Selected Books/Films

We encourage you to read and discuss these books and films. with friends, co-workers, and family members. Consider forming a campus or community SAALT Circle through which you can discuss these books and films. SAALT can provide discussion questions, topics, and related readings.  Please contact us at info@saalt.org if you are reading our selections!

Have you read or seen something lately that you'd like us to add to this list or review for our blog? Contact us at info@saalt.org

The End of Empires: African Americans and India
by Gerald Horne
Temple University Press announces the publication of The End of Empires: African Americans and India by Gerald Horne. Horne provides an unprecedented history of the relationship between  African Americans and Indians in the period leading up to Indian independence in 1947. He tells the fascinating story of these alliances and exchanges, including the South Asian influence on the Nation of Islam and the close friendship between Paul Robeson and India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.




UNDERGROUND AMERICA - Narratives of Undocumented Lives
Edited by Peter Orner
Foreword by Luis Alberto Urrea

"They arrive from around the world for countless reasons. Many come simply to make a living. Others are fleeing persecution in their native countries. Millions of immigrants risk deportation and imprisonment by living in the U.S. without legal status. They are living underground, with little protection from exploitation at the hands of human smugglers, employers, or law enforcement. Underground America, the third book in the Voice of Witness series, presents the remarkable oral histories of men and women struggling to carve a life for themselves.


The Visitor
from the director of The Station Agent
from the producer of Sideways

"In The Visitor, an American college professor and a young immigrant couple grapple with the treatment of immigrants and the legal process post-9/11. After that tragedy, authorities arrested and detained over 1,200 people in connection with terrorism. But their identities, whereabouts and the actual charges brought against them were withheld from their families, the media and the public. For a nation built by immigrants on the guiding principle of justice for all, the questions of due process, detention and deportation of refugees and immigrants has become a hotly-debated topic."


Ask Me No Questions
by Marina Budhos
Deportation. Green Card. Residency. Asylum.

For fourteen-year-old Nadira and eighteen-year-old Aisha, these are the words that define their lives. "Nadira and her family are illegal aliens, fleeing to the Canadian border - running from the country they thought would one day be their home. For years, they have lived on expired visas in New York City, hoping they can realize their dream of becoming legal citizens of the United States. But after 9/11, everything changes. Suddenly, being Muslim means being dangerous. A suspected terrorist. And when Nadira's father is arrested and detained at the border, she and her sister, Aisha are sent back to Queens, and told to carry on, as if everything is the same."  "Ask Me No Questions is a searing portrait of modern America in the days of terrorism, orange alerts, and the Patriot Act. It is a story of two sisters, one of whom must find strength to save her family."


Asian American Women: Issues, Concerns, and Responsive Human and Civil Rights Advocacy  by Laura Jo Foo ( a Founding Sister of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum)

As March is Women's History Month, this selection discusses human and civil rights violations inflicted on Asian American women and their fight to end the injustices against them.

Suburban Sahibs: Three Immigrant Families and their Passage from India to America
By: S. Mitra Kalita
We encourage you to read Suburban Sahibs, the stories of three immigrant families in New Jersey. SAALT recently released a set of issue briefs about the South Asian community in New Jersey. We urge you to check these out and keep some of these statistics and instances in mind while reading this book.

Body Evidence: Intimate Violence Against South Asian Women in America
Edited by Shamita Das Dasgupta

In Body Evidence, more than twenty scholars and public health professionals uncover the unique challenges faced by victims of domestic violence in South Asian American communities. Topics include cultural obsession with women's chastity and virginity; the continued silence surrounding intimate violence among women who identify themselves as lesbian, bisexual, or transgender; the consequences of refusing marriage proposals or failing to meet dowry demands; and, ultimately, the ways in which the United States courts often confuse and exacerbate the plights of these women. Shamita Das Dasgupta is an adjunct assistant professor of clinical law at New York University's School of Law and cofounder of Manavi, Inc.