Desi Political Power - Get Savvy
By Kiran Gore, Special Contributor

Growing up South Asian American, family dinner parties are frequent and predictable: aunties in the kitchen, exchanging recipes, discussing fashion and Bollywood films; uncles in the living room, discussing real estate and politics. Rarely do the conversations intersect.

And for every dinner party, there is an 18-year-old girl stuck stirring chicken tikka, who has tried to re-direct the kitchen conversation from recipes to racism. When that fails, she eavesdrops on the uncles and itches for the opportunity to stomp into the living room and school the men on how the War on Terror is a War on Desi’s. How does this girl go from closet activist to community organizer?

A year ago, Tanzila “‘Taz’” Ahmed founded South Asian American Voting Youth (SAAVY) in response to that question. SAAVY aims to mobilize and train young people ages 18-24 so they have the skills to politicize our community. SAAVY is a non-partisan project of SAALT (South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow). We believe that in order for Desi’s to gain political clout in Washington D.C., we need to start with our local campuses and communities.

South Asians are a relatively new demographic in the evolving American landscape—most young Desi’s in the United States are either the children of immigrants or immigrants themselves. As a new community, it is the young generation that is charged with teaching our people that political engagement must be a part of the assimilation process. Choosing to be apolitical and therefore disenfranchised is no longer an option, especially when the ability to vote is a privilege that many non-citizen South Asians living in the United States cannot enjoy.

For the 2004 elections, SAAVY launched a nationwide campaign based in four key cities: Ann Arbor, MI; Gainesville, FL; New York City; and Atlanta, GA. Through the diligent work of hundreds of trained volunteers, we walked our community through the entire political process: voter registration, issue education, and mobilization. SAAVY registered 2,500 voters nationally and engaged and mobilized thousands more. SAAVY also administered thousands of surveys to find out what issues matter most to our community. Our analysis is still underway, but so far, the highest ranked are civil rights, foreign affairs, education, and fiscal issues.

According to statistics compiled by the CIRCLE (Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement), youth voter participation increased by nine percentage points this year. SAAVY was, no doubt, a mover and shaker in this national movement to engage young people.

Voting is just one tactic to engage in the system and earn credibility as a community. With this year’s elections behind us, SAAVY’s work is by no means done. We will continue to build a unified South Asian American voice by equipping individuals with the tools and resources to educate, mobilize, and empower South Asian Americans to reach out to their communities. Until the day comes when politicians court the “Desi vote,” SAAVY is committed to building the South Asian base on the ground with 18-year-old closet activist-turned-organizers at the helm.

SAAVY is truly indebted to its group of dedicated volunteers and community supporters, and we can still use YOU!
Volunteer to:
* Organize or host a fundraising party
* Help us analyze issues surveys
* Represent SAAVY and bring our organizing model to your campus group or community center
* Join our Media/ Public Relations Team
* Help us shape the future of SAAVY through your input

Who knows, your dedication to politically organizing our community just might inspire the aunties to stir up the dialogue at their next dinner party.

For more information about SAAVY, or to get involved: www.saavy.org
kiran.gore@gmail.com