South Asians: Decolonizing a History of Subjugation
Healing Foreign Legacies on South Asian Identity, Heritage & Home Today
Online | English
What will we be exploring in this Lab?
We’ll explore how centuries of empire—especially British rule and its exit—sheared the interwoven cultural fabric of South Asian communities, reshaping identities, power and relationship to the subcontinent’s rich spiritual tradition. Generations endured subjugation, partitions, displacement, scarcity, and violence with little space to grieve what was lost or re-connect to ancestral practices. Today, these imprints live on in us. This lab invites us to notice how these collective wounds shape our sense of home, self, belonging, and connection to our roots today.
Who is invited to participate?
The South Asian (SA) identity includes people with ancestry from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, as well as their global diaspora. These are communities shaped today by historical traumas that came from empires, colonial subjugation, displacement, and political polarization. If this is an aspect of your lineage, join us. Requirements: 1)ancestry from SA; 2)curiosity about the complexity of your identity; 3)willingness to respect our diverse community; 4)you have capacity for self-regulation and witnessing, with access to individual therapy.
More about the journey of the Lab
This lab offers a guided exploration into our cultural inheritance shaped by the 19th–20th centuries. Through learning and sharing family stories, we’ll presence the human tragedy, violence, displacement, scarcity, and the loss of close-knit cultures that gave rise to new national identities. Together we’ll explore how these histories shape our identities now, attitudes towards each other, ability to belong, resilience and response to oppressive and polarizing voices today. The lab provides community, support, and witnessing as we reflect on our personal and collective heritage.
When will we be meeting?
Saturdays: March 14*, April 4, April 25, May 23*, June 13, July 11, Aug 1, Aug 22, Sept 12, Oct 10* from 8:00-10:00am PT, 11:00-1:00pm ET, 16:00-18:00pm UK, 17:00-19:00 CET. For IST, 9:30-11:30pm through March, 8:30-10:30pm from April onwards.(*)Note: the first, ~half way & last sessions meet for Four (4) hours from 8:00am-Noon PT, 11:00-3:00pm ET, 16:00-20:00pm UK, 17:00-21:00 CET. For IST, 9:30pm-1:30am through March, 8:30pm-12:30am from April onwards.In between sessions, optional triads & integration sessions will be available to digest & integrate content/experiences.
