Art of Citizenry

Human trafficking is a complex issue with layers of deep seated power structures influencing the way we both understand and think about trafficking. All too often, the narratives we read and share fail to capture the nuance that makes this industry so complex. The images we see are compelling -- those of young women, mostly women of color in the Global South, looking weak and disempowered. Their stories, often told through a translator, are powerful and typically follow the same storytelling structure, subconsciously etching stereotypes of communities and cultures into our psyches. Those stories coupled with a call to action pull at our heart strings, captivating our attention and compelling us to either donate or buy a product in hopes that we too can feel like heroes, saving these poor women from modern day slavery.

During the last episode, host Manpreet Kaur Kalra spoke with Madina Wardak about the ways in which the global narratives about Afghan women perpetuate harmful stereotypes that deny any form of agency. We see these same themes play out in conversations surrounding the anti-trafficking industry. From refugee resettlement efforts to anti-trafficking organizations, often “doing good” centers the “hero,” all while continuing to sideline the voices of those who are being “saved.” This puts the “savior” up on a pedestal while turning those whose stories are being used into nothing more than a metric with a marketable soundbite. The blatant stereotypes that are often perpetuated by anti-trafficking organizations reinforce the pervasive assumption that women of color are oppressed by using terms such as “rescuing” or “saving,” which take power and agency away from the individual. With a hyper-fixation on sex trafficking, anti-trafficking organizations often fail to recognize the many other forms of trafficking that exists, including forced labor.

A lot of the narratives surrounding Human Trafficking upheld by the Rescue Industry are influenced deeply by the work of Nicholas Kristof, a Pulitzer Prize winning NY Times journalist and the author of many do-gooders’ bible, “Half the Sky." His reporting, writing, and stereotypical interpretations of human trafficking have not just influenced the narratives within the industry, but have also inspired many to start social enterprises, especially those dedicated to addressing trafficking.

During Episode 15 of Art of Citizenry Podcast, Manpreet Kaur Kalra is joined by Rachel Faller, the co-creator of zero-waste fashion brand, tonlé. Together, they deconstruct the ways in which the anti-trafficking industry is a perpetuation of Christian supremacy, rooted in imperialistic and colonial power structures that further the belief in Euro-American superiority.

Rachel Faller is an entrepreneur by trade and a creative at heart. She dedicates most of her time to rectifying harm within the garment industry using a systemic approach- encouraging people to think about the root of systemic injustice and tackling these issues at their core rather than simply treating the symptoms. Rachel is a co-creator of tonlé – a zero waste, ethical and sustainable fashion line that is both a brand and a manufacturer. Rachel is also a co-founder at Reclaim Collaborative. Rachel’s personal and community care practices include crafting, painting, mending, gardening, and foraging.

Art of Citizenry is a community supported podcast dedicated to decolonizing storytelling. Please consider supporting by visiting: patreon.com/manpreetkalra

For more, you can find the full show notes of every episode at https://www.artofcitizenry.com/episodes

Thank you to our producer, Aly Honoré, and editor, Noah Kowalski.

The music featured in the podcast was created by Katrina Zemrak

During episode 16 of Art of Citizenry Podcast, Manpreet Kaur Kalra is joined by Dr. Allison Berry, a family physician, mother, and trained abortion provider. Together, they discuss the nuances of the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, explore the inequities that come from banning safe abortions, and unpack how religion + politics have dictated the physician-patient relationship. As a primary care physician and Public Health expert, Dr. Berry offers her personal experiences caring for patients and humanizes the fight for reproductive justice.

📌 IMPORTANT NOTE: For medical providers like Dr. Berry, coming out as an abortion provider is very risky to their safety. I want to thank her for her time, compassion, bravery, and for sharing her expertise with us because it is important that we humanize abortions and give voice to our medical experts.

Topics Covered: Dr. Berry will be talking to us about reproductive justice, what getting an abortion actually means, the recent Supreme Court ruling, the way language shapes narratives around abortions, the nuances around abortion access irrespective of the state you reside in, and her own upbringing as a member of the Catholic church.

Meet Our Guest

Dr. Allison Berry, MD MPH — Health Officer for Clallam and Jefferson Counties

Dr. Allison Berry is a family physician, mother, and trained abortion provider. She graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and received her masters from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Most recently, her work has been focused on the COVID-19 pandemic as she has served as the health officer for Clallam and Jefferson Counties, in Washington State.

📌 LISTENER NOTE FROM DR. BERRY: I work as the Health Officer for Clallam and Jefferson Counties and as a family physician for the Jamestown Tribe. My views expressed here are my own and have not been vetted by or approved by my organizations.

