{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/h707w68r3m/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Aminta Kilawan-Narine Oral History"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAminta Kilawan-Narine is a lawyer, community organizer, and social justice advocate who has lived in southern Queens for most of her life. Kilawan-Narine speaks about how her father and mother migrated from Guyana to New York City, where they eventually settled in southern Queens; she recalls fond memories of growing up in Ozone Park and South Ozone Park from the 1990s to the mid-2000s. Kilawan-Narine, who attended law school at Fordham University, explains that she chose that career path in part because she had been in an abusive relationship as a teenager and felt there was a shortage of professionals (e.g. immigration lawyers and family law practitioners) providing support to individuals experiencing gender-based violence. Kilawan-Narine details her ensuing work experience as an extern, legislative analyst, and legislative attorney in the New York City Council, through which she has drafted and negotiated laws and policies on a range of issues such as investing in libraries, expanding access to feminine hygiene products, and finding solutions to homelessness in New York City.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eKilawan-Narine recalls co-founding the non-profit organization Sadhana in 2011, explaining that Sadhana offers a progressive Hindu space that addresses social justice issues (e.g. women's rights and environmental justice) from a Hindu perspective, and discusses Sadhana's monthly beach cleanups at Jamaica Bay to promote eco-friendly worship practices by Indo-Caribbean Hindus who leave behind offerings at sites around the bay as part of the puja worship ritual. Kilawan-Narine also details her gender justice work specific to the population of southern Queens, which includes organizing healthy relationship workshops at local libraries, writing about gender-based violence as a columnist in the local newspaper The West Indian, raising awareness of available services in New York City for domestic violence victims, and founding the non-profit organization South Queens Women's March.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/search/browse/42928"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2022-06-01 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Video"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Aminta Kilawan-Narine (Interviewee)","Fran Kipnis (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["1980s-2022 (temporal)","Ozone Park, South Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Briarwood, and Jamaica Bay, Queens, NY; Bronx, NY; Guyana (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAminta Kilawan-Narine is a lawyer, community organizer, and social justice advocate who has lived in southern Queens for most of her life. Kilawan-Narine speaks about how her father and mother migrated from Guyana to New York City, where they eventually settled in southern Queens; she recalls fond memories of growing up in Ozone Park and South Ozone Park from the 1990s to the mid-2000s. Kilawan-Narine, who attended law school at Fordham University, explains that she chose that career path in part because she had been in an abusive relationship as a teenager and felt there was a shortage of professionals (e.g. immigration lawyers and family law practitioners) providing support to individuals experiencing gender-based violence. Kilawan-Narine details her ensuing work experience as an extern, legislative analyst, and legislative attorney in the New York City Council, through which she has drafted and negotiated laws and policies on a range of issues such as investing in libraries, expanding access to feminine hygiene products, and finding solutions to homelessness in New York City.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eKilawan-Narine recalls co-founding the non-profit organization Sadhana in 2011, explaining that Sadhana offers a progressive Hindu space that addresses social justice issues (e.g. women's rights and environmental justice) from a Hindu perspective, and discusses Sadhana's monthly beach cleanups at Jamaica Bay to promote eco-friendly worship practices by Indo-Caribbean Hindus who leave behind offerings at sites around the bay as part of the puja worship ritual. Kilawan-Narine also details her gender justice work specific to the population of southern Queens, which includes organizing healthy relationship workshops at local libraries, writing about gender-based violence as a columnist in the local newspaper The West Indian, raising awareness of available services in New York City for domestic violence victims, and founding the non-profit organization South Queens Women's March.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/241/032/small/Aminta_Kilawan-Narine_6-1-2022_aviary.jpg?1715347439","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - Aminta_Kilawan-Narine.mp4"]},"duration":3748.768,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/241/032/small/Aminta_Kilawan-Narine_6-1-2022_aviary.jpg?1715347439","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/241/032/original/Aminta_Kilawan-Narine.mp4?1715347023","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":3748.768,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: This is Fran Kipnis with Aminta Kilawan-Narine, and we are recording on June 1st, 2022 for the Queens Memory Project. So could you please pronounce your full name and spell it for us?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2.0,27.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Sure. My name is Aminta Kilawan-Narine, and it is spelled A M I N T A for Aminta. Kilawan, K I L A W A N, hyphen, Narine, N A R I N E.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=27.0,42.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Okay. And do you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the Queens Memory informed consent and copyright permission form that I shared with you over email?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=42.0,54.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Yes, I agree.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=54.0,55.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Okay, great. So during the interview, we're going to talk about your role as an activist and a woman leader in Queens. But before that, I want to talk a little bit about your background and I did have a chance to read about your background - an amazing achievement. So I'm very much looking forward to this. So could you start by talking about your family's journey first to the Bronx and then to Queens?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=55.0,82.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Sure. So my family's journey first to the Bronx and then to Queens. So my dad moved to - well, he first migrated to Canada, from Guyana. So both of my parents are from Guyana and they're both from a particular part of Guyana called [unclear, possibly Burbese], which is more of like a rural village area. It's not the city of Guyana itself. And in the seventies - in the, the sixties, seventies and eighties, there was a lot of political turmoil in Guyana as a result of the then leaders of the country. And so many Indo-Guyanese folks who identify as having their ancestors coming from India, ended up migrating to the United States for purposes of a better life for themselves and for their families. And so my dad was one of the first folks from my entire family on both sides to migrate to the country of the United States of America.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=82.0,145.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And he first, like I mentioned, he first migrated to Canada, but the goal was really to come to America. And eventually he migrated to the Bronx. And why the Bronx? The Bronx was a place where other Guyanese people were living at the time. There were immigrant enclaves all across the city, popping up with Guyanese people. And the Bronx was one of them, especially in the areas in which my dad chose to live. And so he moved here with his mom in the 1980s, like specifically 1986. And they lived in an apartment building off of Fordham Road on East 171st Street. And shortly thereafter, my dad returned to Guyana to find a wife, literally. And he - my mom back then was perceived as apparently the most beautiful woman in the village. And so - and she had really long hair, like everybody in her village knew about her hair because it was really long.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=145.0,208.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: It was like literally up to her ankles, too long, too long for my comfort. But so everybody knew her in that way. And she - you know, - my dad had known her growing up as well. They went to the same temple growing up and he eventually, through a series of events, he asked for her hand in marriage and her mom and stepdad agreed. So it was somewhat arranged, but also they knew each other. So it was like they kind of dated a little bit. It was interesting. And so eventually, he sponsored my mom, my dad sponsored my mom, and they got married in Guyana. And then, my mom later, in February of 1988, the year I was born, my mom moved to the Bronx as well and, you know, met my dad there. And so I was born in November of that year and I was amongst the first on both sides of my families, of all my cousins to be born in New York, in the United States. I hope that answers the question. Like that's a short, I guess that's a short answer.