Dalit History Month 2024
10 years of Dalit History Month!
As we enter the 10th year of celebrating Dalit History Month, which was modelled on Black History Month celebrated globally, I would like to take this moment to thank each and everyone who worked towards building an authentic narrative of the Dalit history (the Untold-Unseen-Unheard).
The Dalit History Month was conceptualized and launched in April 2015 by a team of Dalit women activists Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Christina Dhanaraj, Maari Zwick-Maitreyi, Sanghapali Aruna, Asha Kowtal, and Manisha Devi to celebrate Dalit lives, communities, leaders, histories, movements and achievements.
Today, Dalit History Month is celebrated globally, and many states and cities worldwide have officially announced April as Dalit History Month. The recent one to join is the city of Burlington in Canada. In March this year, Mayor Marianne Meed Ward of Burlington proclaimed April 2024 as “Dalit History Month” and April 14th as “Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar Day of Equity”.
Dalit History Month allows us to look back at our history and remember, reclaim, and rejoice in the contributions and accomplishments of our forebears who consistently fought against caste oppression and gave us the freedom to live our lives with dignity and equal rights. You will hardly find this history in any school textbooks or college syllabus. One needs to look past the popular narrative to see the authentic history of the Dalit community - something that only the community can speak about and narrate.
