“When culture is code for division,
You gotta be uncultured to find assimilation.
When hagiographies are passed on as heritage,
To be heretic is the first course of action.”
Source: Yarasistan: My Wounds, My Crown
“When culture is code for division, you gotta be uncultured to find assimilation.”
Source: Yarasistan: My Wounds, My Crown
“Neighborhood Humanitarian (The Sonnet)
They ask me, why do I never run out of ideas!
It is because I never dwell in one culture.
Sometimes I'm North American, sometimes Latino,
Sometimes I'm South Indian, sometimes I am Turk.
When I run low on charge, I listen to Español,
When my sight gets foggy, I watch Cary Grant.
Whenever I feel homesick, I listen to some Telugu,
Whenever my heart bleeds, I run straight to Turkey.
It is sort of a perpetual motion engine,
I empower the cultures, the cultures empower me.
If I am the world's not-so-secret hometown human,
The world is my secret to my infinite electricity.
How, do you think, I became the neighborhood
humanitarian to every single person on earth!
It's because I never glorified one culture over another.”
Source: Himalayan Sonneteer: 100 Sonnets of Unsubmission
“Thus Peace Begins (The Sonnet)
Peace begins with society,
Society begins with individuality.
Individuality begins with liberty,
Liberty begins with accountability.
Accountability comes from unity,
Unity comes through community.
Community comes through diversity,
Diversity comes through inclusivity.
Inclusivity comes through nonrigidity,
Nonrigidity comes through curiosity.
Curiosity comes through expansivity,
Expansivity comes through evolvability.
Evolvability comes through taming animality.
Animality is tamed when we prioritize humanity.”
Source: Himalayan Sonneteer: 100 Sonnets of Unsubmission
“Give me ten lovers who value love over tradition, and I shall give you a world without discrimination.”
Source: Himalayan Sonneteer: 100 Sonnets of Unsubmission
“You should adapt your customs to the people you love, instead of forcing them to adapt to your customs.”
Source: Yarasistan: My Wounds, My Crown
“An organization that fails to enable, and hear, a diversity of voices is like preparing a multi-course meal using two ingredients. Sure, you might be able to fill a plate but without utilizing a full range of ingredients that provide richness, texture, and spice the resulting taste experience hardly pleases the palate.”
Source: The Impact Makers: Voices of Leadership
“Just Need to Be Human (The Sonnet)
You don't need to be an arab to stand by
the muslims, you just need to be human.
You don't need to be an immigrant to stand up
against hate crime, you just need to be human.
You don't need to be a woman to stand up
to misogyny, you just need to be human.
You don't need to be a queer to stand up
to phobia, you just need to be human.
You don't need to be colored to defy
discrimination, you just need humanity.
You just need to be not stupid enough,
to confuse diversity with pathology.
Every person we meet is our neighbor.
We cannot exist as human beings,
till we wipe each other's tears.”
Source: Yarasistan: My Wounds, My Crown
“Hope is not naive—it is disciplined courage.”
“No matter what, I am not giving up - I am not giving up on this world. Because among all the planets across 2 trillion galaxies in our universe, this apparently insignificant little blue dot is my home - it's my family. And I shall keep fighting, unarmed and unbending, for the rights of my family, for the peace and uplift of my family, so long as the four valves on my left keep working. Fighting is a good thing, if the reason is righteous. And there is no greater reason, no greater cause, to keep fighting, than for the welfare of our family. That is why, I am not giving up - no matter what, I am not giving up. I am not giving up on the welfare of my family - I am not giving up on my humankind.”
Source: Her Insan Ailem: Everyone is Family, Everywhere is Home