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=208.0,285.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: And then how long did your family live in the Bronx and when did they move to Queens?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=285.0,290.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Yeah, so my family lived in the Bronx. I lived in the Bronx for, I guess I should say I lived in the Bronx for three and a half years of my life. So the first three and a half years of my life were in the Bronx. I think, you know, the goal was not to stay in the Bronx for my parents. And also, I should say that my dad also ended up supporting a lot of other members of his family to come to America as well. And they all ended up living in either that same apartment building or other apartment buildings in the area and subsequently all but one of his relatives ended up moving to Queens. So everybody ended up, almost everybody ended up moving to Queens. The one brother who stayed in the Bronx ended up staying in the apartment building where I like lived my first three and a half years of life because it was, it was a rent stabilized building.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=290.0,331.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And it was like, you know, it's something that you don't find nowadays. And so anyway, we moved from the Bronx to Queens when I was three and a half. And the reason for that was because my parents, obviously, they wanted a home of their own. My mom was also in the course of her pregnancy with my middle sister Camillia. And so they were looking for homes in Queens and they gravitated towards Ozone Park, a residential area where they could afford a home and where they felt there were a lot of families, children of my age bracket and the schools were good. So, you know, they analyzed all of this and thought that this would be a good fit. And also recognizing that neighboring Ozone Park is Richmond Hill and there's so many people of their background also living there. So I think all of those factored in. And so we moved, let's see - we moved in, in 1991 to Queens. My sister was born in February of 1992. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=331.0,402.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Okay. And tell me a little bit about your remembrances of Ozone Park and what it was like growing up there, where you went to school, the playgrounds, libraries, things like that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=402.0,416.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: I loved living in Ozone Park so much. So at the time - and it's interesting because now, thinking about gentrification, and how Queens has changed or not changed over the course of time - we lived, so we ended up moving to, I call it the red house 'cause when I was little I just knew, oh it was the red house on the block. And it's no longer red. But it was right off of the 88th Street A train station. And so I almost, I secretly wish that we still, my parents still lived there because it's so convenient to Manhattan. And as far as my remembrances, I wasn't school-aged when we moved there and I didn't go to pre-K. So I started school in kindergarten and I went to PS 63. I still have, you know, such a soft spot of my heart for my first teacher, Miss Fleshel [phonetic].","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=416.0,468.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And I loved - it was interesting actually. When I started kindergarten, my grandma was my babysitter and my grandmother - who's since passed away - and she lived with us, and she lived with us for almost all of the, the years that I lived with my parents, which is most of my life. And because she was my babysitter and because I spent so much time with her, my accent was very thick. I had a very, very thick Guyanese accent. And so when I started school, I remember the teachers wondering if I spoke English or not - what is she speaking? And my parents - I came home because they were asking me if I should be in, taking ESL, English as Second Language, and my parents were appalled. No, she speaks English. What are you talking about? But it's because Guyana - you know, it's interesting - because they're, we are Caribbean and we're also Indian and it's an interesting fusion of cultures, but, we do speak English.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=468.0,526.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: It's just very, very, you know, broken English. So anyway, - but I had a really wonderful, I would say I had a really wonderful childhood. I loved PS 63. I loved the diversity of PS 63. I love the cherry blossoms. My parents would also, my mom later on, years after, we would go very early to school because we had to coordinate with my parents' schedules for them to go to work. And so my mom, once she started driving, she would drop us, but we would go early to have breakfast. And I loved, I loved that breakfast so much because I'm, you know, I'm from a Guyanese family, right? And I was getting so many different things in school that I wouldn't get at home as far as food is concerned. Not that my parents deprived me of anything, but it's just different.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=526.0,570.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: So I loved that aspect of things. I also loved the friends that I had. I remember my first best friend in school, her name was Jennifer Chu [phonetic] and we were supposedly the two smartest kids in the class. And so I think, but also because of that, we were also made fun of too, you know, so often the nerds get made fun of, right? And so - but still we, I mean, I think we were so close. And as far as playgrounds, so we didn't, I didn't actually, my dad used to actually take us to a playground on Liberty Avenue. I think it's near 103rd Street. And I remember going to this playground and swinging in the tires. There weren't swings like what we have now in playgrounds, there were tires. And so he would take me, take me there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=570.0,618.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: I also remember going - so again, we gravitate towards Richmond Hill, even though we lived in Ozone Park, again, because of, I think the sense of community there. And, back then Kid City, which still exists - Kid City is right off of, not too far from Lefferts Boulevard, Liberty Avenue. But they used to have those toy horses that you put a quarter in. And I used to love that so much. I also remember Martin's Hardware Store also on Liberty, but closer to 103rd. I remember there was one time, Martin's had this giant, like ape. It was like a fake ape and I used to be mortified. I would like - my parents would have to - even if I were in the car, I would be mortified of this thing and screaming and shouting. And I used to get nightmares.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=618.0,666.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And anyway, so I did not like that thing very much, but it was very close to the playground, and I liked the playground. I really just, I loved, I loved Ozone Park. I loved the diversity. We had a babysitter across the street. So, you know, after we got a little older, my parents recognized that we should also be around other kids, not just ourselves. And, you know, my parents are very strict. Immigrant parents sometimes can be. And so - but the babysitter was right across the street. So she - we aren't allowed - we have to call people by like auntie or uncle, or, it's just a courtesy. It's something that - it's rude to not, you can't call them by their first name. And so, but my babysitter's name is, if she's still alive, her name is Vera.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=666.0,712.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: But we worked - my parents and grandma said, you have to call her Grandma Vera. So I'd call her Grandma Vera because she was the grandmother of some of my class, my schoolmates. And, she was Italian, she's Italian and very strong Italian woman. And she took care of Laura and Maria [unclear] are her granddaughters. And I used to love going. That was actually, my playground was really their house. My first exposure to pets was also at their house. And they had cats that I was very afraid of. I was very sheltered. They had a dog named Angel who I remember I was less afraid of the dog. And they got me really into things that I don't think I would've been, been exposed to. I saw my first Ouija board in their house.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=712.0,762.