Sayu Bhojwani, leader in residence at the CUNY Moynihan Center, delivers her lecture “We, the Founders” Tuesday in the Amphitheater.
In her morning lecture, Sayu Bhojwani wanted Chautauquans to consider if the community and connection they create during the summer “is something we could create everywhere without limit.” Bhojwani continued the Chautauqua Lecture Series Week Nine exploration of “Rising Together: Our Century of Creativity and Collaboration with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra” on Tuesday in the Amphitheater by discussing factors standing in the way of equality and exploring the foundations of democracy.
Bhojwani began her talk by rewinding to 20 years before she was born. Her parents were only young children when lines were drawn through Indian provinces to create the Muslim-majority nation of Pakistan. Her parents lived in one of the provinces fully on the Pakistan side of that line.
“Literally overnight, my parents and their families are on the wrong side of a border because of their religion,” said Bhojwani.
Bhojwani’s work is informed by the experiences of her parents. Despite the fact that Bhojwani’s parents have sparse memories of their experiences as young children and prefer not to discuss them, Bhojwani said that intergenerational trauma still affects her. This understanding of trauma fuels her desire to create a world where all people can thrive. Now, she’s the founder of New American Leaders, an organization that supports first- and second-generation Americans to run, win and lead in public office, and the founder of Women’s Democracy Lab, which works to support women of color and Indigenous women, post-election. She’s also the author of People Like Us: The New Wave of Candidates Knocking at Democracy’s Door.
“To rise together assumes certain things,” said Bhojwani. She outlined three points that underline this assumption: that all people are on a level playing field, that all people gain to the same degree as they rise, and that everyone has the tools and resources to rise. Bhojwani then countered each of these assumptions.
First, not all people live on a level playing field.
“We say that a rising tide lifts all boats, and that may be true; but not all boats are the same,” said Bhojwani. She highlighted gaps in education and access across Black, Hispanic, Asian and white students. The example she presented assumes 20 students start college at 18 — five Black students, five Hispanic students, five Asians students and five white students. Within about six years, only two Black and Latino students would be expected to complete undergraduate degrees while 3.5 Asian and white students would earn degrees. Young adults with degrees will have better access to a wider variety of job opportunities.
Next, Bhojwani addressed the wage gap, which exists not only between men and women, but between white women and their Black and Latino counterparts.
“We know that women earn 83 cents for every dollar a man earns … and the gap is bigger for women of color — 57 cents for Latinos; 64 cents for Black women,” said Bhojwani.
Bhojwani also discussed what she called the “civic gap.” The demographics of the United States Congress do not directly reflect representatives’ constituents. Additionally, the gap between white and non-white voter turnout increased from 10 points to 12 points between 2012 and 2020.
“More white voters are determining who is in office than 10 years ago,” said Bhojwani. She cited statistics that show while white men make up 30% of the U.S. population, they hold 62% of elected positions “across both chambers of Congress, in state legislatures, and in statewide executive offices.”
Bhojwani then moved on to refute the second assumption: that if all people “rise,” they rise in the same way.
“What happens if we all rise, and we measure that by the same percentage?” Bhojwani asked.
Returning to the wage gap example, if all wages increased by 10%, the gap will still never close. Although everyone is rising, increasing wages alone do not change the lack of equality. The same holds true for elected officials. Simply looking at percentages does not take into account underlying factors contributing to inequality, she said, and trying to increase wages or number of representatives doesn’t necessarily provide equity.
“If we rise together from the place where each of us is, we are absolutely not going to gain the same,” said Bhojwani.
Bhojwani’s third point addressed the fact that not all people are “rising” with the same resources. She referred to her own experiences as a first-generation college student. Her parents could not help her with the application process, and she lacked an understanding of what majors and minors were in the American college system. Furthermore, her status as an international student meant she could not find work off-campus on a student visa. However, she also acknowledged that she had some advantages that other international and first-generation students do not. Her parents were able to pay tuition in full, and she spoke fluent English.
“Even among those of us who share that characteristic (of being a first-generation student), if you will, the playing field is not level,” Bhojwani said.
Bhojwani encouraged Chautauquans to acknowledge uncomfortable truths: “Not all pies can be bigger. … There is this myth that we keep saying that the pie can be bigger but not every single time.”
For example, in order to increase the representation of Black women in Congress, some white men will be unseated. She acknowledged the different forms of power that people have, from generational wealth to power through social media to leadership roles.
Bhojwani went on to discuss how people respond when they feel their resources are being challenged, using the example of a youth organization for South Asians that she ran in Queens in the 1990s. She described the diverse groups of young men that arrived at the basketball court that served as an outreach point.
“Occasionally, a group of young people would arrive, and they would see the court was filled,” she said. “… Then, all of a sudden, the same young men who had brought these other young men to play got really territorial and started joking about ‘Well, I thought this was only for South Asians.’ ”
She expanded this example to the attitudes she witnessed as Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs of New York City following 9/11.
“New Yorkers, who are generally pretty welcoming and used to living with diversity, suddenly felt deeply threatened because our city had been attacked,” she said.
She also discussed recent attitudes after Republican governors along the U.S. southern border began sending busloads of migrants to New York City and other major metropolitan areas — highlighting humanity’s capability to be both deeply accepting yet also territorial.
“There is no appropriate plan for their shelter and housing,” said Bhojwani. “There are lots of groups of folks just sort of in parks, on the streets, and suddenly New Yorkers, these very same people that will wax poetic about what a great city we are and how diverse we are, suddenly want to close down the opportunity for new New Yorkers.”
Bhojwani transitioned to discussing the foundations of “a strong multiracial democracy” by building a common definition. Her definition had three core pillars: belonging and inclusion; equality of opportunity; and access to governance.
When discussing belonging and inclusion, Bhojwani noted the importance of community. The democracy she envisions is “one where each individual sense of belonging builds a stronger community and society.”
The second pillar of Bhojwani’s definition of democracy is equality of opportunity.
“If access to opportunities is inequitable, we may rise equally but not equitably,” she said.
The third and final pillar Bhojwani discussed was access to governance. She said people must “have the ability to hold public office, engage with elected officials easily and effectively, and to find one’s needs reflected in public policy.” Representation involves more than ethnicity, she said — it involves bringing all of one’s life experiences together to represent many communities.
Finally, Bhojwani gave members of her Chautauqua audience steps they can take now to move toward a more equitable world, reminding them that the work of building a stronger democracy requires more than voting and conversations.
“We need to understand as much as we can about how things work by looking at the data, by looking closely at what we see around us,” she said. “What is our individual privilege, and what are we doing to hold onto that so tightly that we might be causing others to suffer?”
She told Chautauquans to remain curious and look for information beyond what they were taught in textbooks, or what’s conveyed through mainstream media. Her call to action also emphasized community.
“Without community, there is no liberation,” she said, quoting Audre Lord
As Chautauquans leave the “cocoon” of the Institution for the summer, she encouraged them to build on the experiences they’ve had on the grounds.
“In order for us to rise together,” Bhojwani said, “we have to think in ways that honor the collective.”
