Our guest is Prasanta Verma, an Indian American, who’s debut book titled, Beyond Ethnic Loneliness: The Pain of Marginalization and the Path to Belonging (IVP Press), launches on April 16th, 2024. Prasanta and I chat about the meaning of ethnic loneliness as it pertains to immigrants, assimilation, code switching, and identity negotiation. If you’re a person of color or an immigrant, I hope you can relate to our conversation and know that you’re not alone. If you’re not an immigrant, I hope this episode gives you a new perspective on the internal struggles faced by ethnic minorities. This episode is part one of our conversation.

1. Loneliness impacts ethnic minorities, including immigrants, in a different way. Some factors that contribute to ethnic loneliness include feeling misunderstood, being the first or the only ones of their ethnic background in their neighborhoods or workplaces, the pressure of meeting the varied expectations of different people groups, and coping with dual identities.
   
2. Immigrants need a safe space which allows them to be themselves and often, these spaces include friends or community groups who share a similar background with them. At the same time, immigrants can also step out of their comfort zone and embrace the tension that’s involved in making friends with people who are unlike them.
   
3. Prasanta talks about the Partition at the beginning of the episode. India’s independence from the British in 1947 was followed by the Partition, the division of the country into India and Pakistan. This event led to the largest mass migration of people in the world at that time. Around two million people became refugees during this time and it is estimated that between half a million to two million people died due to the violence that erupted.
   

Giveaway

Win a signed copy of Prasanta Verma’s debut book, Beyond Ethnic Loneliness: The Pain of Marginalization and the Path to Belonging. Giveaway ends at 11.45 pm Pacific Time on April 24th, 2024.

Winners will be announced at 9am Pacific Time on April 25th, 2024.

Prasanta Verma (MBA, MPH) was born under an Asian sun, raised in the Appalachian foothills in the South, and now resides in the Upper Midwest. Her essays and poetry have been published in Sojourners, Propel Women, (in)courage, Inheritance Magazine, the Indianapolis Review, Barren Magazine, and the Mudroom blog. She served as a speech and debate coach for over ten years. When she’s not writing, speaking, or working, she’s drinking chai, walking, or reading. Prasanta lives with her family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Learn more about Prasanta by clicking here. Follow Prasanta on Instagram (@PrasantaVerma)and Twitter (@VermaPrasanta).

Check out Prasanta’s book, Beyond Ethnic Loneliness: The Pain of Marginalization and the Path to Belonging here.

Mabel is an author, speaker, and Bible teacher. An immigrant from India who has lived in seven cities across the U.S. in fourteen years, Mabel navigates between cultures, feeling at home everywhere and nowhere. In her award-winning book, Far from Home: Discovering Your Identity as Foreigners on Earth, Mabel draws from her personal experience as an immigrant and examines the lives of biblical heroes to shed light on how we can find purpose and joy as sojourners on earth.

Learn more Mabel here.

Buy Mabel’s book, Far from Home: Discovering Your Identity as Foreigners on Earth, on Amazon.

Buy Mabel’s book from End Game Press.

Download the tip sheet, Love Your Immigrant Neighbor : 5 Action Steps, here.

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