I Sat Down In the D.C. Mayor’s Office for #OneCity, #OneLicense

View Post

lahoops: Isabel Castillo, Roxana Bendezu, Prerna Lal, Lizbeth...

Thu, 02 May 2013 21:50:10 -0400

lahoops:

Isabel Castillo, Roxana Bendezu, Prerna Lal, Lizbeth Mateo and Marybeth Onyeukwu are staging a sit-in in D.C. to demand unmarked licences for their community.

Take Action: “Mayor Gray: Don’t Racially Profile Our Immigrants!”

Call the Mayor’s office @ 202-727-6101 or 202-741-0922 or 202-727-6300

“Hi, I was calling to ask that Mayor Gray to amend the driver’s license bill. Undocumented immigrants living in the District will be racially profiled with his marked license plan. Why is the Mayor setting a bad example for the rest of the nation? I urge Mayor Gray to reconsider his proposal and support one city, one license for all.

Sign the petition: http://action.dreamactivist.org/dc/license/

It’s one city, one license people.

juliosalgado83: To download and print this poster, go here.

Wed, 01 May 2013 12:23:48 -0400

juliosalgado83:

To download and print this poster, go here.

juliosalgado83: No Mas Exclusion LGBTQ!!! If you want a high...

Wed, 01 May 2013 12:23:16 -0400

juliosalgado83:

No Mas Exclusion LGBTQ!!! If you want a high res version of this image to print for May Day, e-mail me at julio@culturestrike.net.

flavia-isabel: For the peanut gallery. LOL. <3

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:34:59 -0400

flavia-isabel:

For the peanut gallery.

LOL.

La Kemster: Of MICE and Women

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:55:37 -0400

La Kemster: Of MICE and Women:

kemee:

Before you read this, please visit http://action.dreamactivist.org/mice and sign the petition & share if you haven’t already. Then come back if you’d like.

Of MICE and Women

Desperate to get back home to babes
Whose mouths have not tasted her milk in far too many days,
Back to a husband too distraught to brush hair or tie shoelaces,
Now unemployed, the nearly empty fridge haunting him in his sleep.
He reaches over the pillow and her hand is not there but her heart is.
Her heart is, and so she gives in and signs voluntary departure,
though no free will is present in the room.

Her apology echoes off the walls as she leaves,
Neck forever cramped from looking back to those still caged within
Checking that the pieces of herself placed strategically-
dignity preserved in the folds of her uniform,
strength wrapped tenderly around the steel bars,
hope tucked into dusty corners of cement-
will keep her comrades company until they too are free.

It’s like they put her on death row
With a final order of removal to execute the ghost of her American presence.
They didn’t even offer her a final meal,
though tonight their own children will eat the tomatoes that her husband picked in the fields
for dinner and be satisfied.
They will be satisfied, while her own children remain hungry for justice.

Infiltration is such a strong word.
But you must learn to hold its heat in your mouth,
Press its discomfort into the backs of your teeth,
Swish it around until your throat burns from its consequence,
Lest they pry it from your lips like they did your native tongue.

In our hands, we hold the umbrellas that keep us in the shadows.
But we are too fearful of reclaiming sunlight to let them go,
and it is not even raining.
It is not even raining yet our thoughts of self-hate strike us like thunder,
leaving the faint scent of burnt melanin in its wake.

Our bodies have been stripped of their majesty,
And we are now too comfortable being wallflowers.
We tiptoe around as if society is a minefield,
Yet it is in her heart where she has hidden that grenade,
And every “Go Back to Mexico” sends her trembling hand
Inching closer to pull that pin and detonate her dreams so she no longer has to defer them.

Infiltration is such a strong word.
It’s more like stepping into the future to pay a visit to ourselves
Like looking into the mirror and discovering that
Your reflection has been deported in your absence.

If there are truly spoils of war,
Then we are all the trophies of white supremacy,
Generations upon generations of cheap labor
Provided by disposable brown bodies that need never reach for the American Dream,
because it is an exercise in futility.

Have we come this far, that we can no longer dream in the language of our ancestors?

Have we come this far, that even our dreams are defined by imperialism?

That our self-loathing is tied to our survival?

