BY: AMELIA SEEPERSAUD, SUMMER 2021 COLLABORATOR AT POWEER IN PLACE
Meet Denera Pope-Ragoonanan
Denera Pope-Ragoonanan is a New Jersey and New York City-based attorney and activist. She is an advocate for marginalized groups. Prior to law school, she advocated for human rights in Turkey, and during her time in law school, she pushed for the rights of Guantanamo Bay detainees. As a lawyer, she represents low-income people and in recent years. She is a political advocate for the Indo-Caribbean community of South Queens, where she was raised. She describes her law degree as another tool to fight for her advocacy.
“My people… they never ventured out. I’m the first to venture out, to go see what is beyond any horizon… and I do think it enhances our world view and enhances our own culture when we can see what’s beyond.”
On breaking barriers within her own community: You know, up ‘til date, as a lawyer, being out in different continents,… I still find myself having to tell relatives that I am worthy of basic human rights… I am worthy of a career, of being able to make my own choices without others interfering in it…without others dictating what has to be done. You know, I’ve proven my competency even though, frankly, I don’t need to prove it to anyone other than myself. I had an argument with someone telling me I have ‘too many liberties’, and that I took ‘too many liberties’. Am I somebody’s property to take too many liberties from? Or am I not a human? And I think when we’re fighting for human rights we also have to bear in mind that we have to fight within our own communities. We have to break those barriers within our own communities. And allow our women, our kids, our people to go beyond… If we stop fitting into this mold of always being silent and always never causing a fight and always never challenging anything. Going ‘okay this is what you are, we'll go with it.’ is a ‘No.’ We need to challenge it and I think I’ve been doing that ever since I was a kid, you know. I always had a strong sense of who I am, what I am, and what I am here for.”
Advice she has for young women: Stand your ground. Do what your gut tells you. You know, if you feel that somebody is hurting you, they’re probably hurting you. If you feel that you can do more, and you have the ability to do more, but society is saying ‘no, you shouldn’t,’ - do more. Society will come along later. Saving face will come along later…You can always save your face, but do what you think is right… We think: ‘Oh my god, what will my parents say; oh my god, what would happen to my sister; oh my god, how are my parents gonna hold face…’ These different concerns are very valid and you do have to weigh your options for sure. But, at the end of the day if something’s hurting, or even if you think that you belong elsewhere and have the capacity to do more, to do better in life, to be your best, go for it. Don’t let anyone stop you.
Amelia Seepersaud is a rising Junior at Middlebury College. She is a Global Migration & Diaspora Studies major. She is interested in writing, social justice, and broadening her creative horizons. On campus Amelia is an Oratory Coach, is a member of an improv group called Middlebrow, and is a Cohort Leader for a food justice club called Campus Hunger Project.