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: I remember that being super cool. I remember - this is so funny and I say it now with laughter, - but it's really bad. My parents, so, you know, they were very modest and, you know, I didn't, we didn't have a lot. I mean, they did what they could for us. And so for Barbies, for example, 'cause I used to play with Barbie dolls, we would get the Barbie dolls from the 99 Cent Store, not necessarily the Mattel Barbie dolls, which were better. And, you know, we wouldn't get the doll clothes that were Mattel doll clothes. We would get the other ones from like the cheaper one. And so I remember stealing one of either Laura or Maria's doll clothes and I came home and my mom was like, what is that? Where did you get that from? And I was like, oh, I just found it. But I was so enthralled by the Barbie doll clothes. But anyway, I had a lot of fun times and I should probably tell them that, but it's like -","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=762.0,819.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: But yeah, my times in Ozone Park were wonderful. I also remember prayer being a big part of our life also. My parents have always been really devout Hindus and we - but then - I mean, you see now the emergence of so many temples, all across Queens, Hindu temples, especially Indo- Caribbean serving ones. But back then, that wasn't necessarily the case. And so a lot of folks had their home, and still had their home altars. And so our - almost a big portion of our basement was dedicated to being an altar space. And I spent a lot of my childhood there as well with my grandma or my mom praying and singing. And so, yeah, I'll stop there though. I've been talking a lot.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=819.0,864.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: No. It's great. It's fabulous. And where were your parents working at the time?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=864.0,869.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Yeah. Good question. So my dad has been a New York City Transit Authority employee - he's since retired - for almost since his years in the Bronx, minus a couple other jobs that he had before then. So he was always working for the New York City MTA [Metropolitan Transportation Authority], but he would go from like different stations. It wasn't like he was stationed in one place all these years. And my mom, for the early parts of my life, was working at the Municipal Credit Union, as a clerk. And then later - my parents were both civil servants, through and through. And so they, my dad and my mom, took exams and did all of those, all of the things to move up the ladder. But yeah, so my dad was working at the MTA. He was, you know, he was a road car inspector, which means he was literally fixing the trains, and my mom was a clerk.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=869.0,922.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Okay, great. And then, so you told me about the elementary school, the grammar school you went to. Where did you go to high school?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=922.0,931.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Yeah, so I should probably back up to say that when I was in second grade, no, I'm sorry. Yeah, when I was in second grade, we moved from Ozone Park to South Ozone Park, but I stayed in PS 63 until fourth grade. So I was able to stay there. Then we moved to like the South Ozone Park, closer to the Wakefield area, near JFK airport and off the Conduit. And so then after that, my parents - and also my middle sister was getting older as well. She had just started - she did kindergarten at PS 63 while I was there. But then in first grade, we transitioned over to Our Lady of Grace, which is in Howard Beach, Queens. And Our Lady of Grace was like a culture shock for me in some ways, because I was literally one of the only like minorities in the entire school.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=931.0,995.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And so that was hard. It was very challenging for me, but I think my parents - amongst the different options, my parents felt that Our Lady of Grace would be the best fit for me. So I went from fourth grade to eighth grade at OLG. And then I went to Archbishop Molloy High School, which was a big - it was actually a choice between Townsend-Harris, which - but it was further away and the hours, Townsend Harris' school hours, were a little bit, were gonna be a challenge for us to navigate as a family. And Archbishop Molloy, which had recently turned co-ed, was an all-boy school for a while. I mean, it was a really good school. And so my parents felt that that was the best, the best school for me. And they're really big on, you know, morals and discipline and they're like, oh, we should keep sending her to a Catholic school. And so I ended up going there for high school and it's in Briarwood.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=995.0,1057.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: And that's where you lived all through high school, in South Ozone Park?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1057.0,1059.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1059.0,1059.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Okay. All right. So let's talk a little bit about now. So first of all, you went to college and to law school, is that correct?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1059.0,1071.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1071.0,1072.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: So tell me about that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1072.0,1072.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Yeah, so I am a commuter through and through, right? So I've lived in South Ozone Park. I lived in South Ozone Park almost through marriage, like until I got married with the exception of one year. And prior to that, let me back step. So I went to Fordham - Fordham's Lincoln Center Campus. I didn't dorm. I was a commuter and I commuted from my parents' home in South Ozone Park, taking the Q10 and the Q37 bus, over to the A train and then taking the A train to 59th Street, Columbus Circle. And going to school there for four plus three years, seven years, of undergrad and law school. I went straight through. I didn't take, I didn't take a break. I just, I knew, I knew that I wanted to do something that was going to challenge me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1072.0,1123.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: For many years I wanted to be a teacher and I think I still do. Part of me still wants to teach something. But I felt that being a lawyer would challenge me to explore what would be outside of my comfort zone. I am, I think I'm inherently an introvert, right? And I think that to be a lawyer, you kind of have to put yourself out there sometimes. And it's interesting, because people are surprised by how I am in my, quietude, very different from this public persona that I might have, right? But, yeah, and I went, in part, I went to law school because I was dealing with my own instances of gender-based violence. And I had gotten into a really toxic, abusive, verbally and physically abusive relationship that I, I mean, I talk about openly now because I feel like I'm still, I'm on that path of healing.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1123.0,1176.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And I think when I talk about it, it promotes that healing as well. But I was a teenager. I was in, I was a high school student. I missed my last day of high school because of some pretty traumatic experiences related to the situation I was in. And I saw how many survivors of gender-based violence there are in my community. When I say my community, I think about the south Queens community. But I specifically also think about the Indo-Caribbean community in Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park. And I also saw that there was a really, there's a shortage of, a shortage of professionals who usually are tapped to support individuals who might be experiencing this type of violence. And that includes lawyers, immigration lawyers, divorce lawyers, family law practitioners. And I thought to myself, I really wanted to be that. I wanted to do that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1176.0,1231.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And I knew it was something that would be out of my comfort zone, but I wanted to do it anyway, especially because I had lived experience. And I also knew that Fordham had a really great law school and that Fordham really prioritized public service. And I knew that I wasn't pursuing law for the money, that I really wanted to make some difference in the world, however small. And so I decided to, sorry, I'm getting emotional. I decided to, I was going through a lot and studying for the LSAT [Law School Admission Test] was pretty hard, but I tried and I got into my dream school, which was Fordham, and I got into Fordham law school on the same day that I passed my road test. So it was pretty, pretty great. It was a great day. But then when I was at Fordham, I fell into an externship program at the New York City Council and I thought, oh, maybe I should pursue policy work because policy work might actually also jive with my personality and with my dreams and my goals and like this macro-level approach to being, promoting the greater good in society.