That our success is couched in Western ideals?

Illegal. I am illegal.

We have to confront the ugly in ourselves if we are ever to overcome it.
We have to confront the ugly in our struggle if we are ever to overcome it.
We have to confront the ugly in our communities if we are ever to overcome it.

So let us be ugly together.

Let us be ugly together, for ugly pain yields power
Like the contractions that come before giving birth.
It teaches you how to scream after years of being told you have no voice.
Ugly pain refuses to be swept under the rug,
to be bribed by gilded handcuffs wrapped in a freedom gift box.

Ugly pain does not forget.

Ugly pain does not forget.

Ugly pain does not forget.

It does not hide the battle scars that are only visible to the battle-weary.

Illegal is such a strong word.
But it, too, must come out of the shadows.
Though at times we must wrap ourselves
in the security blanket and safety of undocumented to survive,
It is time to don our illegal suit of armor
And prepare to go to war with our internalized hate,
Swords of forgiveness raised to the sky,
Leaving empty shells of our egos scattered across the battlefield.

No one tells you what happens to the butterfly
After that first part of its migration.

No one will say that low priority
Is still a priority.

No one will blink an eye when you shout
That they are locking us up without a reason.

No one will shake their head if they knew that
Private prisons cash in on every immigrant body.

No one will believe you when you explain that
Deport Them All is not just a magic trick.
It is real.

Deport them all was two suicide attempts for Yanelli
Deport them all is a broken tail light for Wanda,
is driving while brown for Gustavo,
is coughing up blood for Maria.
Deport them all is working without papers for Adelaida,
is being in the passenger’s seat for Everilda,
who was being sent back to Guatemala
where her five family members were assassinated,
with a target on her back.
It is real. It is no magic trick or prophecy. It is today.

And tomorrow, what if we said, deport me instead?
Our collective ugly would be beautiful.
We could swell jail cells with our capacity,
like they rob us short of our humanity.
We could offer up our bodies like sacrificial lambs in orange jumpsuits
And dare them to feast on their own shame.

And what if we do nothing,
Grip our umbrellas tight until our knuckles turn white?
Do not let me lose this battle with my own complacency.
Do not let me face these demons alone.

Let us be ugly together.
So tired from fighting that that only way to stand shoulder to shoulder
Is if we lean on each other.
Let the blood from my wounds drip into yours and make us family.
Let us drill holes in each others pipelines
So that yellow and brown and black bodies may breathe shared oxygen.

Let us be ugly together.
Let us be ugly for our mothers for whom this country’s beauty has forsaken,
for our fathers who leave their dignity behind at home for safekeeping
before standing in parking lots for livelihood.
And if the callouses on their hands could speak,
they would yell, “Pick me! Choose me! Open the door, America. Please, just open the door.”

Let us be ugly together.
I’ll show you my pain if you show me your truth.
Let us shrug off this cloak of pretense and open the curtains of rhetoric.
Let me take your hand in mine and hold it so tight that
Our grip will send a message that Enough! Not. One. More.

Let us be ugly together.
Let us do it for them,
of MICE and women,
so that we may one day,
do it for ourselves.

I'm a 3rd year undergraduate at a university in California. I'm a major in Anthropology, but have been interested in going to law school. Would you say that becoming an immigration attorney would be a good idea in the next couple of years? I'm involved in the immigrant rights movement and have a passion for not just helping folks get awareness but also using the law to defend people in the immigration realm, thanks!

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:16:23 -0400

Well, you can’t become an immigration attorney “in the next two years” especially not through the traditional route, which should take a minimum of 5 years, from the LSAT prep to being sworn in as a lawyer.

As for whether or not you should go to law school, there has been enough written on it here, here and here to give you a good sample of opinions.

"You can’t seek justice, you have to build it. We have to build it. If we really want not to be..."

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 23:42:28 -0400

“You can’t seek justice, you have to build it. We have to build it. If we really want not to be faced with horrific acts, we need to stop treating people in this country horrifically - especially in prisons, detention centers, at borders and other sites of violent oppression. We also need to stop treating people in other countries that way - Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, wherever.”

- Reflections on Boston Marathon Bombings