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bengalisofnewyork

Platform to highlight the stories & accomplishments of the growing Bengali diaspora in New York and beyond

From @chobiakabychaity: *For every earning I recei

From @chobiakabychaity:
*For every earning I receive from this artwork sold at my online store, I will donate 100% of it to various black activism/BLM donations, funds, etc.* .
.I don’t have enough words, feelings or emotions to display how angry I am at the injustices against black people, especially by the hands of the police who are supposedly there to protect and serve. I am a non-black POC and I am angry, so imagine the anger that our black brothers and sisters must be feeling. This is why they protest. George Floyd is one of the many unarmed black men and women that has been killed since the beginning of the creation of this so called “greatest country on Earth.” Hundreds of years of oppression.
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This piece was created to highlight the oppression black people go through especially at the hands of the police and especially during a time of uncertainty and pandemic that disproportionately kills black people more so. However, without undermining the black cause, I wanted to convey especially to my predominantly non-black POC audience why YOU should stand up against police brutality, speak up for black people, and why blue lives matter movement is bullshit.
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Highlighting black people’s oppression, and the need to end police brutality will bring on a change of action against oppression and discrimination from other people of color who also face similar situations.
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All lives won’t matter until Black Lives Matter.
#blackisbeautiful #NoJusticeNoPeace #EndPoliceBrutality #antiracism #bengali #endracism #BengalisforBlackLives #BangladeeshisforBlackLives #BLM #DesisforBlackLives #JusticeforGeorgeFloyd #protest #blm #blacklivesmatter

How can we trace the anti-black sentiments we see

How can we trace the anti-black sentiments we see ingrained in parts of the Bengali community?
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Say you live in a majority Hasidic Jewish neighborhood and are driving one day, and get hit by a car; the chances of you getting hit by a driver who is a Hasidic Jew are high. Not because all Hasidic Jews are bad drivers, but because the majority in that neighborhood are Hasidic Jew. However, a narrative gets created that Hasidic Jews are bad drivers.
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But it’s not true; it’s a basic probability.For many Bengalis, a narrative has been ingrained in us that Blacks are more likely to commit crimes.
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But it’s not true; it’s a basic probability.
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The late 1980s and 1990s were the height of crime in big cities in the US. It also paralleled the height of immigration for Bangladeshis to the US. Most Bengalis immigrating to the US at this time moved into big cities in neighborhoods that were predominantly Black, such as Jamaica, Parkchester, and East New York.
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When crime rates peaked in NYC, Bengalis found themselves in the most underprivileged parts of the city. If a Bengali person was mugged in one of these mostly Black neighborhoods, the chances of the mugger being Black was higher. This is not because the majority of Blacks are muggers, but because the majority of the neighborhood was Black. Black people didn’t and don’t have a tendency to commit crime at a higher rate. It was a basic probability. It’s a narrative that’s dangerous and extremely hypocritical.
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Bengalis and other minorities owe much of their arguably recent American history to the sacrifices made by Black people. The United States has historically restricted non-white immigration to promote white supremacy, a form of racial oppression that was highlighted by the Civil Rights Movement. The movement’s deracialization efforts influenced the passing of the 1965 Hart-Celler Act, which opened up emigration from Asian countries and is responsible for the majority of today’s Desi American population.
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Our communities have thrived due to the work of Black activists. Therefore, we owe a debt of gratitude to call out racism whenever we see it. CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS

I first came to the US at the age of 5 and didn't

I first came to the US at the age of 5 and didn't know a single word of English. I felt isolated without friends and struggled to keep up with my peers at school. Today, 22 years later, I am a resident physician working in New York City. Like my initial struggles adjusting to life in the U.S., I've had many different challenges throughout life, and today's challenge is being a frontline healthcare professional battling head to head with COVID-19. My hospital was turned into a COVID center several months ago and we've gone through the struggle of having limited PPE, to keeping up with constantly changing data about a new disease, to losing some our valuable and loved colleagues. Working in the hospital floors and ICU these past several months, I've had multiple phone calls with patients' family members about the condition of their loved ones. The sigh of relief that I hear in a family member's voice when I relay good news adds to the hope I have for my patients. The challenge of relaying bad news reminds me that there are people out there who are truly suffering from loss. My condolences to all of the people who have lost their loved ones during these times. Their suffering compels me to stay dedicated and keep fighting. The ICU is quieter now, and I'm glad to say that after a tremendous amount of effort we have had several patients who have truly turned around for the better. Nonetheless, it is still very important to practice social distancing and take necessary precautions. Personally I haven't had a chance to visit my parents and family not only because I'm so busy at the hospital but also because I'm scared of spreading the virus since I'm potentially exposed every day that I work. Let's keep fighting, and let's get through this. -Minhazul Islam #doctor #covid19 #covid #coronavirus #health #heroes #frontlineworkers #immigrants #immigrantsmakeamericagreat #newyork #humansofnewyork #bengalisofnewyork #bony #bengali #immigrantstories