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1231.0,1299.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And so I took the, I did the externship and I fell in love with legislative, like the legislative process and with how much change you can actually make and how much you can ensure that New Yorkers have access to resources through legal, through legal recourse. And, you know, people, there are people writing these laws. There are people researching these laws. And making sure that they're also, sorry, are you hearing the sounds?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1299.0,1325.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: No, it's fine.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1325.0,1329.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Okay. And so I pursued that all while still living in South Ozone Park. And I had the externship, I graduated - I graduated from law school. My first job out of law school was in Albany. And so I was a New York State Excelsior Public Service Fellow for the governor's office.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1329.0,1353.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And I worked - because I had experience with transportation law, the work at the New York City Council gave me a lot of exposure to various different issues, so I was exposed to transportation and infrastructure amongst many different things - so I was tapped to work at the Department of Transportation in the State Capitol. And it was nice, but it wasn't me. And I knew I had to come back to Queens. I needed to come running back to Queens. Albany was not, it was nice, like I said, but not for me. And I was really hoping to get a job at the New York City Council. And I followed up with my then supervisor, Laura Popa, and I, and my other supervisor Terzah Nasser [phonetic], both of whom are no longer at the New York City Council but were huge mentors in my life, and they said, you know, we have an opening for the Cultural Affairs Committee counsel and the Women's Issues Committee counsel. And you'd be great for this. Would you consider? Absolutely, yes, please. And so that was my out from Albany and my in back to New York City and to Queens really. And so that was, and then eventually, yeah, that, and then let me stop there because I just said a lot, so I'm not sure if there's anything -","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1353.0,1424.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Oh, that's fine. And then just what year was that that you came back?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1424.0,1428.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Yeah, so I came back, I came back in 2015. 2015.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1428.0,1436.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: And who were the two supervisors again?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1436.0,1438.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Laura Popa and Terzah Nasser [phonetic].","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1438.0,1440.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Yeah. Okay, great. And did you go back to South Ozone Park at the time?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1440.0,1444.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Yes. I went and moved back into my parents. Comfortable, comfortable life. And I also had saved some money while I was in Albany. Cost of living is a lot cheaper in Albany. And so I was able to save and then eventually, while I was in Albany, I got engaged. So in 2013, my then boyfriend, now husband, proposed to me. I also skipped part, some parts like Sadhana was also created during this time, which is one of the organizations I co-founded.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1444.0,1473.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Right. So tell me -","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1473.0,1473.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: We can talk about that later.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1473.0,1475.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Yeah. Tell me a little bit then about, since we, we're starting to talk about that, about your job within the New York City Council - so where you started and then where you are now and what you do and some of your achievements.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1475.0,1490.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Professionally?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1490.0,1492.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Yeah. Let's start with that. And then we'll go through the others.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1492.0,1494.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Sure. Yeah. So I started, like I said, I started as, I actually hadn't passed the bar when I started here yet. So I started as a legislative analyst, which is like, it's just like a term before you get licensed, right? And so I started in that, in that role with the two committees being the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations - and so that committee focused on all of those issues. And then - a big part of it was libraries and advocating for more resources, for libraries and capital improvements. And the first, the first piece of legislation that I drafted and passed, negotiated and passed in my role, in that capacity was the Comprehensive Cultural Plan. So requiring New York City to take a good look at how culture and the arts reaches people and making sure that there was community input on what we can do to better promote the arts and culture all across the City.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1494.0,1556.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And a big part of that was visioning sessions and listening tours in communities and in libraries and in community spaces. And so that was a really proud achievement. And it's also really nice every time you'd pass a bill back before COVID, there'd be a bill signing. And the mayor would sign, literally sign the bill and usually would give the pen - one of the pens that's used to sign the bill to the attorney who was responsible for the negotiation and drafting of the bill. And so I really love getting, I loved getting that pen. I was really proud of that. I've gotten many since then. Also I was the counsel at the same time, simultaneously, I was working on two committees, the Women's Committee, now the Women and Gender Equity Committee, back then it was referred to as the Women's Issues Committee - issues being dropped, because we don't want to presuppose these are like issues, you know.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1556.0,1606.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: But so in that role, I am really proud to have been the one to shepherd legislation that related to access to feminine hygiene products. So it's interesting, this work comes full circle, and we'll talk about the other work that I do. But the access to feminine hygiene products in Department of Education schools, in City jails, in City shelters, and I'm losing the other, but essentially access to feminine hygiene products all across various City institutions. Because, you know, it's stigmatizing for a young person to have to ask their nurse to have a tampon or a pad when they can just get it in the bathroom. But yet that wasn't happening in City schools and people menstruate at younger and younger ages now, and so making sure that that is also accounted for in access. And also, I helped to draft and negotiate a bill that would increase access to lactation rooms across the City.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1606.0,1672.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: So these are among some of my proudest achievements early on in my career. Also worked on then Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito's Young Women's Initiative. And so it was a huge initiative to engage with women and girls across the City of the ages between 18 and 24 related to everything, honestly, everything under the sun. And it was a partnership with the New York Women's Foundation and the New York City Council and lots and lots of initiatives came out of that. And lots of work behind the scenes at a staff level that probably most people don't know about because it's not, it's not, you know, publicized anywhere, but we know. And I, and it's amongst some of my biggest accomplishments. And then subsequently, after serving as the counsel for those committees for several years, I moved up, and I became a senior legislative counsel.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1672.0,1725.