Preeti Juturu

Preeti Juturu

Student & Researcher

Projects

Exposing the Desert: Environmental Justice in California’s Desert Wetland

In this multi-part ArcGIS StoryMap series, my colleagues and I at the UC Riverside Center for Health Disparities Research highlight the ecological decline, ongoing research, and policy initiatives being done in California’s Salton Sea region.

Located in the Inland Empire, the Salton Sea and the surrounding area is known to be one of the most ecologically polluted regions in the state. Our series combines community-engaged participatory research (CBPR) and ethnography with GIS, narrative, and visual authorship to tell the past, present, and future of the Salton Sea. Through this work, we hope to raise awareness around the issues in the area via community engagement, digital authorship, and increasing access to research through novel digital platforms such as ArcGIS Storymaps. The full series can be viewed via https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/a3d2769efc624baa9c52781cc3d9e980.

Inclusive Language Trainings

The usage of inclusive language within professional and personal contexts is a necessity, and in collaboration with various university groups and partners, I seek to facilitate training opportunities to improve knowledge of inclusive language needs and best practices.

UCR KN95 Mask Mutual Fund & COVID-19 Safety Initiative

With the increased threat of the COVID-19 omicron variant and disparities in high-quality PPE access, especially among communities in the Riverside/Inland Empire regions, my colleagues and I have established a grassroots initiative to fund, the purchase and distribute masks from reliable vendors such as Project N95 and Bona Fide Masks to the UC Riverside campus community (students, staff and faculty). Currently, our team has been able to collect over $1000 in donations to purchase 800+ masks for campus distribution. In collaboration with the Associated Students of the University of California, Riverside (ASUCR), our team was also able to establish a COVID-19 Ad-Hoc Committee dedicated to COVID-19 affairs and issues on campus, which organized a campus-wide COVID-19 PPE Distribution Event to provide 2,000+ free PPE kits to ALL students, faculty, and staff at UC Riverside on March 10th, 2022

The UC Riverside News team recently covered the work being done as part of this initiative; you can read the full article at https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2022/01/25/student-raises-funds-twitter-buy-masks-campus. Press-Enterprise wrote an article gauging student attitudes and experiences on college campuses in California’s Inland Empire; I was able to provide some of my thoughts on campus return amidst COVID-19 here: https://www.pe.com/2022/01/31/uc-riverside-other-inland-universities-return-after-omicron-surge-sent-classes-online/

Pretty Much Everything Podcast

The Pretty Much Everything Podcast is a podcast collective dedicated to social change and education. Providing a platform for students, this podcast seeks to increase information accessibility and educate listeners on topics relevant to social justice, science, history, and politics. Join your host, Preeti Juturu, as she and her friends and colleagues dive into the things you may not know about, want to know about, or want to get an in-depth understanding of.

Podcast episodes are available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Anchor.Fm and more. The podcast is currently on hiatus due to logistical reasons and is in the process of being reworked. If you are interested in getting involved and/or being a guest, please email podcastpme@gmail.com.

#StopAsianHate Essay for Change

In response to the racially-motivated violence against Asian communities in the United States at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to enter a short, 500-word essay to the #StopAsianHate Essay Contest, an initiative supported by the NAACP, Asians Fighting Injustice, and other AAPI empowerment groups. My essay, which can be viewed here, was selected as one of the final papers out of 200+ submissions, nationwide. In this short essay, I discuss how the radicalization of “Asian-ness” and systemic violence leads to race-based violence, and how it should be addressed through transformative justice approaches.

Black Lives Matter (#BLM) Translation Project

In light of the 2020 George Floyd protests and racial tensions throughout the country, many mainstream news outlets began discussing social justice and how to better support the Black community. When engaging with the South Asian community in my San Joaquin Valley, especially non-native English speakers, I noticed a disconnect between South Asians and Black activism.

Systems of oppression in the United States, driven by white supremacy and its various manifestations, directly impact and harm people of color. Colorist attitudes and historic trauma associated with darker skin tones are prominent among South Asians as a result of Euro-colonialism. Holding colorist and therefore anti-Black sentiments perpetuate anti-Blackness within the South Asian community, furthering the divide between Black and South Asian communities in America. This project aims to dismantle the linguistic barrier that English may pose in making activist slogans more widely accessible within the South Asian immigrant community in particular. In collaboration with my colleagues at the University of California, Riverside (current students and alumni) in addition to San Joaquin Valley community members, we were able to collect and create a variety of translations for “Black Lives Matter” into 15 commonly spoken South Asian languages in the United States.

By creating linguistically and culturally accessible versions of the phrase “Black Lives Matter” and incorporating them into the “mainstream activist” toolkit, Black Lives Matter may become normalized and relatable to those who read and speak the translated languages. These translations would also act as a resource for South Asian individuals to use and distribute among their families and communities so they may engage in larger conversations about dismantling anti-Blackness in the South Asian community and help educate individuals on racism against Black people.

The project has resulted in a series of infographics that can be posted via social media or shared via instant messenger that state “Black Lives Matter” in a variety of languages spoken in and/or indigenous to the South Asian subcontinent. Infographics can be accessed here. These graphics have been distributed among community members primarily affiliated with the University of California, Riverside, and individuals in my hometown. It is important to note that these infographics have been sent to South Asian immigrants in particular, and have been the topic of engagement in a variety of community online forums. Many young people have also distributed the graphics via social media as a symbolic act of Black/South Asian solidarity.

Riverside Farmer’s Market Food Recovery Program

As the Associated Students of the University of California, Riverside (ASUCR) President Pro Tempore and School of Public Policy Senator in 2019, I worked on initiatives related to food security and food systems, with the goal to benefit students and their access to nutritional food.

In collaboration with the UC Riverside California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) Zero Hunger Campaign Director, Kate Castillo, we developed the Farmer’s Market Food Recovery Program. Establishing a relationship with the Riverside Farmers Markets Director, Oscar De Leon, we were able to collect and donate leftover and excess produce to UCR’s food pantry, the R’Pantry. Our project was featured in the UC Riverside Highlander Newspaper and on KUCR 88.3 FM. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 shutdowns and logistical issues, the project is on pause until further notice.

Journalism, Content Creation & Community-Engagement

During my first two years of undergrad, I was heavily involved in researching and writing articles for the UCR Highlander Newspaper as a volunteer, UC Riverside’s only student-run, independent newspaper. Previously written articles can be viewed here and here. Through this work, I was introduced to community-engagement methods and approaches which have aided me greatly in my qualitative and ethnographic endeavors. Moreover, such work allowed me to hone my writing skills, training me to write effectively, concisely, and objectively. I also developed a variety of videos related to Riverside food (i.e. local eateries), took photos for articles, and designed social media engagement posts, as well as edited podcast episodes and other audio.

Notably, my series on the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) strikes received regional attention and allowed me to play a pivotal role in building trust with stakeholders. As a result, our team was allowed to attend quintessential gatherings/meetings and write about them. My work was later assigned as required reading in a lower-division labor studies course.

Additional Community Service