Finding Your Mustard Oil
have you guys heard of mustard oil
chances are if you’re not south asian
the answer is no mustard oil is produced
from the seeds of the mustard plant
and it’s known for its strong flavor
pungent aroma
and its role as a staple ingredient in
bangladeshi cuisine
i’m saying that there are entire dishes
dedicated to cooking with it
that you won’t find in its neighboring
countries this is like tehari
which is an aromatic rice with beef
potatoes chilies and onions
that’s doused in mustard oil
or ilishmach the national fish of
bangladesh
a stir fry that’s covered in mustard
seeds and oil
now before the south asian history
police come for me
i know that it’s used in india and
pakistan as well
[Music]
but not to the same extent that is used
in bangladesh
bangladesh where i was born is a place
that
some of you at rutgers may have heard of
and most of the world
has not it’s a country that fought for
its language
and gained its independence in 1971.
shout out to baba who was a freedom
fighter in the war for liberation
shut but due to its history colonialism
and other factors it’s been ignored and
overlooked in the larger conversation
of the south asian diaspora shout out to
nepal sri lanka
we see you too but that’s why mustard
oil is so important to us
it’s a niche ingredient that makes us
different
it represents our history
and it is a metaphor for our cultural
pride
i’m an artist and entrepreneur that
moved from bangladesh to queens new york
city
i’m an immigrant kid that made rap money
and turned myself into a brand
the world has never seen someone like me
before
the same way you’ve never seen mustard
oil
my name is anik khan and i use music and
pop culture
to tell the stories of underrepresented
communities to make sure they don’t get
erased
all right so boom my story begins in the
most
magical place in the world queens new
york
queens holds the guinness world record
for being the most ethnically diverse
area
on the planet it’s also the most
linguistically diverse with at least 138
languages spoken throughout the entire
borough
as mad people and mad languages
i grew up around all these cultures
attending backyard west indian functions
trying sorrow for the first time eating
that epis after school with my
venezuelan homies
my friend circle literally looked like
the united nations
according to psychologists nancy
eisenberg claire hoffer
and julie vaughn kids with diverse
friends or
cross group friends as social
psychologists like to call it
have a higher level of social competence
increase self-esteem and resilience
and show more leadership potential i
didn’t know it then
but that diversity and friendship might
have been the most important part to my
growth as an artist and entrepreneur
it taught me the intricacies of
different cultures and why it’s
important not to paint with a broad
brush
something that pop culture does way too
often
when you think of the caribbean islands
high chance you’re thinking of jamaica
maybe jerk chicken but what about
countries like trinidad
barbados guyana they each have their own
mustard oil
that one ingredient a dish that sets
them apart
yet we rarely hear about them guyana has
pepper pot
trinidad has doubles places in the
middle east
and north africa like morocco and
philistine
are miles away from each other
yet they’re grouped as the same people
that’s dangerous
these intricacies and ingredients are
parallel to the intricacies within its
people
you can’t just act like they don’t exist
that’s why i’m here today that’s why i’m
on this stage
i make sure that these intricacies get
highlighted in mainstream culture
because if i don’t who will
as an artist people know me for blending
genres like dancehall
afrobeat panra ballet funk and more
you know that clave that
that’s been the most natural way for me
to pay homage to my upbringing and the
people that surrounded me
but as i’ve grown as an artist it’s
become just as important for me to
showcase these cultures through other
platforms
in 2018 i partnered with the largest
food festival in america
i put an egyptian halal truck a halal
thai restaurant
and a bengali street food stall next to
prominent names and food
like casa enrique shake shack and john
and vinnie’s
i needed to make sure that my borough
was represented in a real way
and that these local businesses were
exposed to platforms that
otherwise might have overlooked them
for my first line of merchandise i
partnered with another set of local
restaurants
as you can see i’m a big foodie
that i felt made the ingredients to my
music
trinidadian roti north african chicken
over rice
and chinese fast food i wanted to make
sure
that their menus and contact info
were on sustainable high-end fabrics for
my fans
to be exposed to underrepresented
communities through fashion
esquire magazine claimed and i quote
anik khan is making merchandise exciting
again
not to toot my own harm but
2-2 in 2019 right before the pandemic
i opened up the first bengali on chai
cafe goku to chai
with partners ani and ayan sanyo
we created a physical space for people
across multiple diasporas
to enjoy south asian chai made and sold
by south asian people
to think that chai was introduced to
america and mainstream culture
by non-south asian old companies like
starbucks
blows my mind still
that’s like if dominoes was your first
experience of italian neapolitan pizza
no shade the dominoes respectfully
but they’d be misrepresenting the
culture just like starbucks did
they took our chai and called it chai
tea which literally means
t t
we felt like it was our responsibility
to take the narrative back
and let you all know that is
just chai as you can see
i’m no stranger to the different
mustardos across the globe
but this is just the beginning and
there’s so many other
niches to learn about and support people
like bilkis abdul qadir
a black american hijabi basketball
player that played d1 basketball
where’s her nike commercial or dj uska
a sri lankan dj an activist
where’s her radio show or isl
slay a saudi rapper that was ordered
for an arrest for making a rap record
about her city
where’s her netflix documentary my
decision
to put my community first has not been
easy
i carved a space for myself and others
that to this point has been way too
convenient to ignore until now
i’ve risked my career as an artist to
build bridges
to increase the visibility of the people
and places that need it
the purpose of my art is to connect the
people who felt overlooked
with the people who felt seen we all
know that being exposed to diverse
cultures
is undeniably good for the human
experience
research shows that it leads to more
understanding cultural competence
leadership and empathy skills that are
critical to compete in the 21st century
but the upside of diversity is a recent
phenomenon
it has been politicized and polarized
for so long
that we haven’t had the chance to study
the affordances of its positive impact
more importantly we can’t rely on
research alone to propel
this movement i’m inspired to move these
cultures forward
because academia can’t do it alone and
that isn’t a knock on academia
but social movements don’t grow from a
citation
they grow from people witnessing
something that’s powerful and real
something relatable and what’s more
relatable than food music and pop
culture
but that’s just the beginning you have
to be open to the people around you
the friendships you make the communities
you build
and when i say people i don’t mean just
any people i mean the people of the
world doesn’t expect you to be around
but that’s a ted talk for another day
when you come from niche culture it’s
hard to see yourself as a part of the
larger conversation
it’s even harder to see yourself as a
part of pop culture
there’s an emphasis on eurasia and
assimilation
we have been designed to think
that we don’t have our own mustard oils
but
everyone has their own perspective and
identity
pop culture has been historically bland
i’ve rocks with salt and pepper but it’s
time to see things like cumin
turmeric and butter
so before i leave today i want to ask
you this
what are you bringing to the table
what’s your mustard oil
thank you
free philistine facilia free yemen
free the farmers out in punjab this has
been a foreign affair conversation