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And my current portfolio is the Committee on General Welfare, which is one of the City Council's biggest committees, includes many different agencies. So we have jurisdiction over the Department of Homeless Services, the Human Resources Administration, as well as ACS, the Administration for Children's Services. And so in that role, everything from planning all the hearings related to all the topics that comprise those agencies - some of the biggest topics that our City is facing right now. And it's really poor people's issues, and everything from homelessness to access to public benefits, SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program], rental assistance, et cetera. And then the Child Welfare System, which we know disproportionately affects black and brown people in the City. And so, and you know, liaising with advocates and making sure that our work is grounded in what impacted people are experiencing. And not just, you know, very wonky policy, but really, you know, thinking about how, what are the long-term impacts. And worked on Speaker Corey Johnson's very, very long homelessness white paper last session, where we had countless, countless meetings, countless round tables to think about policy recommendations for how we can solve the crisis of homelessness in New York City. And so these are, I mean, I've helped to pass many, many, many bills in the committee since my start with the committee. Yeah. So that's in short some of the accomplishments.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1725.0,1823.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: That's fabulous. So before we talk about your more sort of community-based activities, and you've brought this up already, but maybe just making sure we have all your sense about this, but why being an activist in Queens is important to you and specifically, working on women's issues. So talk a little bit about that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1823.0,1846.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Yeah. So Queens, even though I was born in - everybody was like, \"What? You were born in the Bronx?\" And that's because I'm such a Queens person. Everything, so much of what I do is Queens centered. And I just think these are like, Queens is what raised me. I mean, my parents raised me, my grandmother raised me, but I just feel like being part of the fabric that is Queens is what makes me who I am. Makes me care about the issues that I care about. As far as women's issues specifically, I'm a woman, identify as a woman. I come from a line of really strong women who may not have perceived themselves as strong, but when I look back on their stories and I get to tell my story, I wish I could also tell their stories. But I think about them all the time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1846.0,1899.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And I think about how much I owe to the place that I live to contribute whatever I can, because I have access. I feel like I am privileged in that I have access to, I have access to education. I have access to like knowing how to speak - like, I think a lot of people get nervous in certain spaces, but I'm fortunate to have been able, through this work, to be able to develop those skills, to be able to do so. I feel like I have an obligation to do that for the people that are around me, for my neighbors, and my friends and my family. And also, I just, Queens is so cultured too. I think, like I said, Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park specifically are, I think my heart will always reside here, no matter where in life I go.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1899.0,1954.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: I mean, but you know, I think that I just remember spending so much of my childhood in these neighborhoods for various things, whether it's worship, whether it's fun, whether it's, whether it's activism. As a small child, my dad - my dad, who also in Guyana was a young, like a youth leader for the political or one of the political parties at the time. He didn't ever like take up that as a thing that he did later on in his life. It was something short lived, but often he says that he sees what he could have been in me, I think. And it's really nice to hear that. It's validating, not that that's why, I think it's really nice to hear that. And my dad always inculcated in me - and I think also the choice of schools, for example, I went to Fordham.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=1954.0,2006.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And Fordham is a Jesuit school and Jesuits, oh, I'm Hindu, but I say this as a Hindu, I know that Jesuits are very much service oriented and social justice oriented. And I went to Archbishop Molloy High School and in Archbishop Molloy, the motto is Non Scholae Sed Vitae, which is not for school, but for life. And service was a big part of that too. I remember when I was in high school, volunteering at Briarwood Shelter every week to tutor kids. And just - so I think that Queens itself taught me in all the different ways, why I needed to do this work. And disproportionately, I feel that women in Queens are marginalized and we can always benefit from even more empowerment and upliftment. I remember growing up as a child searching for those places, searching for those spaces that felt safe, felt like I could be my, my whole self, felt like I could be this unadulterated me that, you know, didn't, wasn't that shy little girl who was afraid of all the things that - I mean I look back in my life and I did experience a lot as a child as it pertains to like bullying and even racism.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2006.0,2078.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: But I didn't have, then I didn't have the sense of community that, for example, has now been cultivated with South Queens Women's March. And so I just feel like I owe it to that childhood self as well, and all of the women and girls who are possibly going through the same thing that I, same things that I went through to support in some way. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2078.0,2102.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Fabulous. So now tell me about the different community activities and activist activities. I know the South Queens Women's March, the Sadhana and that you were involved very much in the COVID-19 response. And also some of the writing that you do. So talk about those.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2102.0,2122.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Sure. So I guess I'll start with Sadhana. Sadhana means faith in action, and it was an organization that was created in 2011. Long story short, my then husband, not my then husband, my now husband, then boyfriend, [laughs] he had - so we were dating. I was in law school at the time, and there was a film screening happening at my law school of a movie called Sita Sings the Blues. And it was also aired, it had previously been aired on PBS. And so I loved this film so much. This animated retelling of, an adaptation, it's an adaptation of the Ramayana, which is a Hindu scripture. And it's - I kind of equate it similar to the Odyssey in some ways. It's an epic, it's an epic poem and it depicts the story of Lord Ram including his exile and his marriage to Sita.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2122.0,2189.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/64","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: They're both, they're both God and goddess in our culture and our religion. And so I saw this as this feminist retelling of this book and of the scripture I've heard about my whole life. And it was done by a Jewish woman named Nina Paley, who's an animator and an artist, and she had moved to India. She was going through her own struggles with divorce and so much, so many different things. Anyway, so I love the film and my boyfriend and I were dating. I was like, oh, you know, there's this film that's going to be screened at my law school and that the director's going to be there for a panel because they're going to talk about copyright issues that the film presented - you should come. And so he was like, yeah, I'm down. So I'll meet you there. So, I registered him and we both attended and we watched this film together.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2189.0,2237.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/65","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And, you know, as the director was - my husband is a very big personality. And he - so as the film was being screened, he's like, you know, this would be awesome to screen in our temple. Our temple is in Ozone Park. So my husband and I also, we met in our temple. So that's the other thing. So, and I was very young, but we weren't - there was no way we were going to like each other then. I was nine and he was 12, not gonna happen, but later we started dating. So then he said, what if we screen this at our temple? And I was like, I don't think that's a good idea. I don't think they're gonna, I don't think they're gonna let you. It's really like, it's a provocative film. I mean, I love it, but it's a provocative film. He said, and then I said, I dare you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2237.0,2279.