Partha Banerjee

Banerjee grew up in Calcutta (now Kolkata).[9] His father Jitendra Nath Banerjee (1924-2017) was a grassroots political organizer in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)[10] and its erstwhile political wing Bharatiya Jana Sangh (now Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP). Banerjee received his first training in political organizing from his father while with RSS.[11] Banerjee quit RSS out of ideological disillusionment with the organization's alleged militant, fundamentalist doctrine, yet without disavowing his deep roots in Hinduism.[12]

In 1985, Banerjee came to USA as an international student in biology.[13]

Banerjee has been a human rights activist and organizer with a focus on immigrants and workers.[14] Since moving to New York, he has worked first as a grassroots immigrant rights organizer,[15] and then as a labor educator.[16] He has also written major articles to champion the rights of women[17] especially women in the Indian subcontinent.

In 1985, after teaching biology at a remote, rural college[18] in West Bengal for four years, Banerjee left for USA to pursue a PhD in biological sciences. He earned his second master's degree[13] from Illinois State University,[19] and then went on to earn his doctorate degree in plant biology[20] from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.[21] In 1992, he earned his PhD[22] with a dissertation research award, and started working as a postdoctoral research scientist with the state system in Albany, New York.[23]

In 1999, Dr. Banerjee quit his science career, and moved to New York City to pursue his third master's degree, this time from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University.[4] He received a prestigious Sevellon Brown award for his understanding of American media and ethics. He also received a Scripps-Howard fellowship[24] to travel with a group of fellow students to Israel, Palestine and Jordan, to report on religions of that region.

After a brief stint as a science journalist, and producing a number of two-minute-long stories for ScienCentral, an ABC TV-affiliate company in New York, he began working for a grassroots immigrant rights group New Immigrant Community Empowerment,[25] in the aftermath of the tragedies of September 11, 2001. NICE became known for its work against bigotry and hate crimes.[26] Later, New Jersey Immigration Policy Network, a statewide policy organization, hired him as its executive director. Banerjee organized a number of immigrant rights conferences,[27] and put together an umbrella coalition of rights and justice groups.

Partha Banerjee introducing Noam Chomsky at Brooklyn For Peace's Pathmakers to Peace Award ceremony in 2014.

In 2005–2006, New York Civil Liberties union chose Dr. Banerjee as one of its five plaintiffs on a nationally publicized lawsuit[28] to challenge against the post-9/11 subway bag searches run by the New York Police Department.

In 2007, Dr. Banerjee was employed by the Harry Van Arsdale Center for Labor Studies[29] at Empire State College in New York to teach English writing, immigration and diversity, and media to its labor union workers, and also as an Outreach Coordinator.[30] In 2011, Dr. Banerjee was hired to work as a labor educator and educational program developer at the Joint Industry Board of the Electrical Industry.[31] One of his major responsibilities has been to design and teach an April-to-November, interactive, critical-thinking labor workshop[32] on various political, social and economic subjects.

Publications in the U.S.,[33] India[34] and Bangladesh have published Dr. Banerjee's books and articles in English and Bengali languages. He has written both professional and popular articles on a diverse array of subjects. He has also translated Bengali short stories, poetry and songs. A Bangladesh-based, online literary magazine[35] has published Ghotikahini,[36] his Bengali-language memoir, in weekly segments. Ghotikahini is now published as a 350-page book (December, 2015) by Ravan Prakashana, Calcutta, India.

Bengali memoir "Ghotikahini" launch in Calcutta, December 2015.

In February 2018, his translation of Bengali short stories Music Box and Moonshine came out.[37]

He has published a number of new books in the past few years. For a full list, see List of Books and Journal Articles section below.

Dr. Banerjee has taught for many years – first in India, and then for over thirty years in the U.S. Since 2007, he has been teaching as the labor educator at IBEW Local 3 and Joint Board of Electrical Industries in New York. His critical-thinking interactive workshops are enormously popular: he has taught on political, economic, social, scientific, and environmental subjects. He speaks fluently in English and Bengali.[38]

Dr. Banerjee has earned reputation as a public speaker addressing large and small gatherings in indoor and outdoor settings. In April 2019, he was the keynote speaker at IBEW Local 3's Annual Scholarship Breakfast program for college-bound children of the union members.[6]

Noted publications such as the New York Times,[39] CNN,[40] the Progressive,[33] Outlook India,[41] Ananda Bazar Patrika,[42] Ebela, The Statesman and Aajkaal have published his letters and articles, or quoted him on various issues, especially his work on human rights and rights and justice for underprivileged immigrants.[43] A number of Bengali-language newspapers from USA have published his articles and interviews.[44]

Partha Banerjee interviewing Noam Chomsky on Zoom, 2022

A student of Noam Chomsky, world-renowned intellectual and critic of U.S. foreign policy and corporate media, Dr. Banerjee has written extensively on political and economic interests of mainstream media.[45] His interviews with Noam Chomsky have been picked up by many news outlets and blogs.[16] Dr. Banerjee's association with Noam Chomsky is well known across the peace and justice community.[46] In 2005, after having worked as the post-production translator of Oscar-winning documentary Born into Brothels, he came out with a strong critique[47] of the movie, pointing out its "ethical and stylistic flaws."

Dr. Banerjee has remained involved with the Bengali and Indian immigrant communities. Voice of America's Bengali radio section has found him as a speaker on many of their shows especially those pertaining to immigrants and human rights.[48]

Banerjee wrote and spoke—both in English and Bengali—on the subjects of cultural erosion and "kitsch," and drew illustrations from the life and creations of Nobel Poet Rabindranath Tagore.

In 2012, Banerjee published "Aro Ektu Bosho" (Stay a Little More), his solo CD album of Tagore songs.[49]