Maia Ramnath’s project traces the various political and cultural strands linking distinct aspects of South Asian anti-colonialism and anti-casteism with distinct aspects of African American racial justice and liberation struggles, woven thickly across the geography of Harlem from the 1910s to 1970s. Drawing on archival research as well as the embodied knowledge of moving through the physical space of the city, it aims to create a multilayered, interactive map, accompanied by thematic essays, connecting the dots between people and movements (from B.R. Ambedkar to W.E.B. Du Bois to H.G. Mudgal to Marcus Garvey to Krishnalal Shridharani to Bayard Rustin and CORE to Mufti Muhammad Sadiq to Malcolm X to the NAACP to Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya and many more…) to articulate not between monolithic entities but between complexly differentiated bodies of thought and practice with their own internal contradictions, and generational and political tensions.

Maia Ramnath‘s occupations have included history professor, performing artist, and NYC walking tour guide. Ramnath holds a PhD (history) from the University of California-Santa Cruz and an MA (interdisciplinary humanities and social thought) from NYU. She has taught courses in world history, South Asia, and the South Asian diaspora at NYU, Penn State, Fordham, and Barnard; and led tours for Inside Out Tours in Harlem, Lower Manhattan, and other areas, often focusing on Black history. Ramnath is the author of several books and articles on South Asian radical movements in the context of extra-national solidarities and anti-colonial affinities.