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/66","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And it was a joke. It was literally a joke. And so after the film was over and after the panel was over, he went up to the director and he said, hey, I had this idea to film this movie in my temple. Would you be, would you be amenable to coming and doing a similar panel? And she said, sure, but I don't think, I don't know if you're going to be able to do that because I got death threats when I was in India trying to screen this film. And he still persisted. He wanted to screen this film. So anyway, a whole saga happens. You can read all about it in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. So he ended up not being able to screen the film in the temple. His uncle, who was the priest, said absolutely not, over my dead body, you're not doing this.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2279.0,2321.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/67","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: He tried to screen the film at a local catering hall on 101 Avenue in Richmond Hill, which also doubled as a Christian missionary site. They initially said yes, but then they were getting people in the community saying they were going to boycott their catering hall and never give them business anymore if they screened this film. So it became this huge thing. The New York Times picked up and wrote an article about it. Then this woman named Sunita Viswanath, who is an activist, a women's rights activist in New York City and is the founder, one of the founders of an organization called Women for Afghan Women - they do a lot of amazing work - she read the article and she said, oh my gosh, there's this other person who's also Hindu in New York City who cares about social justice issues and is okay with having dialogue about things that we might have been taught growing up that we should parse through.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2321.0,2370.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/68","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And so I, again, because I was dating him, she asked if he would be willing to come out, to visit, to meet her over dinner. And he said, you should come. So I went and I like very, very passionate about social justice, possibly more than he was at the time. And we ended up talking and saying, you know, there's not, there's not a progressive Hindu movement in New York City where we can talk about issues, social justice issues. I mean, there's temples, right? But those don't really function in an - they don't really lend themselves to an activist voice. They're for worship at the time. So we said, what if we created something, a platform where we could talk about issues related to social justice in the public discourse of our City. And so, hence Sadhana was created. Additionally, growing up, both my husband and I had seen, we visited Jamaica Bay time and again.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2370.0,2429.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/69","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Even as growing up in our temple, his father, my husband's father is the president of the temple. And he along with other Hindu leaders in the community of Queens would organize annual beach cleanups at Jamaica Bay for Earth Day. And one of the things, and it was not really because of Hindu offerings happening there. It was because of the - it's being, it's Earth Day. We want to do something good for the environment. Let's go clean up a beach. Jamaica Bay is close. Let's, let's do that. But there started to be an awareness and a problem presented by the - towards the National Park Service, specifically Gateway National Recreation Area - around Hindu offerings being left at the Bay. And what could we do to alleviate that? Because the Bay is being - is a sanctuary for the ecosystem that lives there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2429.0,2484.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/70","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And how do we do that in a culturally appropriate way? Or how does park, how do park rangers do that? Because they're not from the community. And so what do we do? And so Rohan [Aminta's husband, Rohan Narine] and I thought it was really important for Sadhana to take up an environmental justice initiative like this and have it be very overtly about both preserving tradition, but also protecting the environment. Because I think especially in the community where Jamaica Bay is, oftentimes there is a lack of awareness about what are these offerings, like, what is this like, devil worshiping? Or, you know, and then on the flip side, I want to worship, right? This is my, this is my right, right? But also how do you do that? And navigate using offerings that are eco-friendly. And so we started to do these beach clean ups, and we have been doing them every month.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2484.0,2535.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/71","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: I mean, with the exception of several months in COVID, because we couldn't, because of regulations. Every month from April through November, one Saturday. Started doing it the first Saturday of every month. Now we're doing it the second Saturday of every month. But we've been doing that for a long time and coupling it with advocacy work in the temples. Talking to temples - all in Queens - about the importance of eco-friendly worship, creating materials that people can distribute, alternatives, talking to priests, asking them like, what would be acceptable under the scriptures? You know, are we obligated to leave these offerings or are there alternatives? And there are alternatives. And so doing a lot of that, but also not just environmental justice advocacy work, but also I helped to shepherd healthy relationship workshops at our local library on Lefferts and Liberty. Oh, I should back step.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2535.0,2588.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/72","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: I forgot to tell you about when I was a kid. I got my first library card in Ozone Park at the Ozone Park Library off of Rockaway Boulevard. And the libraries were a huge part of my childhood. My dad would take my sister and I every single week and we would have to, like, we would almost have to take out 10 books and my dad would quiz us. Anyway, I love my dad, but he would - and I actually really, really loved the library. It was my safe space. It was a place where I felt like I could dream big and find books that could take me on these different journeys. And, you know, I loved Sweet Valley High. I loved Goosebumps. I loved all the prototypical books that kids my age loved. But I also explored all the different collections in the library and the Ozone - I remember the first book that was ever read to me in that library was The Rainbow Fish, the same day I got my library card. And I loved my library card and - I know, I am a little strange. I know, but -","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2588.0,2654.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/73","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: No, no, no. I'm the same.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2654.0,2654.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/74","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: [laughter] And yeah, sorry, I back stepped because that was such an important part of my childhood. And I still to this day really love libraries. I feel like their function in our community is - you can't even quantify how valuable libraries are and I pray that they continue to exist far into the future. But - and it was nice to be able to work on empower - like the importance of investing in libraries in my work at the Council. Anyway, sorry. So, back step. So, doing a lot of gender justice work and I, you know, I think Sadhana was founded after my toxic relationship and I have always been looking for ways to raise my voice about gender justice in our community. And so for many years through Sadhana - which isn't a gender justice organization per se, but a social justice organization - I would organize these healthy relationship workshops at our library.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2654.0,2718.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/75","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Also every year we would partner with the Mayor's Office to End Gender Based Violence - then was the Mayor's Office to End Domestic Violence, OCDV now ENDGBV - to give out materials all along Liberty Avenue, off of Liberty and Lefferts in Richmond Hill, to raise awareness about resources that people in our community could access. Everything from immigration legal services to counseling, to childcare, to housing. That was literally in Kew Gardens. You know, the Family Justice Center is right there, but I think a lot of folks in our community just didn't know that that existed. And also didn't see people from their community necessarily advocating for them to go there. I think sometimes it's important to have trusted people in the community who look like you to say, this is a place that you can trust, you should go there. And I think there's always a reticence towards accessing government services in the community because of some of the things that have occurred back home and the corruption.