by Suraj Yengde, Senior Fellow, Department of African & African American Studies, Harvard Kennedy School

Date & Time: Friday, April 8, 2022, at 10:00 AM (AZT)

Location: Zoom

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Speaker's Bio

Dr. Suraj Yengde is one of India’s leading scholars and public intellectuals. Named as one of the "25 Most Influential Young Indian" by GQ magazine and the "Most influential Young Dalit" by Zee, Suraj is an author of the bestseller Caste Matters and co-editor of the award-winning anthology The Radical in Ambedkar. In his book, Caste Matters, Suraj Yengde, a first-generation Dalit scholar educated across continents, challenges deep-seated beliefs about caste and unpacks its many layers. He describes his gut-wrenching experiences of growing up in a Dalit Basti, the multiple humiliations suffered by Dalits on a daily basis, and their incredible resilience enabled by love and humor. This path-breaking book reveals how caste crushes human creativity and is disturbingly similar to other forms of oppression, such as race, class, and gender. At once a reflection on inequality and a call to arms, Caste Matters argues that until Dalits lay claim to power and Brahmins join hands against Brahminism to effect real transformation, caste will continue to matter.