Kamaladevi, the Activist for All

The year was 1941, and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay was on a train heading to the American South. The conductor, following protocol, ordered her to leave the “white-only” carriage. She refused. Realizing she wasn’t Black, he interrogated her, demanding to know “which land” she came from. “It makes no difference. I am a colored woman,” she responded. Under his breath, the conductor whispered, “You are an Asian,” but didn’t disturb her again. 

While Kamaladevi — an Indian pro-independence activist whom people call by her first name — could have easily identified herself as not Black, she chose not to. She believed that all power struggles were intertwined, making her a student of intersectionality long before scholars coined the term.