For access to the complete show notes, please visit: artofcitizenry.com/episode-16

For more, you can find the full show notes of every episode at https://www.artofcitizenry.com/episodes

Thank you to our producer, Aly Honoré, and editor, Noah Kowalski.

The music featured in the podcast was created by Katrina Zemrak

Welcome and thank you for listening to Art of Citizenry podcast.

This podcast explores the intersection of social justice, personal journeys, and power dynamics. I am Manpreet Kaur Kalra, your host and in-house storyteller.

I want to take a moment to share with you the inspiration behind this podcast.

Over the years, I've traveled across six continents, spending extended periods of time in cities and villages around the world. As the stamps in my 52 page passport continued to multiply, so did my passion to do something impactful. My travels left me with a deep rooted desire to “do good” and be a part of a bigger change in how we create, sell and consume products. I started a small retail business. I wanted to better understand supply chains and how a sustainable business can do good. During that journey, I realized two things: the first, that impact does not scale like a business and secondly that sometimes doing good does more harm. Like so many other social entrepreneurs, what I failed to recognize at that moment was that my small business alone could not solve generations of structural inequity.

This podcast comes out of my experience as a social entrepreneur and advocate for inclusive brand narratives. Over the past few years, I have worked with purpose-driven businesses dedicated to producing things ethically. Through my work, I have seen the many ways in which doing good can create great impact, but I have also discovered the ways in which it can reinforce cultural stereotypes and colonial power dynamics.

Over the course of each episode, we will explore topics of social justice through the lens of identity and impact. This podcast is dedicated to creating a space for listeners to reflect and challenge themselves. Talking about difference is uncomfortable, but true change in the way you navigate through life can only happen if you are willing to navigate through discomfort. Doing good in an unequal world requires giving ourselves the space to reflect and approach inequity with humility.

Whether you are an aspiring social entrepreneur, an academic or social justice warrior, I hope this podcast gives you the opportunity to learn something new.

I look forward to you joining me as we explore the art of citizenry.

For more, you can find the full show notes of every episode at https://www.artofcitizenry.com/episodes

Thank you to our producer, Aly Honoré, and editor, Noah Kowalski.

The music featured in the podcast was created by Katrina Zemrak

In episode 19 of Art of Citizenry Podcast, Manpreet is joined by Anthony Enriquez, the VP of U.S. Advocacy and Litigation at RFK Human Rights. Together, they discuss the complexities of immigration detention in the U.S., focusing on the financial motivations behind privatized detention centers, the historical shifts in immigration policy, and the role of race in shaping these policies. Anthony highlights the significant abuses occurring in detention centers and the need for advocacy and reform to address these issues. This conversation delves into the complex issues surrounding immigration detention centers, their economic impact on local communities, the evolving political narratives around immigration, and the structural challenges within immigration policy. It highlights the importance of local advocacy and the need for oversight and accountability in immigration detention practices, emphasizing the role of community-led movements in shaping a more just immigration system.

Meet Our Guest

Anthony Enriquez is the Vice President of U.S. Advocacy and Litigation at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. He is an attorney working to reduce mass incarceration in the United States by exposing and stopping human rights abuses in the criminal legal and immigration systems. Anthony leads a team of advocates fighting in U.S. courts and international human rights mechanisms in solidarity with grassroots campaigns for accountability for state-sponsored racial discrimination, torture, and extrajudicial killings.

“Immigration detention is more than an immigrants' rights issue alone. The power we give to the U.S. government to inflict abuses on immigrants is inevitably used against citizens: from racial profiling to mass surveillance to prolonged civil detention and even deportation itself. The public funds we use to transform rural economies into private prison towns could have been used for investments in small businesses, manufacturing, and vocational and educational training instead of multi-million-dollar CEO salaries.”

Take Action.

At this moment the safety of many is under threat. With much uncertainty, members of our communities are living in fear of what lies ahead. The current administration is attempting to fast-track deportations without due process and have already passed a series of executive orders that further push hardline immigration policies and threaten Constitutional rights. Moments like this demand our action. Now is the time to support the efforts of local grassroots organizations and immigration legal services. Also, take a moment to know your rights – regardless of status, you have rights under the U.S. Constitution.

