The civil rights group South Asian Americans Leading Together or SAALT announced today that it would be closing its doors after nearly 25 years.

No reason was given for the decision.

“After 24 years in existence, South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) will be dissolving as an organization and sunsetting at the end of 2024,” the announcement read.

It then went into a long history of the organization and its evolution since its founding in 2000.

The group has not been active on either its Instagram, Facebook or X accounts since 2022.

It’s last news release prior to announcing its pending closure when in 2023 when the group acknowledged criticism “that our organization is in a perpetual “identity crisis.” 

“Our core contradiction is not lost on us. We’re attempting to build power for all South Asians, while lacking a deep understanding of an ancient, homegrown oppression: caste. For decades, caste has inherently resulted in social inequality, which informs the positionality of South Asians in the US.”

It a bit of self-reflection, SAALT described itself as an organization lead by “high caste leadership, coastal elitism and other privileged South Asian community urgencies.”

It pledged to remake itself as an organization in what it described as “chrysalis which will continue through late 2024.”

It said all external programming would cease until then.

AsAmNews will continue to follow this developing story and will update as information becomes available.

AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc. Please support our fundraisers. 

Join us for a stimulating conference about issues that divide the Asian American communities. Our fundraiser Common Ground and the dinner after will be held October 26 at UC Berkeley.

Then purchase your tickets to Up Close with Connie Chung, America’s first Asian American to anchor a nightly network newscast. The in-depth conversation with Connie will be held November 14 at 7:30 at Columbia University’s Milbank Chapel in the Teacher’s College. All proceeds benefit AsAmNews.

Related