This one is from my heart. . Recently I graduated

This one is from my heart.
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Recently I graduated summa cum laude from one of the most prestigious universities in the world. In reality, this honor entirely belongs to Ammu and Abbu.
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This one’s for when my dad collapsed from a heart attack in front of his halal food cart on Central Park West - he’d literally nearly worked himself to death. This one’s for all the wealthy Manhattanites who looked at him disdainfully when entering his taxi cab, and rudely slammed the door when leaving.
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This one’s for the blisters on my mom’s feet from the twelve hour shifts as a cashier at the dollar store. This one’s for when she couldn’t muster the funds to visit my comatose grandmother in Bangladesh - Nanu died, and Ammu never got to kiss her goodbye.
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This one’s for every gallon of milk she bought while doing groceries off of WIC checks during my childhood. This one’s for the seven years we packed the three of ourselves and four others into two bedrooms in Jackson Heights. .
.This one’s for every time she erased other people’s writing in test prep books from the library. This one’s for every time she asked the librarian in broken English to pick out chapter books for my grade level.This one’s for every parent teacher conference she went to, nodded through the conversation, and simply said, “Madam teacher, please help my son.” This one’s for every time she cried over the phone asking me when I’d come back home from college.This one is for every first-generation and immigrant New Yorker - we all feel your joy and your sorrow.
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The path to fulfilling our dreams is packed with pain and difficulty, but also filled with smiles, laughter, and moments with our loved ones we’ll never forget.
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This one is one of them.
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This one is a testament to succeeding together, against impossible odds.
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Lastly, this one is a prayer to never extinguish the light of hope.
May it forever shine brightly within us all.
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CONGRATS TO ALL the 2020 GRADUATES. Comic strip by @lubnaart #graduation #commencement #commencementday #commencement2020 #bengali #bengalisofnewyork #firstgeneration #Immigrants #immigrant #immigrantsmakeamericagreat #classof2020 #college #humansofnewyork

The youngest COVID patient I took care of in the E

The youngest COVID patient I took care of in the ER was just a few years younger than me. He was in respiratory distress as he was wheeled from the ambulance and into our resuscitation bay. It’s scary to have patients die in front of you despite your best efforts. .And it’s even scarier when they remind you of yourself and your siblings because you share the same age and ethnicity. I was worried — especially for my community, because I know we’re so social. I began to post on social media to educate people on the importance of self quarantine and on methods of monitoring ourselves. I guest appeared on several instagram-live sessions where hundreds of people, mostly young adults from the desi community, tuned in for Q&A and to learn the best ways to protect themselves and their parents. .The truth is that no one really understands this disease. As physicians and healthcare workers, we’re trying to do the best we can with the best information we have at the moment. And there have been a lot of losses. I’ve been at the bedside of patients as they passed away despite our most aggressive efforts, wondering if we could’ve done anything differently. I’ve visited the rooms of friends’ loved ones who were admitted at my hospital for COVID. I’ve seen some of them get discharged while others got worse and died — alone, unaware, intubated, and just a few miles from their beloved family who were kept away forcefully by the same virus that took their life. These families have shown such great strength of faith in their patience and appreciation that it is not the virus itself that took their loved ones away from them, but rather Allah — the One who is the All Wise and simultaneously the All Loving — who decided to take their family member back to Him. Everyone has been affected by this virus in various ways.
.I myself shaved my beard for the first time since high school, in order to properly wear the N95 mask. It was a big decision, and I’d consulted and been encouraged by few of the most prominent scholars in the U.S. Still, I fell ill with COVID a few weeks later. . *continued in the comments*

I’m a pure Brooklyn-bred New Yorker with a love

I’m a pure Brooklyn-bred New Yorker with a love of all things New York. My family has always been close knit, and relationships with extended family on both my maternal and paternal sides is something I consider myself extremely lucky to have. My parents have always instilled our Bengali culture on me and my older brother, but I love having the best of both worlds. .The road to medicine might seem somewhat typical, but it was never forced on me, although the typical pressure to succeed might always be there. My parents have always been my rocks and support, and they were actually the ones to push me towards my English Literature masters before I started medical school. As a result, I was able to build upon my passions in both the sciences and the humanities
.I started The Medical Chronicles (@themedchron) in grad school with the idea of intertwining medicine and the humanities. Much of modern medicine relies on labs and differentials but at times forgets to look at the person as a whole. The print issue of the magazine comes out twice a year, with submissions from various healthcare professionals and students of all disciplines. The proceeds of the print issue which are sold online are donated to UNICEF
.My hope is that those in medicine will be able to express their humanities side, and those in the arts can learn some science, all in all helping each other out in ways we might not have known. My love of people is what especially breaks my heart about the current pandemic situation - the fact that so many people are in the hospital alone, trying to survive and make it without any family or friends. A life that might pass away without any goodbyes. A lonely soul with only the touch of a nurse, the words of a physician, and the face of a family member on a video call. During this time, it is more clearer than ever that as a humanity we are all one. - Rummanu Yeasin
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#bengali #thankyou #bengalisofnewyork #covid19 #bony #newyorkstrong #brooklyn #unicef #unicefbangladesh

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