About
Shades of Brown Girl is a global movement of brown womxn* storytellers. Currently we are located in various cities in Canada and India and we are growing!
Born in November 2017 as an autobiographical solo performance piece, Shades of Brown Girl has evolved into a sisterhood that crosses borders and is inspired by the truth that all of us brown womxn are diverse and complex beings, each of us holding incredible strength, and each of us with unique stories to share. We are driven by the notion that our journeys are multifaceted, and that we are all connected.
This community strives to be a place for exploring transnational South Asian femininity, for creative self-expression and community healing, and for global movement building. Our objective is to create, share, learn, and heal together.
Born in November 2017 as an autobiographical solo performance piece, Shades of Brown Girl has evolved into a sisterhood that crosses borders and is inspired by the truth that all of us brown womxn are diverse and complex beings, each of us holding incredible strength, and each of us with unique stories to share. We are driven by the notion that our journeys are multifaceted, and that we are all connected.
For more information about our growing community and/or to inquire about joining our team/collaborating with us on creative programming, contact us at shadesofbrowngirl@gmail.com.
Thank you for your support!
The Shades of Brown Girl
Founder & Creator
Amrita (she/her) is a multidisciplinary creator, educator, and researcher. Her passion for social justice drives everything she does. She is passionate about creating socially inclusive societies and focuses her work around themes of intersectional feminism and gender equity; migration, mobility, and the diasporic experience; and sustainable community development. Along with being the founder & creator of Shades of Brown Girl, she is an equity and inclusion strategist and a PhD student at the University of Toronto where she is examining systemic exclusion against Punjabi Canadian women and is working to advocate for community-driven interventions.
Amrita is a firm believer in using arts-based methods to catalyze healing, inspiration, and social change.
Here is what she says about what inspired her to create SOBG:
Raised in Brampton, Ontario, my childhood was complicated. I rarely felt a sense of belonging; I always felt pulled between cultures – sometimes I was ‘too brown’ and at other times I was ‘not brown enough’. Despite speaking ‘Hinglish’ at home and training in Kathak dance with my mother, a professional dancer, the ‘authenticity’ of my brownness was questioned constantly by my peers. This led to a significant lack of self-confidence. I learned to bury my feelings and I carried a lot of trauma with me into my early 20s.
I created Shades of Brown Girl in November 2017 for a solo playwriting workshop in Toronto. I had no idea that I would give birth to would heal the deep wounds I had been silently carrying and result in powerful transnational connections with other brown womxn.
I also wanted to create something to bring together my own background in the performing arts with my experience as a social justice advocate and educator.
After a lot of hard work, this community is finally here and it is such a dream come true! The overwhelming support I’ve received for building this movement is a reminder that the universe is listening, that manifestation is real.
Upon request, Amrita is available as a creative social justice education researcher, consultant, and workshop facilitator.
WOMXN
*womxn – inclusive of all women-identifying individuals, including transgender women and women of colour
