"To belong in a land away from home is a diasporic dream."
~Harpreet Mangat, Ph.D., Executive Director Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative (BIMI)
What does belonging mean and how does one belong?
What does belonging mean and how does one belong? The Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative’s Cultures and Communities Project (BCCP) looks deeper into these questions by reframing ways in which belonging can manifest. what is culturally significant to diasporic communities? How do members of the diaspora celebrate their culture? how does the modality of story-telling shift how belonging is understood?
BCCP endeavors to showcase the rich history and traditions of 4 diasporic communities (Afghan, Ethiopian, Sikh, and Yemeni) in California and spotlight their culture. This project aims to empower underrepresented diasporic communities by giving them visibility, creating cultural fluency, and providing an equitable space to showcase these communities' cultures in this mural, photo exhibitions, podcast, blogs and commentary, and a research paper.
The Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) Library is pleased to partner with BIMI BCCP to display this mural. It represents the close collaboration between the units and teams within IGS and more importantly gives recognition to diversity of our students and staff.
The IGS Library seeks to be a welcoming place for all UC Berkeley students. We want the IGS Library to better reflect the diversity of the student, staff, and faculty in such a way that says "this is your space, you belong here". We hope that this mural is the first of many that will help us achieve this goal.