Arts, Identity & Activism ft. Riz Ahmed & Heems
by Ayman Siraj ‘18
USC Speakers Committee, USC Service Student Assembly, and Desis That Politic hosted an important talk on activism through art and mental health with Riz Ahmed and Heems of Swet Shop Boys on Monday, April 17th. I figure T360 readers would prefer videos as introductions instead of long Wikipedia like life histories so here they are:
Picture: USC Speakers Committee
Riz Ahmed
Heems
Riz Ahmed + Heems = Swet Shop Boys
The talk focused on the narrative of minorities being a story written
by other people. The opening revolved around the idea of representing
as one person. This theme brought to light how immigrant individuals from
the Indian sub-continent have different viewpoints on how they display and form
their identity in a foreign land. Riz shared his experience growing up in England.
Riz is of Pakistani origin but has visited Pakistan twice, growing up in
England. He pointed out that even though he had never gone to Pakistan, he was
proud of that identity while growing up but it also led to a sense of
alienation as he and his friends spent more time together over the locals.
This brought the talk to the narrative of immigration in the United Kingdom. In the 1980s, immigrants were considered anyone who was of Indian, Irish or African descent. In the 1990s, immigrants were largely viewed as Pakistanis – as the share of immigrants coming in from Pakistan grew. Then came 9/11 where the narrative became of the Muslims being the outsiders.
When asked about their musical influences by moderator Sohail Daulatzai,
Heems responded saying that his biggest ones were Big E and Nas. Growing up in
Queens, New York he said his music was heavily influenced by growing up in the diversity
that Queens provided and that is what he tries to represent in his music. Riz
on the other hand pointed out that West Coast rap permeated through into
British hip hop culture and thus 2pac and rappers from South Central Los
Angeles were his biggest influences.
Talking about the historical narratives and the differences of it between the UK and US, Riz pointed out that in the US, black and brown history is separate whereas in the UK the narrative was largely treated as the same pre-9/11. Riz emphasized on how second generations immigrants in the US are still not largely seen as “Americans”. The audience resonated with his example of a typical conversation an immigrant faces all too often:
Question: “Where are you from?”
Answer: “I’m from America.”
Follow-up: “But where are you really from?”
Riz’s solution to this exchange was to put history in the present.
He said colonial empires like the UK developed through the spoils of Empire and
as such immigrants are an inextricable part of the British identity and hence
he makes it a point to say he is British.
The session then went on to audience questions. One of the questions that brought up a lot of chatter in the audience as the narrative of the “Asian-American” in the US being that of East Asians. The audience member asked how East Asians and South Asians could ally together to further their cause as South Asians are not considered to be part of the Asian identity umbrella in the US.
This question drew responses from both Heems & Riz along with moderator Sohail Daulatzai.
Professor Daulatzai had a one line response that was greeted with loud applause:
“Why do we see ourselves different;
When the world sees us as the same?”
Riz likened the story of Desi immigrants to the UK to that of Latinos in
the US. Whereas both people came looking for better economic opportunity. In
his opinion, since the South Asian immigration to the US began later, he said
the “Asian” identity had been taken by those who had immigrated from East Asia.
The question and answer session ended with government and politics.
Professor Daulatzai ended with a though provoking idea that invasion is a
structure, not an event.
The speakers discussed how US military violence be seen as a form of current
day white supremacy and there needed to more talk about on how this military
action is largely in the Muslim majority countries. On the topic of the rise of
populism taking over many Western democracies, Riz alluded to similarities in
the 1930s where the Great Depression led to a loss of jobs and then systemic racialization
of the problem through minorities and immigrants.
The talk had to be cut short with at least 10 more people in line to ask questions in the interest of time but it was a talk that was well received by the Trojans in attendance.
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