Read on Twitter
about to have a moment where i regret coming on twitter...
So just read a bunch of tweets related to what I tweeted about moments ago regarding history and the devaluation of it in the Sikh community. These tweets/replies went down a road of there being no support, specifically financial support, for those taking this on in Sikh studies.
That is generally true... who am I kidding, for the most part it is true! However, it is not entirely true. I am a trustee & volunteer for the Sikh Education Council @thesikhway who for over 30 years have supported those in the field of Sikh Studies both financially and otherwise
In that time we have sponsored three PhD's, a handful of masters degrees, and contributed to over a dozen postgrad courses in everything from art to history. Over the last two years we have worked with @MSingh1469 to sponsor pupilages for under-privileged applying for the bar...
Add to that time & money we spend facilitating events that promote academic research notably in Sikh Studies history, politics and current affairs. Not to mention that we have literally bent over backwards to 'protect' academics and their research so it is replied to accordingly
And none of this takes into account the hours we spend each week teaching Sikh Studies courses, for no pay. One on one phone calls, academic guidance meetings, responding to some of the most inane questions... all from 'academics' and post grads without recompense. We do exist!
Now i'll accept, you may not have heard of us, or knew that we do this. That's not my fault. We aren't great on social media or sharing photo opps like most Sikh orgs have caught up to doing nowadays but that's because we spend all our time reading, writing, and dealing with shit
Here's the kicker (if you read this far)... what's annoyed the hell out of me, is that at least four people on some of these tweets and tweet replies have directly benefitted from the patronage of @thesikhway but just agreed with the sentiments of the og poster. No mention of us.
Here's a word to the wise about most academics: they never tell their peers about money pots or support that might benefit them. Why? Because they are all fighting for very small pools of funding. And at the end of the day if they aren't getting the bucks they won't stay in a job
I feel for them, really I do... but those in the know, for the love of God show some appreciation for the people who do put something out there for you. Same goes for all those who read said tweets and have benefitted from our support but didn't reply oh you should check out SEC.
If only people knew... seriously, the sacrifices the elders in this org made to get us this far, that they continue to make... all so some kids on twitter could sit and corral them all into a generalisation about those whose backs bled in factories so we could go to uni anyway...
Every penny of the SEC is spent on our projects. It's not much but we do a lot with very little (see summary of finances over last five years). When we support academics financially it is not through the charity, but personally. Admin costs are paid by founders separately too :)
This isn't a call for your direct debits - this is saying if you know what we do, if you've benefitted from what we do, don't sit idly by to slate our community as a whole - the rest of the World is doing that already. Recognise real, and help us get more support through others.
