Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus

Thank you City & State for recognizing me on this year’s Queens Power 100 list for my impact on the borough I was born in! I’m honored to be recognized and am a legacy of the trailblazing work of my attorney mentors, South Queens Women's March executive director & Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus co-founder Aminta Kilawan, Esq. (Queens 100 ‘22 and ‘23) and South Asian & Indo-Caribbean Bar Association of Queens (SAICBA-Q) President Ali Najmi (40 under 40 ’21, Law 100 ‘24, and Asian 100 ‘24). The future is brown! https://lnkd.in/egh7cBmC

?? ?????????????????????????? ?????? ?????????????? ?????????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???? ???????? ?????????? ?????????? ?? ?? We're back for the second cohort of our five-part virtual creative writing workshop series! We invite Black, Indigenous, and other racialized women and gender-expansive folks?in the climate/ocean/environment sector globally to join us in this space. A sliding scale of pricing is available. Register here: https://lnkd.in/e7j5QB7V Those 20-29 years old can apply for the Akar-Sayari scholarship, which will cover 90% of the attendance cost. Apply here: https://lnkd.in/ecKF2-48 ?????????????? ?????????????? is a 5-part creative writing workshop series that will take place online, every Thursday from April 17 - May 15, 2025, at 4:30 PM Pacific Time/8:30 PM Atlantic Time. The sessions will be facilitated in English by Aneri Garg and Khairunnisa (Inda) Intiar. ?We aim to cultivate a space where the voices of the global majority are honoured, valued, connected, and empowered, knowing this is where sustainable solutions are rooted. We also want to nurture solidarity across communities through creative practice. ?? No writing experience is needed and there is no pressure to produce any content. #community #solidarity #creativity #climatejustice #collectivehealing

Our statement on Dr. Andil Gosine and the attacks on his artwork at the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU.

The Wisconsin Court System / Wisconsin Supreme Court concluded that Catholic Charities—a religiously affiliated social-service organization that delivers its services in an entirely secular manner—was not entitled to an exemption from an unemployment-tax statute that applies to houses of worship and certain other organizations that engage in activities that are substantially religious. Catholic Charities argues that it is entitled to the exemption because its activities are religiously motivated, and that denying it the exemption would violate its rights under the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court has granted review of the case. If the Supreme Court accepts Catholic Charities’ arguments, the result could be that anytime a governmental body makes a religious exemption available to some religious organizations, the exemption will automatically be extended to cover any entity that professes a religious motive for its conduct. Thus, legislative bodies would not be able to limit religious exemptions to houses of worship or organizations that engage in principally religious activities. The result could be a drastic expansion in the availability of religious exemptions from tax laws, labor laws, employment-discrimination protections, and various other types of laws. In response, legislatures might repeal existing religious exemptions and refuse to enact new ones. This amicus brief filed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the ACLU Foundation explains these undesirable consequences of a ruling that accepts Catholic Charities’ arguments; that there is a long history of statutes and court decisions that limit religious exemptions to houses or worship or certain kinds of other religious organizations; and why Catholic Charities’ arguments are inconsistent with case precedents. We are proud to be signatories. https://lnkd.in/dUwCBuxr

I’m honored to share that I have been invited to attend the 2025 United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum this April! The Forum is organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in close collaboration with the United Nations Youth Office, the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development, the Major Group for Children and Youth, and the International Coordination Meeting of Youth Organizations. Under the theme “Youth at the Forefront: Leveraging Science and Social Inclusion for Sustainable Development,” this forum will bring together young leaders from around the world to engage in high-level discussions on critical global issues, including: ? SDG 3 – Good health and well-being ? SDG 5 – Gender equality ? SDG 8 – Decent work and economic growth ? SDG 14 – Life below water ? SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals The ECOSOC Youth Forum is a unique opportunity for young changemakers to collaborate with Member States, present innovative solutions, and shape global policies to drive the #2030Agenda forward. As a civil rights and racial justice advocate for South Asian American working and immigrant families, I’m excited to contribute my insights and engage with inspiring peers, policymakers, and experts committed to a more sustainable and inclusive future. Looking forward to meaningful discussions, impactful collaborations, and representing youth voices on the global stage????! https://lnkd.in/efAYRDSe

Don’t miss #ExtraordinaryWorld with Jeff Corwin and our Wildlife and Fisheries Ecologist, Neha Savant, this Saturday, Jan 18th on CBS WKND & Paramount Plus?to learn more about northern dusky salamanders! These tiny critters are important signs of a healthy ecosystem and show how we're keeping NYC green!

