NRI
Blindian Project: Celebrating Indian-Black Relationships
Incidents of racism against Africans in India prompt Ugandan-Indian couple to create the hashtag.
After facing immense resistance for their marriage from their families, Ugandan-Indian couple Jonah Batambuze and Swetha created a hashtag called #BlindianProject to collate stories of mixed marriages and relationships to give them a normal hue.
Born in Chicago to Ugandan immigrant parents, Jonah grew up as an American. Swetha, who was born in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, was raised in the UK. They both met in Ireland in 2001, and got married in 2007 in the UK. They now live in Peterborough with their two children.
Jonah was in disbelief over how his wife’s family reacted when they found out she was dating a black man, according to the Times of India. “Everyone was crying, like there was a death in the family,” he said.
His own experience and the incidents of racism against Africans in India prompted Jonah to create the hashtag. “While the media has covered incidents of violence, they haven’t done much to inspire critical thinking around racism against Africans in India,” said Jonah to TOI. “It forced me to reflect on how trailblazing our unions are.”
Thirteen couples have so far participated in the #BlindianProject hashtag.
- While Latha had comparatively liberal parents, she was not allowed to date certain races and ethnic groups because of perpetuated stereotypes. Adrian– being a Jewish of African-American descent- was a “double whammy”, Latha confesses.
2. Love sees no color, no borders.
3. Food unites us all!
4. A perfect family moment.
5. A blissful holiday capture from a global family
6. Putting the mangalsutra on my wife was the moment I have been waiting for since October 7th 2014 ” says Styves Estanus, a stuntman who married an Indian woman.
7. Do you see a difference in their joy?
8. The father son duo enjoy game day together
9. 10 years strong, and many more.
10. Two engineers met, and rest was history
11. Love has no language.
12. Destroying stereotypes, one smile at a time
13. Young love, ready to take on the world
14. A marriage to celebrate historic day
Jonah hopes that he sees more “Blindian” couples participate and share their stories — especially from India. “I want to generate a conversation and not just say, ‘A mob beat up an African. Okay, see you tomorrow’,” Jonah added.