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2718.0,2775.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/76","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And so it's natural. I get it. And so I was really, really passionate about this. And so we used to do these at least once a year, if not twice a year, at street outreaches. And it would sometimes be just my husband and I, but then volunteers would come and they would join us and we would just give out resources. And I was really moved, and I said this at the ribbon cutting for South Queens Women's March, that I was really moved once when this elderly auntie helped. Like I was giving her one of the palm cards and talking about - and she just held my hand and she was like, and she said, you know, when you refer to like a child, you'll say [unclear]. It's like a term of - when people - it's a term of endearment. Like [unclear], what am I going to tell you? What am I going tell you?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2775.0,2815.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/77","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: You know, I, I've been with my husband so long and he hates me and he's abusive to me, but what can I do? My life is like about to be over anyway, but, meaning she's so old. And I was like, well, you know, you should go to this place. Like I was - I, you know, I was really eager and, she said, but I want your phone number. Like, can I talk to you? And I was like, sure. And I gave her my phone number and she never called me, right? But I think about her often, I think about, you know, what ended up happening to her. And I think about the countless women in my community who experienced this, sorry, some in my own family, right? And I think about the need for that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2815.0,2861.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/78","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: So anyway, I really tried to spend my free time to do some of this work. Donald Trump had become president as well. Like all of this was happening, going through the fast track of this, right? And so we felt it was really important to raise our voices, also as immigrants and the children of immigrants, against the Muslim ban, against all of the ways that the then president was running afoul of so many people's rights. And so a lot of that work rested on Sadhana because there was a real - there's a real shortage of Hindu activists in New York City, social justice oriented activists. So we were doing all that. And - but all the while I was thinking to myself, you know, I love the work at Sadhana. I still do. And I'm still very much active in that work, but I also did not want to always don my faith as like the mechanism for my activism, because I think that sometimes that can be isolating for folks that don't identify in that faith.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2861.0,2923.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/79","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And there are so many women and girls and gender expansive people in Queens, South Queens specifically, who could have benefited from a movement building organization in our community, like literally in our community. Where with Sadhana, I was doing work citywide, even though the big part of the work was local for me, I was always - let's do it in, let's do it in South Ozone Park or Richmond Hill - that was always my thing. But, you know, all the while I've been reading about - and, oh, my writing for the paper. So I write for the West Indian newspaper, which is a local publication that is published and distributed all over a lot of the Indo-Caribbean communities of South Queens. Sorry, give me one second.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2923.0,2976.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/80","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And I've been writing - I started writing about just random issues and I think I'm the only woman identifying person that writes for this paper. And on the younger side, most folks are older men identifying folks. And so I, been writing for that paper, Gosh, I think almost 10 years now, I think. And the paper used to be weekly, but now it's monthly as a result of like resources being limited. Not, people economically strapped as a result of pandemic, so ads aren't as frequent. So the editor can only put it out once a month. But I started writing - I was writing a lot about gender-based violence, a lot about gender-based violence. And I felt this was an important outlet because I also felt that the spaces that were being cultivated to address the issue of gender-based violence were being attended by folks who already knew where to access resources, or already found their voice, I think, or were on the pathway to that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=2976.0,3048.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/81","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: But I also felt it was so important to reach the masses. And I felt that this paper was one mechanism to do that. So I started writing about that, but I also always, I've always been interested in politics. I was a political science major in college. My professor, Christina Greer, who's now a political, what do you call it? A political -","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=3048.0,3070.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/82","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Consultant?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=3070.0,3070.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/83","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Political consultant on New York One sometimes. She said I would be mayor of New York City once. Anyway, but I'm like, no, I don't know about that. But anyway, so she was very inspiring. And there were a lot of folks in - another professor I had, Susan Berg, who was my women in politics professor. I loved her class so much. But I was always, I always had this love for studying New York City politics and all the nuances. And so part of my column is also on New York City politics, because I think that a lot of folks are really - they're really interested in back home politics, but not so much in local politics here where they live.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=3070.0,3107.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/84","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And so I thought it was really important. So I've been writing about those issues, everything under the sun. I mean, I have so many different things. And, where was I going with this? Yes, so, and also I've been writing about a lot of the deaths that were happening in our community at the hands of gender-based violence and suicides as well. And I was just getting so frustrated. I was so frustrated because I knew that there were, I mean, I know that there are different entities and organizations that were looking and are still seeking to uplift these issues. But I was like, you know, what are we doing to really move the masses here? And said, you know, I put it on my Facebook page. After - so there was a death of a woman named Donna Rehanna Dojoy, who passed away at the hands of gender-based violence.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=3107.0,3157.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/85","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And her husband subsequently committed suicide. At the time she'd been working at Gemini Lounge, which is on Liberty Avenue as well. And, you know, there's also a stigma attached with working at lounges and, you know, and things you'd hear in community it's so, it's infuriating, the blame towards victims that was being perpetuated. And so I said, you know what? We need to have like this public uprising in much in the ways that we see at the national and the global level with women's marches, including in Manhattan, but in our community and for the issues that affect us and have it look like us, right? And so I was like, I want to do a Women's March. And this was - the idea came in my head in November of 2019, which is right when Donna passed away.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=3157.0,3208.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/86","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And reached out to her family, and it was like, are you okay with this happening? And us also [unclear] a story and they were okay with it. And then I was like, I'm going to do this. And I put on my Facebook page, what do people think about a Women's March in our community? Most folks, it's a great idea. We'll be down for it. We'll help you, whatever you need. There's a couple of people that said, no, that's too performative. What's the point of that? And I thought to myself, it's not going to be performative because we want it to be - my goal was for it to be very much like the healthy relationship workshops, like all the things I'd already been doing. But sustained, sustained work, and cultivating a movement of women. Like, yeah, I want to join that. I want to be part of that, right?