Students in colorful dresses twirled around as traditional music and aromatic smells of food filled the halls of the Student Union as San Jose State organizations gathered at this year's South, Southwest Asian and North African Countries (SSWANA) cultural mixer on Nov 4.
The mixer was hosted by the Cesar Chavez Community Action Center (CCCAC), to celebrate the SSWANA regions.
Other collaborators included the Afghanistan Student Association (ASA), Persian Student Association (PSA), Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and the Center for Asian Pacific Islander Student Empowerment (CAPISE).
Aminah Sheikh, master’s speech pathology student and program assistant at CCCAC, co-organized the mixer to foster relationships between the organizations and mobilize a stronger community.
“These countries and this population aren't as represented on campus so we're trying to have them connect with each other,” Sheikh said. “So, I think this event is important because it's always great to meet new people [and] . . .if [students are] trying to get a movement [going] or even just something small, they can find people to help them do that.”
Many students walked into the room wearing their traditional attire and enjoyed an assortment of Persian and Pakistani food provided by the event organizers.
The dinner was accompanied with speeches from the executive board members of the ASA, PSA and SJP who discussed the current socio-political issues happening in Afghanistan, Iran and Palestine, respectively.
Jinni Pradhan, Program Director for CAPISE, was another speaker who discussed the SSWANA region’s lack of recognition in the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.
“[These] communities are grouped together very specifically, like I said in my speech, around shared cultural, historical, [and] even linguistic connections,” Pradhan said. “[Yet], they're super underrepresented.”
Pradhan said the American framework and images of the AAPI community is very specific to East Asians due to their immigration as the first wave of Asians into the States.
“[It] seems like it's only been in recent ways of immigration that we've seen a lot more of our Southeast Asian, South Asian, or Southwest Asian folks for many reasons,” Pradhan said. “A lot [of it is] due to American intervention in those areas of the world and because there's a longer history of East Asian folks in American history.”
Students had the opportunity to get free henna, temporary body art done by staining the skin with plant dye, and enjoy two dance performances choreographed by the ASA and PSA.
Also in attendance was ASA faculty advisor Saugher Nojan who’s completing a service project in understanding the needs of the SSWANA community.
“The stories being represented tend to have to do with the victors or the people in power who are making the decisions,” Nojan said. “The everyday stories and experiences of the diaspora and those affected by these larger systems of power often are overlooked.”
The mixer was the first of its kind but the organizers said they hope the event becomes an annual celebration of the SSWANA community.
“They're much more than victims of war. They're much more than projects of US imperialism. They have their own kind of histories and stories to tell,” Nojan said.
