Mamdani, a mistake by big media, and more thoughts
Welcome to Export Quality, your home for news by and about South Asian Americans and Canadians - and everything in between
Hello and welcome to our new followers, I hope you’re all faring well in the middle of *all this* around the world. In today’s newsletter: Zohran goes shoeless, NBC and DEI, Diane Keaton becomes even more charming, and a heartbreaking story I think its important for all of us to read/watch.
The religion question:
In all my years trying to understand the clusterf*ck that is U.S. politics, I have come to the conclusion that I hate that religion is such a central piece of the candidate-to-elected journey. Alas, that’s unrealistic. A candidate’s religious beliefs - or lack thereof - do matter to many voters.
This past week we saw that with desi candidate for NYC Mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who self-describes as Muslim. He has been facing racial discrimination and Islamophobia since the beginning of his campaign from the usual suspects - including notable former Queens resident Donald Trump. Of course, as diaspora desis do, we are rising in American politics, so too are we starting to excel in the time-honored profession of Political Hecklers.
Having written about the diaspora and India for years, I’ve had my share of run-ins with the particularly voracious brand of desi online mobs who think I am not Indian, American, pretty, or smart enough in equal measure. My personal favorites are the Tamil ones who kindly translate their insults into nonsensical English phrases. *chef’s kiss* Lucky for all of us, I made it through the hellscape of American middle school bullying as a brown, bespectabled, chubby, braceface. In other words, I can take a lot. And, so can Mamdani, it seems.
The latest chorus of antizohranism comes ironically from Indian media itself. Mamdani recently visited the Ganesh temple in Flushing, Queens (shout out to all of us who grew up going there and that Zagat-rated canteen). New York media was largely unphased. It’s a long-standing institution in the World’s Borough, he’s Indian American, and his mother, acclaimed film director Mira Nair, is Hindu. Why wouldn’t he make that a campaign stop?
Current Mayor Eric Adams found time in between corruptions to attend Ganesh utsav. Mayor Mike Bloomberg also made an official visit while in office. Mayor Bill de Blasio didn’t go but I got to attend a Diwali celebration at Gracie Mansion while he was in office.
Who was very phased by Mamdani’s visit was the Indian media, so much so, that many hit publish with speculations and misinformation. When The Mob, which is as organized as your Local Aunties when the biggest piece of gossip hit your suburban community, descended online with accusations that he wore his shoes inside the temple, these seemingly reputable outlets wanted to “investigate.” I think this literally just involved zooming in on the pictures from the visit and understanding that there is an outdoor area to the temple where people can and do wear shoes. (The Hindustan Times at least issued a correction).
In any case, here is Mamdani in all his maalai’d (garland of flowers) glory during the visit. In a smart move, he connected the concept of seva and his campaign. And, he didn’t wear shoes inside.
The mistake:
NBC News announced yesterday that it was shutting down all of its ‘diversity’ verticals: NBC BLK, NBC OUT (covering the LGBTQ+ community), NBC Latino, and NBC Asian America. So many of us have either read, referenced, championed, or reported for the NBC Asian America vertical since it launched in 2014. PBS News Hour’s co-anchor Amna Nawaz was the vertical’s first managing editor. While layoffs have become an expected trouble in our industry, this one hits a little different. As my dear friend, colleague, and seasoned culture and arts reporter Lakshmi Gandhi wrote:
The network says the shuttering of these outlets is part of around 150 layoffs or reassignments across the news division but the impact of these spaces no longer existing will be felt by far more.
NBC Universal has also fully split from its cable entities, forcing, among other units, MSNBC to rebrand and move out of the iconic 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios. The network said the verticals will remain online but will co-post stories from around the newsroom and not have staffers or original stories.
While this may just be a business decision to cut costs across the news division as more and more people turn to news creators and channels on social media platforms,I can’t help but think this is also a move on the part of network executives to appease the White House and its grander push to eliminate DEI efforts.
To cater to the state we are supposed to hold accountable, while also ignoring the rise and rising importance of community-based coverage as part of remaking modern journalism, feels shortsighted, at best. But, it also reminds me of why I wrote for NBC Asian America in the first place and why I started this newsletter: to have a place for myself and others like me, our stories, our cultural competence when reporting.
The heartbreak:
There is a story I wanted to cover more in-depth today but I simply can’t bring myself to write more on it. As someone who has largely stayed away from it, I can confidently say immigration reporters who are from immigrant families themselves are exceptional. Being on this beat has always been tough - not just because we need to make sure we understand laws, policies, and the political rhetoric surrounding it in the U.S., but also language barriers, navigating the embarassing terror of certain enforcement officers, access to detainees, and. most crucially, the emotions of covering wrecked lives. I will attempt to write about him in another post but for now here is something I think everyone needs to read: the utterly heartbreaking story of Indian American Subu Vedam. He was wrongfully accused of murder 43 years ago but was recently exonerated. Then, ICE immediately detained him on a decades-old order even though his application to become a citizen was accepted before he went to prison.
The art:
Diane Keaton died earlier this week and the world lost a woman who defied Hollywood’s expectations of women in her fashion style and the way she lived her life. I’ve never been a huge fan of Woody Allen, the director with whom she frequently collaborated, but that Annie Hall style is iconic. The way I remember her is as loveably flawed characters in the heydey of romcoms like Father of the Bride and First Wives Club. I often see hints of her in Jennifer Aniston’s characters, too. What I was surprised to find out after her death is that we have a mutual interest: she loved making collages. This piece and the Instagram post below delighted me as I try to return to making mine.
The plea:
There are days when trying to build this newsletter is incredibly discouraging and some when it’s full of possibilities.
My hope is that you like it enough here to help support EQ the way we do diaspora brands and influencers. We are a growing and powerful presence in the diaspora and I hope Export Quality helps us embrace that and what’s to come in a more informed - and witty - way.
So, if you wouldn’t mind just telling even one person about EQ by forwarding them an issue you liked, I would be deeply grateful. They don’t have to become a paid subscriber right away but it would be great if they joined us as we sip our export quality chai and ate our Parle-G biscuits, in our circa-1986 Corningware dish sets with that blue or green pattern around the edge none of us can ever mistake for anything but home.