Message From The Founder

      Salvēte–meum nomen Imaan est! I’ll start by saying that talking is one of my most favorite activities, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that I love to immerse myself in languages. In addition to English, I speak Hindi and Urdu at home, am learning Spanish, and, of course, Latin, at school, and I read and write in Arabic to interact with the Quran and deepen my practice of Islam. For the longest time, I operated under the assumption that all of these languages occupied separate spheres of my life. Once I started studying Latin, in conjunction with Spanish, my inter-lingual fascination blossomed. Seeing English overlap with the Latin that I was studying gave me a purpose, which extended to a passion. English, as Germanic rather than a Romance Language, still takes a lot from Latin. I quickly began to recognize the similarities between the case structures of Arabic and Latin, and soon enough, the middle space in the overflowing linguistic Venn Diagram that I was making for myself didn’t do these connections justice. I founded “the Classics in Color” as an interactive and education platform to highlight linguistic progression since, and including, the Classics. 

     I noticed that the notion of a Classical language prompts the discussion of ancient Rome or ancient Greek societies. With my background, as a young Muslim, Asian-American identifying female, I have always felt less represented in the current conversation around Classical literature, since the prominent speakers tend to have a European, male background. By speakers, I mean the people who conventionally engage in discourse around the Classics, without the social pressure and fear of backlash in response. Writers, translators, and scholars of color are marginalized and met with less recognition for their involvement in the Classics, which should mean ANY ancient language, rather than exclusively Latin and Greek. Convention continues to minimize the role of people of color in the ancient world, perpetuating a dangerous and cyclical mechanism of silence. People of color interact with Latin, Greek, and other Classics such as Sanskrit, Arabic, and Sumerian. All of these interactions must be recognized, and for that reason, I founded “the Classics in Color” in order to challenge eurocentricity in the Classics. 

I am incredibly grateful for and acknowledge my privilege within the opportunity to have studied Latin since age eleven. I believe that a Classical education is extremely valuable because pattern recognition of modern practices traces back to ancient customs–often, the answers that we seek to current problems are rooted in past experience. My commitment to promoting access to the Classics underpins the two core values of “the Classics in Color” mission statement, to highlight the contributions of people of color in the Classics and to underscore this link between Classics and modernity. Languages are the foundation upon which our communicative and collaborative world is built. I hope you all will join me in the calling and conversation that is demystifying our roots!