during bill deblasio’s inauguration ceremony last week, a young woman, ramya ramana performed a spoken word piece that made my heart skip a beat. ramya is the city’s youth poet laureate, and she captured the current struggles many new yorkers face, as well as the city’s hope for a better future. i was so moved by her poetry until i searched the internet and found her ypl slam final piece entitled miss america, recounting the racist backlash indian-american nina davuluri received when crowned miss america. in the poem, ramya condemns the stereotypes indians face in this country, as well as explains the “othered” existence that many marginalized communities suffer.
it’s clear that ramya uses her words as a powerful tool of resistance and serves as a voice for our movement.