Over the past month plus, we've officially kicked off B/deshi, a community-driven organization committed to connecting the Bangladeshi diaspora and empowering us to take control of the global Bangladeshi narrative.
Why does
@bdeshiglobal exist?
In short, we as a people are disconnected generationally, geographically and through class structures.
Some of the most successful Bangladeshis (many of whom we've highlighted on our socials) are not visible—and often became successful outside of the Bangladeshi community. That doesn't mean they don't want to be Bangladeshi—if anything, from many I've spoken to, most want to figure out how to represent Bangladesh even more effectively. In doing so, we also show to Bangladeshis everywhere in the world a set of role models who have achieved what many of us have historically been told we couldn't do!
So, what's our primary overarching goal? It's to increase the global branding of Bangladesh and Bangladeshis everywhere. As a collective whole, our brand is worth more than individual success. We want to collaborate with solution-oriented folks who believe in something greater than themselves.
Representation matters.
There are several B/deshi initiatives in progress which we will be unveiling over the next few months. To begin with, we are "launching" the organization across cities in North America and elsewhere to build a foundational community.
We've now launched in Toronto, New York, Austin, Chicago and Los Angeles—with each city having its own local organizer committees to operate in a decentralized manner while maintaining a certain standard. In fact, the upcoming Sydney launch is being wholly run by local organizers!
In the process, we've built out community groups—some more active than others—in Austin, Australia, Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, London, the UAE, Toronto, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Atlanta, DC and the San Francisco/Bay Area. We look forward to strenghtening the ones we have and building new ones as needed.
If we're missing your community, let us know! And if you'd like to help out with any of the cities or have initiatives in mind, let's work together.