Episode 1

Welcome to Mumbai & Houston

In this episode, we introduce ourselves, introduce you to our two cities, Houston and Mumbai. 

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Laurel and Houston:

Laurel identifies as a cisgender, white woman from Houston who is a settler on Indigenous land. She additionally possesses economic and educational privilege. All of this has shaped and continues to shape her experience of the world. Ideologically, she identifies as a progressive who strives to learn from and contribute to anti-oppressive movements and conversations, particularly as they relate to education and pedagogy. Laurel feels immensely grateful and fortunate to have had the opportunity to build relationships with and learn from such a diverse group of incredible educators, students, and advocates who have graciously shared their knowledge and experience with us in this podcast.

Houston itself is an incredibly diverse place that has a way of coming together in times of crisis.The Greater Houston Area (also called the Metropolitan Statistical Area or MSA) is located in Southeast Texas near the coast and is home to over 7 million people. As of 2018, the Houston Metropolitan area has had no majority race or ethnicity, and 1 in 4 Houstonians were born outside of the United States. However, that diversity is heavily segregated with a clear intersection between race and income, which you can see using Justice Map. Additionally, Houston is located on Indigenous land, specifically that of the Karankawa, Atakapa-Ishak, Sana, and Akokisa, which we almost never acknowledge. 

In March, schools and businesses began closing in Houston in response to this pandemic; although, we never had a full lockdown as was experienced in other countries. In this episode, Laurel shares some of the reactions her respondents had to this pandemics as well as their thoughts on Houston as a city.     

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Gauravi and Mumbai: 

Gauravi situates herself as a woman, born and raised in a privileged area of Mumbai, in Dadar. Her outlook on life, society, politics and power tend to be heavily influenced by a critical, decolonial and post-modernist lens. Not fond of absolutes and always willing to embrace multiple realities, Gauravi tried to interview as many different types of people as she could. Gauravi grew up in a multi-religious household, which influenced her perception of her hometown, being a place full of diversity and contradictions. She has to acknowledge however that as a primarily english-speaking scholar, she is limited in her ability ever truly understand the multitude of people who call Mumbai home. 

Mumbai is a coastal city, located on the western coastline of India. As the country's financial capital, Mumbai is a city that never shuts down, never gets quiet. Mumbai is home to approximately 20 million people. Of that approximately 41.3% make up the slum population of Mumbai.

On March 22nd, 2020, the Government of India announced a nationwide lockdown in response to the COVID crisis. In this episode, Gauravi's respondents recall some of the initial challenges and reactions to India's lockdown.  

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Laurel's Respondents: Arquette, Jeremy, Maria Gloria, Katie, Vincent

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Gauravi's Respondents: Marina, Sarika, Anjali, Maitreyee