Resources

• ACLU Know Your Rights - Regardless of your immigration status, you have guaranteed rights under the Constitution. Learn more here about your rights as an immigrant, and how to express them.
• Immigration Know Your Rights Resources - double-sided posters you can print out.
• National Immigration Legal Services Directory - Search for immigration legal services providers by state, county, or detention facility. Only nonprofit organizations that provide free or low-cost immigration legal services are included in this directory.
• Download & Print a Red Card - Immigrant Legal Resource Center’s Red Cards help immigrants exercise those rights and protect themselves in many situations, such as when immigration agents visit our homes. Available in 16 different languages.
• The National Immigration Project - a membership organization of attorneys, advocates, and community members that litigate, advocate, educate, and build bridges across movements to ensure that those who are impacted by America’s immigration and criminal legal systems are supported.
• Know Your Rights: For Employers & Community Businesses - Workplace raids are a common immigration enforcement tactic, often targeting industries reliant on immigrant labor, such as agriculture and food service.
• Fact Sheet: A High-Level Analysis of Trump's First Executive Actions - An overview of day one executive orders impacting immigration policy.
• For Health Care Workers - ICE can now raid hospitals. Learn about your eth...

Deconstructing India’s Agricultural Industry

At this moment, the largest protest in human history is happening. 250 million farmers and workers across India, many from the states of Punjab and Haryana, have taken to the streets in protest of three new agricultural bills that threaten to obliterate their livelihood. On the surface, India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has claimed that these bills promote a “free market,” but like everything we cover in this podcast, we know that not everything is always the way it seems.

Punjab: A Land Divided

We can’t begin this episode without understanding the history of a land divided. What is now considered the state of “Punjab” is just but a fraction of what used to be the land of lush green fields and flowing five rivers. In 1947, as the British left India, they divided Punjab between what is present day Pakistan and India. What followed was the world’s largest mass migration, resulting in the bloody displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. Families were uprooted from their homes, forced to leave the land they had lived on for generations. During the journey, many lost loved ones due to violence caused by the displacement.

Post 1947, Punjab was even further reduced in size from 58,000 square miles to 19,000 square miles. However, despite its relatively small size, it produces a disproportionately high ratio of India’s crops.

Why India’s Push for a Free Market is Exploitative

In most “developed” countries with a free market system, farmers have protections, farm subsidies, that essentially help reduce any financial risk related to weather, commodities brokers, and disruption in demands. But as with any capitalist system, these systems usually only benefit larger producers, but still, they exist, discouraging the complete monopolization of the agricultural industry by corporations.

“The world farmers protest currently underway in India opens up a pandora’s box of questions that humanity is going to face in next few years. What is the future of sustainable growth, food diversity, ethnic cultures, urban migration in a profit-driven economy? Should our heroes be the next billionaires or farmers fighting on ground to retain food diversity - something that makes this world worth living? These are the questions we all need to ask.” - Arvinder Singh

Capitalism at its core is built on the existence of inequities. The goal of any business operating in a capitalist society is to maximize profits for shareholders, prioritizing profits over people. This notion leaves those at the bottom, the workers and small farmers, with only a small share of the wealth, if that. Addressing these layers of complexities when understanding any issue is critical.

In India, the main security blanket that exists for small farmers in particular is the Minimum Support Price (MSP), which has not been included in writing under the new ordinances. Without significant subsidies and a MSP, India’s small farmers are likely to be priced out and unable to compete. As is the case with free markets, when corporations get involved, the marketplace becomes competitive, allowing corporations to undercut prices to the point at which small farmers are unable to compete, left with no farm, and no land.

This in turn, only feeds into an already volatile situation with India’s farmers experiencing an exorbitantly high suicide rate.

“My family went into a lot of debt to try to purchase the supplies and the agrochemicals that they needed to keep up with the changes of the Green Revolution. And that debt got passed down. So it started with my grandfather, went to my dad, from my dad it went down to my Chacha. And so my Chacha, who's still in Punjab and still farming he's still dealing with that debt... For a lot of folks, it seems so insurmountable, and they don't see an opportunity to get out of it just through farming, and suicide becomes the only option or the only option that they see.” - Amrit Singh

It also then allows for corporations to hoard large amounts of crops, increasing demand, and therefore, the market value of the crop. They can, in turn, sell the crops at a much higher price than what the farmer was paid to begin with. This allows for unfair pricing -- hurting both farmers and consumers while lining the pockets of those who already hold most of the country’s wealth.

Global Economic Development

“The economics of a particular country has to be grown there. If you try to import it directly from another country, those models sometimes fall flat.” - Arvinder Singh

The issue with a cookie cutter approach, we fail to acknowledge the complexity of layers that exist in any given society. We see this with social entrepreneurship as well. To assume the same approach to economic development can work in any country is naive. We must recognize that...