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Kiran Nasir Gore is Making a Difference. So Can You.
 I got started with SAAVY (South Asian American Voting Youth) just a few short weeks ago when I was recruited to be one of two Vote SAAVY Fellows based in New York City. Despite the crazily busy schedule of work, classes, and extracurricular activities that I maintain, when I first heard about the organization, I jumped on board to get involved with SAAVY! SAAVY’s mission and goals revolve around building a strong young South Asian American voice that engages in the political system in this country—this blew my mind away! For the most part, South Asians are a relatively new American demographic; most college-aged South Asians are second generation Americans, whose immigrant parents just do not understand how the American political process functions or the roles individuals can play in the system. They remain out of the loop and our generation faces the challenge of building its own model for political engagement and activism—in which SAAVY is playing an enormous role.
In preparation for the upcoming elections, SAAVY launched a nationwide Vote SAAVY campaign to primarily register young South Asian voters and build relationships with them for further voter education and engagement. Myself and another student at New York University, Sadia Kalam, are SAAVY’s NYC Fellows working on this project.
New York City is a very unique environment to work on the Vote SAAVY campaign— one of the most politically conscious cities, as well as home to one of the largest South Asian communities in the country. We’ve structured the campaign to utilize all resources available in NYC—networking across college campuses, working in high-immigrant population neighborhoods, and taking advantage of the numerous cultural activities happening daily around the city.
SAAVY- NYC has outreached to numerous college campuses, including New York University, Pace University, Fordham University, Queens College, Hunter College, and Rutgers University in New Jersey, among others. Outreach on each campus is manifesting itself differently—from stopping South Asian students on the streets and in classes, to networking with student organizations, and university resources.
SAAVY efforts at New York University have cut across boundaries to team up with students, administrators, and professors representing a variety of academic disciplines, cultural backgrounds, and organizations to further the larger goal of empowering and mobilizing the young South Asian community politically. On October 2 nd, SAAVY partnered with the NYU Office of Community Service and the annual National Gandhi Day of Service to organize teams of students and community members from a variety of backgrounds to do voter registration and education outreach in South Asian immigrant neighborhoods, including Jackson Heights and Flushing, among others. We registered 60 voters in 4 immigrant neighborhoods in an afternoon! If we do not reach out to these folks, no one else will—which makes our work that much more important.
In the community at large, SAAVY has partnered with “Asian America Raise Your Voice” Concerts in Manhattan and Queens to staff voter registration efforts and reach out to young Asian Americans at large. SAAVY has also done voter outreach at community venues, including New York City’s annual Muslim Unity Day Parade and the annual Deepavali Mela at South Street Seaport and similar community events all across New York City and New Jersey.
While the work is tedious and time consuming, overwhelming responses have been positive. While there are the few people who want to hear nothing from us, this is New York City after all, most people are genuinely grateful for the work we’re doing and thank us. On campuses, too many students do not know enough about voter registration procedures and get left out of the loop. Similarly, while working the streets of South Asian communities was certainly the most challenging endeavor of the campaign, it was also the most rewarding because it was obvious the information and resources we brought would not be accessible to community members otherwise.
The Vote SAAVY campaign in New York City officially started three weeks before New York’s voter registration deadline, with still one more week to go, SAAVY has registered more than 250 new voters—voters that perhaps no one else would have reached out to.
October 8 th, the New York registration deadline, is by no means the end of SAAVY’s campaign. We have been distributing surveys to evaluate the needs, interests, and concerns of our South Asian communities in order to more effectively execute our upcoming Get Out The Vote voter education campaign. Civil rights issues, international issues, education, and fiscal issues are all high level concerns for the young South Asian American community and we want to make sure they go out and vote smart, as educated individuals, who are clear on which candidates best represents their needs. We want to follow individuals through the process, from registering, to education, to going out to the polls—all of which in turn will work to lay the foundation for the young South Asian American political movement that we crave.
SAAVY aims to make a difference beyond November 2—Election Day is not the end, it’s a new beginning for young South Asian Americans. We have a voice that matters and it’s about time the big dogs realized it too.
I am making a difference. So can you.
Kiran Nasir Gore
New York City Fellow
SAAVY (South Asian American Voting Youth)
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