The trauma of caste : a dalit feminist meditation on survivorship, healing, and abolition

Instant Amazon Best Seller and Hot New Release For readers of Caste and Radical Dharma , an urgent call to action to end caste apartheid, grounded in Dalit feminist abolition and engaged Buddhism. “Dalit” is the name that we chose for ourselves when Brahminism declared us “untouchable.” Dalit means broken. Broken by suffering. Broken by caste: the world’s oldest, longest-running dominator system...yet although “Dalit” means broken, it also means resilient. Caste—one of the oldest systems of exclusion in the world—is thriving. Despite the ban on Untouchability 70 years ago, caste impacts 1.9 billion people in the world. Every 15 minutes, a crime is perpetrated against a Dalit person. The average age of death for Dalit women is just 39. And the wreckages of caste are replicated here in the U.S., too—erupting online with rape and death threats, showing up at work, and forcing countless Dalits to live in fear of being outed. Dalit American activist Thenmozhi Soundararajan puts forth a call to awaken and act, not just for readers in South Asia, but all around the world. She ties Dalit oppression to fights for liberation among Black, Indigenous, Latinx, femme, and Queer communities, examining caste from a feminist, abolitionist, and Dalit Buddhist perspective—and laying bare the grief, trauma, rage, and stolen futures enacted by Brahminical social structures on the caste-oppressed. Soundararajan’s work includes embodiment exercises, reflections, and meditations to help readers explore their own relationship to caste and marginalization—and to step into their power as healing activists and changemakers. She offers skills for cultivating wellness within dynamics of false separation, sharing how both oppressor and oppressed can heal the wounds of caste and transform collective suffering. Incisive and urgent, The Trauma of Caste is an activating beacon of healing and liberation, written by one of the world’s most needed voices in the fight to end caste apartheid. Title Page 5 Praise for The Trauma of Caste 7 Copyright 13 Dedication 15 Foreword 16 Author’s Note 22 Introduction: The Wound as Teacher 30 This Moment 37 The Path to Freedom 40 Meditation I: The Existence of Caste 42 Caste Is Suffering 49 Caste Is Trauma 53 Caste in the Diaspora 58 The Rise of the Caste Equity Civil Rights Movement 69 Moving Beyond Brown 74 What’s in a Name 76 Meditation II: The Source of Caste 81 Brahminism 87 The Textbook Battle 91 Where It Is Written 96 Caste in Hinduism 97 Caste in Shramanic Faiths 111 Caste in Abrahamic Faiths 118 A Duty to Question 125 Savarna Fragility 129 The RAIN Framework 134 Meditation III: From Wounds to Liberation 139 Caste and Carceral Culture 144 Caste and Gender 150 Caste and Sexual Violence 152 Caste Stress and Suicide 157 Restoration, in Memoriam 161 Caste and Environment 166 Caste and IT 174 #Smash Brahminical Patriarchy 181 Caste and Genocide 183 Meditation IV: The End of Caste 189 Kin 194 Ancestors 199 Choice and Consent 202 Survivorship 205 The Final Frontier: The Imaginary 209 Conclusion: Love in a Time of Genocide 212 Epilogue: Black Feminist Buddhist Response to the Trauma of Caste 223 Afterword 228 Acknowledgments 232 Appendix I: Caste Abolition Ancestors 236 Appendix II: Lineages 258 Appendix III: Caste Data across South Asia 267 Appendix IV: Unlearning Caste Supremacy Worksheets 273 Worksheet 1: What Is Your Caste Origin Story? 275 Worksheet 2: What Are Your Commitments to Caste Abolition? 278 Worksheet 3: How Can You Be an Ambedkarite Today? 279 Appendix V: Somatic Exercises 280 Glossary 292 Endnotes 306 Author’s Note 307 Meditation I 310 Meditation II 318 Meditation III 329 Meditation IV 337 Conclusion 339 Epilogue 340 Appendix I 341 Appendix II 352 Appendix III 354 Appendix V 355 Index 356 About the Author 398 About North Atlantic Books 401 For readers of Caste and Radical Dharma, an urgent call to action to end caste apartheid, grounded in Dalit feminist abolition and engaged Buddhism. Dalit is the name that we chose for ourselves when Brahminism declared us untouchable. Dalit means broken. Broken by suffering. Broken by caste: the worlds oldest, longest-running dominator systemyet although Dalit means broken, it also means resilient. Despite its ban more than 70 years ago, caste is thriving. Every 15 minutes, a crime is perpetrated against a Dalit person. The average age of death for Dalit women is just 39. And the wreckages of caste are replicated here in the U.S., tooerupting online with rape and death threats, showing up at work, and forcing countless Dalits to live in fear of being outed. Dalit American activist Thenmozhi Soundararajan puts forth a call to awaken and act, not just for readers in South Asia, but all around the world. She ties Dalit oppression to fights for liberation among Black, Indigenous, Latinx, femme, and Queer communities, examining caste from a feminist, abolitionist, and Dalit Buddhist perspectiveand laying bare the grief, trauma, rage, and stolen futures enacted by Brahminical social structures on the caste-oppressed. Soundararajans work includes embodiment exercises, reflections, and meditations to help readers explore their own relationship to caste and marginalizationand to step into their power as healing activists and changemakers. She offers skills for cultivating wellness within dynamics of false separation, sharing how both oppressor and oppressed can heal the wounds of caste and transform collective suffering. Incisive and urgent, The Trauma of Caste is an activating beacon of healing and liberation, written by one of the worlds most needed voices in the fight to end caste apartheid. "Soundararajan ties discrimination toward the Dalit in South Asia and America to the experiences of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, femme, and Queer communities, examining caste from a feminist, abolitionist, and Dalit Buddhist perspective. This book includes embodiment exercises, reflections, and meditations to help readers explore their own relationship to caste and marginalization"-- Provided by publisher