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=3208.0,3250.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/87","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And so I asked for the help of several women in the community - because I couldn't do it alone, it's like, I thought it would be a huge thing to do - who ended up becoming the board of South Queens Women's March. And formalized the organization, applied for New York State incorporation, because my whole thing was this was going to be a nonprofit, in my head. So like this isn't, this is not a for-profit entity. I don't see it either - I don't see it very much either as a, even as a political entity, because we're talking about issues that I think fall within the purview of nonprofits. And it was going to be resource rich. So the plan was we were going to do the March and then have a teach-in, a rally and workshops afterwards. And in the weeks before and after to build buzz and to really reach the community where they're at. Applied for the permit did all the things. Started to think about posters, things like posters, we did all these things.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=3250.0,3309.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/88","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And then the pandemic hit and we were on a lockdown and we were - because we were planning the March in May of 2020. And we had done our first outreach. We did paste it up - some of these posters are still on some of the stores on Liberty Avenue, for example. When we did our first outreach on International Women's Day in 2020, and we were really excited, people were really excited about this idea. And it didn't happen. It still hasn't happened because we're still in a pandemic and we want to be mindful of that. But what grew is this beautiful movement, which is exactly what was intentioned, this beautiful movement of almost a hundred women, committed active members, who are powering all the work. Everything from mutual aid, and again, I say mutual aid because we don't see it as charity work.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=3309.0,3363.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/89","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: I think a lot of folks on the outside might say, oh, you're like a charity organization. That's not, that's not really what we are. There's real intention behind what we do. And we just had a pantry last week and you can feel the positive energies in our pantries. They don't feel dismal or bleak. We've got fun music. We're giving out fun things in addition to food. So make it less stigmatizing. And you never - and I think - people are like, why are you doing food pantries if your goal is to end gender-based violence and promote gender equity? But we also know that food insecurity is a reason why survivors of gender-based violence and victims of domestic violence might stay - economic insecurities. And also, you never know who's going to get on that pantry line who will benefit from our brochure that we put in our pantry materials that includes resources related to gender-based violence.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=3363.0,3410.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/90","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: You know, it's a discreet way in which to reach people who might not come to a vigil, who might not come to a town hall, who might not come to a workshop or panel discussion, but who might get on a pantry line, you know? And so, that's just one, one piece of the work. Also the healthy relationship workshops have continued. And with the immense support of the Board, we have such an amazing working Board, it's just, the work has grown exponentially. And we now have a space of our own in Richmond Hill, which is kind of crazy because to have a space after two years of existence as an all volunteer organization is monumental in my view, especially during a pandemic when you're just trying to scrap by. So I'll stop there because I've been talking a lot.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=3410.0,3461.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/91","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: No, that's fabulous. That was fabulous. So, I'm going to ask one more question and then open it up to you tell me anything that we haven't gotten to in the interview. But what, where do you see Queens going in the next five years or so? And what are your hopes for Queens? And you can either talk about Queens generally or your neighborhood in particular.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=3461.0,3487.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/92","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: That's a lovely question. So you know how people say that Manhattan is the center - is like the crossroads of the world? I've always felt that Queens is the crossroads of the world. But I think that in the next five years or so, everybody's going to feel that, not just a few of us. I think that the landscape of the City has changed a lot over the last several years. And I think that Queens is where it's at as far as so many different things, from culture and the arts, and from community, from everything. I mean, even infrastructure, even, there's just so many things that I think will bring Queens to it's true fruition as like this crossroads of the world. Specifically, in my community, I am seeing currently this beautiful zeitgeist of organizing and activism in a community that I think was hungry for this type of work for so long.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=3487.0,3554.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/93","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: And I feel that for a long time, the neighborhoods in which I have resided and currently reside in, they have been perceived as a pass-through. I think that a lot of folks, especially in my age bracket, they see this is the place that they've grown up, but not as the place that they want to stay and raise their family because that's not perceived as like successful. But I think, I think that with all the things that are going on around us in terms of the organizing and the activism and the arts and the programming and, everything, even - like I - I just think the advocacy also will bring even, even more resources and make our communities even more beautiful and sustainable in the long term. I think people are going to stay here.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=3554.0,3605.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/94","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: I think people are going to see the value in staying here and raising their families here. And so I think that my neighborhoods are no longer going to be perceived as pass-through communities. I think that people are going to aspire to live here. One thing I'm nervous about is cost of living. I'm nervous that with things like predatory real estate, that folks are priced out of the communities they want to live in. I would hope that with advocacy that can change so that people can truly live their best lives in the place that they actually want to live in. Yeah. I don't know if that answers your question.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=3605.0,3644.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/95","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Yes, no, absolutely. And is there anything else that you want to talk about to make sure it gets included in this oral history? I think you've been incredibly articulate and I have a real good sense of you and the work that you do. Is there anything else you want to tell us?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=3644.0,3661.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/96","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Aminta Kilawan-Narine: Oh, I want to say a couple other things about Queens that I really love, especially in my community. One thing that I really love is how much pride people take in their gardens. Like I have a neighbor who grows all these different types of flowers, like all different types. I mean it literally - her front yard literally looks like a floral, the forest. And the care that we take of our community. And I just think that's so beautiful. And I think about my grandma a lot, and I wish she was here to see some of all the things that we've been able to do as a community. And I think about - I think about her and how - like how much she prioritized her own civic engagement as well. This older lady from Guyana, who probably didn't vote often there, but would never miss an election here in Queens. And I think about all the women that make this community what they are. And I'm really excited. I'm really excited for the future that we're going to cultivate together.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=3661.0,3737.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032/transcript/66949/annotation/97","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Okay. Well, thank you very much. I'm going to turn off the recording. So just hang on one minute.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/128779/file/241032#t=3737.0,3748.768"}]}]}]}