I'm excited to share something fun that?I hope will bring some joy to you in moments that?are challenging this month. On Sat, Jan 18th, 11:30am ET, I'll be on national?TV speaking about northern dusky salamander neighbors in Manhattan with Jeff Corwin! Yes, salamanders have persisted amid the immense extraction and land use change this island has experienced. The show is called "Extraordinary World with Jeff Corwin" and the sally segment will be in the 3rd episode "Urban Oasis" focusing on wildlife conservation, community gardens and animal care in New York City. This was an opportunity that materialized through the relationships built at my job with NYC Department of Parks & Recreation. This work was made possible with guidance and support from Ellen Pehek, Brady Simmons, Ariel Cordova-Rojas, Judd Faulkner, Julie Heffernan and many more in the natural resource practitioner network in NYC. As many of you know, I've been trying to figure out how to tell the story of secretive, sensitive, and subversive salamanders to a wider audience for a while now, and this is one of the more public experiments in that work! “Extraordinary World with Jeff Corwin” airs on CBS Mornings. You can see it on CBS on Saturday, January 18, 2025 at 8:30am PT / 10:30am CT / 11:30am ET. If you can't make it live, it will also be streaming on?Paramount+ and it will re-air sometime in the future.

Tomorrow, the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on whether the TikTok ban, which goes into effect on 1/19, should move forward or be delayed. CAA is one of 15 organizations to sign on to an amicus brief opposing the ban on the basis that the ban is steeped in racial animus. This is not the first time the government has used national security concerns to justify a deprivation of rights. From the Chinese Exclusion Act to Japanese American internment to post 9.11 attacks on AMEMSA communities, we have been here before.?You can read the amicus brief here: https://bit.ly/3Ps2E0P

Sadhana Joins National Council of Jewish Women in Multi-Faith Amicus Brief Against Ten Commandments Mandate in Louisiana LOUISIANA – Sadhana joined the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) and 18 other organizations representing diverse faith groups in an amicus brief in the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in the case Rev. Roake v. Brumley. The brief argues that Louisiana’s law mandating a poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments be permanently hung in every public school classroom violates the separation of religion and state. Sadhana empowers Hindu-American communities to live out the values of their faith through service, community transformation, and targeted advocacy work. We joined the brief because we believe that students of diverse faiths in the United States — a nation built on the principle of freedom of and from religion — should not be subjected to the presence of another religion's Ten Commandments in their classrooms. “Requiring religious teaching in public school classrooms is a direct violation of the First Amendment,” said Darcy Hirsh, Director of Government Relations and Advocacy at NCJW. “Separation of religion and state is a founding principle of American democracy, ensuring that religious freedom be used as a shield to protect religious minorities, not a sword to impose beliefs on others. The National Council of Jewish Women is proud to lead this multi-faith effort to push back against religious coercion in the classroom. We will continue to fight to ensure that people of all faiths and no faith are not forced to conform to the beliefs of others.” Signatories include Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc., Hindus for Human Rights, Interfaith Alliance, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Jewish Women International (JWI), Keshet, MEN OF REFORM JUDAISM MRJ, Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV), Rabbinical Assembly, Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, The Sikh Coalition, Society For Humanistic Judaism, Women’s Rabbinic Network, T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, Union for Reform Judaism, Women of Reform Judaism, and Zionness. You can view the brief here: https://lnkd.in/ekehr9Xh

Representing 15 social and racial justice nonprofits, Cooley LLP filed an amicus brief in the US Supreme Court seeking to invalidate the federal legislation banning TikTok as a violation of the First Amendment rights of 170 million US users. The brief’s signers represent a broad nationwide coalition of social and racial justice nonprofits: Arizona AANHPI for Equity Coalition, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, the Asian American Federation,The Calos Coalition, Chinese for Affirmative Action, GLAAD, the LGBT Technology Institute, the Muslim Public Affairs Council Foundation, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, the South Asian Legal Defense Fund, Stop AAPI Hate, and OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates chapters in Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle. The brief builds on the nonprofits’ brief from earlier last year when the case was heard by the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. Lawyers Matt Nguyen, Kathleen Hartnett, Travis LeBlanc, Jamie Robertson and Robert Denniston led the Cooley effort, with assistance from Hilarie Laing and Mel Gayton. https://lnkd.in/eh-tvxmE