@anirvan@mastodon.social
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anirvan

@anirvan@mastodon.social

Techie, public historian, and activist from Berkeley, California.

I curate the monthly Berkeley South Asian radical history walking tour — now celebrating its 11th year.

Pronouns: he/him/ও/সে

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anirvan, (edited ) to random
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Outraged at the waves of police attacks to shut down the UCSF Palestine Solidarity Encampment. No other school in Northern California lashed out at their students, staff, and faculty in this way.

More updates from the encampment at: https://www.instagram.com/ucsf4palestine

anirvan, (edited ) to random
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I still love the Downtown Berkeley BART station, over three decades after my first time seeing it

anirvan, to random
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"South Africa’s May 10 application to the ICJ, and today’s presentation by its five-member legal team, was its fourth attempt at securing an order from the court, compelling Israel to suspend its military assault, now into its eighth month."

https://mondoweiss.net/2024/05/south-africa-returns-to-the-icj-to-demand-a-stop-to-the-israeli-genocide-in-gaza/

anirvan, to random
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Pakistan's heatwaves are coming again

https://www.dawn.com/news/1834203/sizzling-punjab-dreads-imminent-heatwave

anirvan, to random
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"Which means that if the children are our future, as that old saw goes, then our past my be our future, too. Alternatively: If we adults want a better world, we should probably stop fantasizing about the next generation saving us, and do a little more work to save ourselves."

https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2024/05/18/1252192769/in-a-debate-over-a-school-name-its-not-just-parents-who-are-attached-to-the-past

anirvan, to random
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On the 277th Berkeley South Asian Radical History Walking Tour (https://www.BerkeleySouthAsian.org/) last weekend, we visited the UC Berkeley Palestine encampment.

Halfway through a story about Indian student protestors in 1975, we stopped to point out the Palestine encampment behind us, and then welcomed our special guests: three students and faculty members active around the encampment. (1/4)

anirvan,
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Participants asked questions, got oriented to the space and safety issues (e.g. not taking recognizable photos of people), explored, and brought back stories and photos they could share with their families and communities.

A huge thank you to our guests and participants, for trusting us. The walking tour uses the past to talk about the present, and it’s important that we can do that by offering both historical context and financial support back to movements doing the work. (3/4)

anirvan,
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Our guests shared some of their own stories, walked us over to the encampment, and talked about how it fit into the movement to protect Gaza, making connections to imperialism, the role of the academy, and related systems like Hindutva. And then, to our delight, we heard from a middle school student activist on our tour who had helped organize a walkout for Gaza in their Berkeley public school. (2/4)

anirvan, (edited )
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We have more tours coming up!

Come join us on three Saturdays next month: June 1, 15, and 29, in downtown Berkeley, California.

Details and registration at https://www.BerkeleySouthAsian.org/

(4/4)

anirvan, to random
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"The Drug Enforcement Administration will next take public comment on the proposal in a potentially lengthy process. If approved, the rule would move marijuana away from its current classification as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD. Pot would instead be a Schedule III substance, alongside ketamine and some anabolic steroids."

https://apnews.com/article/marijuana-rescheduling-drug-policy-biden-15b43441670757b0c2bfa36731e47d07

anirvan, (edited ) to random
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These little stories from computer drop-in time at a Vermont public library are fascinating and delightful. Thank you, @jessamyn!

https://glammr.us/@jessamyn/112453470424319654

anirvan, to random
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This is why direct democracy doesn't work. I have no clue where I stand on a topic so tricky.

https://calmatters.org/health/2024/05/california-doctor-domestic-violence-reporting/

anirvan, to random
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Yup, Twitter's over

https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/twitter-x-elon-musk-name-b2546905.html

bluestocking, to random
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I probably shouldn't be surprised by how hard it is to find ice cream that is both non-dairy and not sold by a company or parent company that isn't some degree of pro-genocide but wow I am and wow it's hard!

anirvan,
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@bluestocking The couple that runs Koolfi Creamery are local and wonderful, and they have several vegan flavors https://koolficreamery.com/

anirvan, to random
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Thank you #HindusForHumanRights, for speaking out on Palestine in our community spaces

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7A5N-IOKyl/
https://www.hindusforhumanrights.org/en/blog/hindus-for-human-rights-stands-firm-after-walking-out-on-vp-kamala-harris-at-ia-impact-summit

#SouthAsianAmerican #HinduAmerican

anirvan, to random
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Communism, like Hitler, means whatever you don't like

https://www.404media.co/roblox-community-protests-communism-update/

anirvan, to random
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"Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sent a letter to the state’s 14 public universities alerting them that protesters could be charged with a felony under the state’s little-used anti-mask law, which carries penalties of between six to 18 months in prison. An Ohio legal expert, Rob Barnhart, observed that he’d never heard of the state’s law being applied previously, even to bank robbers wearing masks."

https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/states-dust-off-obscure-anti-mask-laws-to-target-pro-palestine-protesters

anirvan, to random
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Good news from my local community colleges!

“All four campuses offered free classes starting in spring 2023 and enrollment numbers have rebounded almost to their pre-pandemic levels. Last fall, enrollment reached 21,875.”

https://www.berkeleyside.org/2024/02/12/free-tuition-peralta-colleges-enrollment

anirvan, to random
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I wouldn’t mind having more small cars on American streets:

“The weight savings add up, allowing the Seagull to travel farther per charge on a smaller battery. For example, the Seagull…weighs 2,734 pounds…about 900 pounds less than a Chevrolet Bolt”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/small-well-built-chinese-ev-called-the-seagull-poses-a-big-threat-to-the-us-auto-industry/ar-BB1mhr7o

anirvan, to random
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Demoralized by all the attacks on campus encampments? There’s good news coming out of UC Berkeley. Despite internal disagreements, student activists navigated this pretty perfectly.

https://www.berkeleyside.org/2024/05/14/uc-berkeley-free-palestine-camp-removes-tents-carol-christ-divestment

anirvan, to random
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“David Choffnes, executive director of the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute at Northeastern University in Boston, called sharing of sensitive videos and images by Tesla employees ‘morally reprehensible.’”

https://www.reuters.com/technology/tesla-workers-shared-sensitive-images-recorded-by-customer-cars-2023-04-06/

anirvan, (edited ) to random
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Sometimes I still pinch myself

anirvan,
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@PeterWyrm About 300 of us worked for a year and a half to get that street renamed. There was a lot of education needed just to explain why anyone would want to name a street after someone pushed out of the city by racists, someone who hoped to be a neighbor but wasn’t allowed. (1/3)

anirvan,
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We worked hard to make it about something beyond ethnic pride. We launched the campaign with an op-ed by a group of pro-housing / YIMBY activists, who pushed for a Kala Bagai Way because her story helps explain why it’s so important to welcome and house new neighbors.

And we also got a lovely 2-page letter of support from indigenous activists, who made connections between the settler colonialism their tribe experienced, and the British colonialism that drove the Bagais out of India. (2/3)

anirvan,
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Changing a street name is obviously an incredibly small symbolic step, but the process can help shift narratives and conversations. I love my city so much more, knowing that Berkeley’s strong enough to acknowledge historical mistakes even as we work to do better. (3/3)

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