Speakers:
Snehal Shingavi, English and South Asian Studies, UT Austin
Zahra Billoo, Council on American-Islamic Relations

Wednesday, June 1
6 p.m.
Kresge Town Hall

Snehal Shingavi is Assistant Professor in the Department of English at the University of Texas, Austin. He got his PhD from UC Berkeley where he was involved in a number of social justice campaigns. He was a shop steward for the Association of Graduate Student Employees (AGSE/UAW local 2865), a participant in the 1999 strike for Ethnic Studies organized by the third world Liberation Front (twLF), a member of the International Socialist Organization, a member of the Campaign to the End Death Penalty (CEDP), an organizer against the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, a former member of the coordinating committee of the United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), a participant in the 2000 antiglobalization protests and the protest at the Democratic National Convention in LA, a founding member of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a founding member of the Berkeley Stop the War Coalition (BSTW) which organized against the wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq, a member of Friends of South Asia (FOSA), a member of the Students for Nader campaign in 2000, campaign manager for Aimee Allison – Green Party candidate for Oakland City Council in 2006, a member of the Texas State Employees Union (TSEU CWA local 6186), and the Stop the Cuts Coalition at the University of Texas. He has published pieces in The Nation, Counterpunch, Z Magazine, and the International Socialist Review, and has appeared on Democracy Now, Flashpoints with Dennis Bernstein, the Real News Network, as well as on MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News.

A community organizer and labor and civil rights advocate committed to promoting justice and understanding at local and national levels, Zahra Billoo is Executive Director for the CAIR San Francisco Bay Area (CAIR-SFBA) chapter. She frequently provides trainings at local mosques and universities as part of CAIR’s efforts to empower the community, while building bridges with allies on key civil rights issues. At her direction, CAIR-SFBA filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice challenging their warrantless use of GPS tracking devices to target American Muslims. Her work with CAIR-SFBA has been highlighted in local and national media outlets. Most notably, she made waves when she appeared on FOX O’Reilly Factor to discuss invasive TSA practices. As an undergraduate, she worked with the California Faculty Association on issues including faculty salaries and the defunding of public higher education. A 2010 recipient of the San Francisco Minority Bar Coalition’s Unity Award, she earned her J.D. from UC Hastings.

Co-sponsored by Asian Diasporas Research Cluster of the Institute for Humanities Research, UC Center for New Racial Studies, Ethnic Resource Centers, Asian American and Pacific Islander Resource Center, Muslim Student Association, Olive Tree Initiative, Committee for Justice in Palestine, Resource Center for Nonviolence, Palestine-Israel Action Committee.

This event is free and open to the public.