Happy birthday Samhita!

Happy birthday to our amazing Executive Editor, Samhita Mukhopadhyay!

In the nearly three years that I’ve known her, I’ve had more than a few moments of re-realizing how damn impressive Samhita is. The first time came shortly after I started writing for Feministing. I was actually initially brought on to guest blog while Samhita was taking a break from the site to finish writing her book, so  I hadn’t read that much of her work. Shortly after coming back to regular blogging, she dropped this meditation on veiling, global racism, colonialism, and transnational feminism. That was the first time I really got what an intellectual heavyweight Samhita is. I remember thinking, “This lady is smarter than me.” And she’s probably smarter than you, too.

The next time came when I read her book, Outdated. Y’all have read it, right? You should; everyone should. When I read it, I had high expectations that it would totally fix my love life, because by that point I sorta believed that Samhita had the power to wave a wand and do that. But–spoiler alert–it will not do that. It will, however, make you feel like you’re not alone in any frustrations you feel, and it will inspire you to keep re-imagining the ways we can relate to one another. For me, it also served as an important example of the kind of feminist analysis I aspire to–one that comes from a place of humility and honesty. A feminism that acknowledges that we don’t have it all figured out but understands that telling the truth about our lives is the first step toward finding the answers. A feminism that is always searching.

And most recently, since becoming an Editor myself, I’ve come to appreciate more than ever what a great leader Samhita is. As we like to remind you all sometimes, the behind-the-scenes work it takes to keep Feministing running is no joke. But it’s not just the logistical bullshit–it’s also the emotional labor that’s necessary to keep a unwieldy group of overextended bloggers motivated and committed to this work. Samhita does this with grace, humor, and an undying belief in this community. Please join me in wishing her the happiest of birthdays!