Monthly DEIJ Celebrations: September – SWANA

Dear TAS Families,  

September is here, and with it, part 2 of our 10-part series celebrating different marginalized identities within our community. Last month, we celebrated Diverse Families and Self. If you missed that message, you can read it here.

September - Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) Heritage Month

Where did the term "SWANA” come from, and why do we celebrate this heritage group? The term "SWANA” is used in place of terms like “Arab” or “Middle Eastern,” because these terms are focused on historical and colonial definitions of people living as far west as the Western Saharah, and as far northeast as Khazakhstan and Kyrgystan.

By using a term to describe the people living in a geographical region, rather than the terms applied to these people by European colonizers and imperialists, this celebration is more inclusive and respectful of people with familial, linguistic, and cultural roots in this region. This term is non-political, non-religious, and non-Eurocentric. The geographic term honors the diversity of ethnic groups that live and thrive in this region.  

In the United States and other countries around the world, people with SWANA heritage have faced social and political prejudice, including negative stereotypes that span linguistic, religious, and racial lines. 

At TAS, we celebrate people of SWANA heritage, and honor the contributions that people of SWANA heritage have made to both our local community and the world at large.

How can your family actively celebrate diverse families this month? 

1. Read a book with your child(ren) by a SWANA author like, Amina’a Voice by Hena Khan or Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri and talk to your child(ren) about the experiences of people from the SWANA region.  
2. Listen to SWANA Radio. 
3. Talk about how stereotypes of different groups of people can be harmful with your child(ren). Talk about the harmful stereotypical depictions of the people from the SWANA region. Talk about the biases that society has about the people from the SWANA region, and how these biases can lead to discrimination and microaggressions against people from the SWANA region.  

• Why is the SWANA region sometimes referred to as the cradle of civilization? 
• What stereotypes do you see portrayed about people from this region in the news media? How can you resist stereotyping people from this region? 
• The SWANA region has been identified as one of the most vulnerable to climate change, with impacts including increases in drought conditions, aridity, heatwaves, and sea level rise. What can we as a family do to lessen our own impact on climate change? 
• Who do you know in the TAS community who has SWANA heritage?
• How many ethnic groups, languages, and religions do you think are included in the SWANA region?