Positive stories of Black and South Asian culture aren't always visible in mainstream media. But, that doesn't mean they aren't valuable. Here are several examples over the past few weeks of our stories doing numbers.
In 2020, @bbcasiannetwork journalists @n_sivathasan and @qasaalom pitched a piece on people trying to preserve the Sylheti language within the Bengali community. "Some editors thought this story was too niche to put on their platforms..but thankfully, the stats proved them wrong. There is an appetite for these kinds of stories." Nearly 1.7m views later, this video is still doing numbers.
In December 2020, @n_sivathasan helped us publish our story across @bbc platforms. The story trended as one of the platforms most watched videos.
And finally, on February 14th, @hamishadaryaniahuja Namaste Wahala was released on @netflix. Following its release, Namaste Wahala trended in the top 10 across various territories and was one of Netflix’s top movies across the world.
These are just a few of the stories we've seen doing numbers. Your story could be next.
Why do you think Black and South Asian stories have lacked visibility in the mainstream media? What do we need to do to change this?
Speaking as a Ugandan African married to a Punjabi Indian for the past few years, I really wanted to pass on my appreciation for everything you guys are doing with the #blindianproject! From my experience, it wasn’t until I actually started dating my future wife that I was aware of the joys, struggles and realities that come with Black and South Asian relations.
In many ways, articles and projects like this and Netflix’s Namaste Wahala are part of the solution in exposing most people for the first time to the complexities of the subject. It also acts as encouragement and comfort to couples out there who are/have experienced trauma through their own stories.
In short, one of the…