Tamil Nadu, India: Dalit-American activist and Executive Director of Equality Labs, Thenmozhi Soundararajan, has been recognized for her long-standing work against caste discrimination and for feminist advocacy.

The Government of Tamil Nadu announced that this year’s Vaikom Award for Social Justice will be presented to Indian-American activist Thenmozhi Soundararajan. She leads Equality Labs, one of the largest Dalit civil rights organizations in the United States, which addresses caste-based discrimination, gender violence, and religious intolerance, while fostering solidarity between South Asian communities and global social justice movements.

The Vaikom Award, established in 2023 in memory of Tamil social reformer Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, celebrates individuals or groups working toward equality and anti-caste reform. Its name honors the Vaikom Satyagraha, a landmark civil rights movement in Kerala advocating for temple access for marginalized castes.

As co-founder of Equality Labs, Soundararajan has been a key figure in Dalit feminist and anti-caste activism for over twenty years. After the announcement, she shared her appreciation, saying she felt “deeply honored to receive this award from the Government of Tamil Nadu, in the spirit and name of Periyar.”

She emphasized Periyar’s enduring message, stating, “His legacy reminds us of a simple, urgent truth: it is our responsibility to challenge discrimination—whether based on caste, gender, sexual orientation, or religion—whenever we encounter it.” She dedicated the honor to the “courage, vision, and strength of the Dravidian movement” and affirmed that the pursuit of equality will continue “until self-respect is not just an ideal, but a lived reality for everyone.”

Soundararajan also expressed gratitude toward her family for teaching her dignity and resistance. “They instilled in me that no one can take away our dignity. They raised me with the teachings of Periyar, Ambedkar, Jyotibai, and Savitribai Phule,” she said. She accepted the award on behalf of Dalit women survivors and her team at Equality Labs, adding, “We hope for a day when each of us is free, because none of us is truly free until caste-based violence is eradicated.”

A transmedia artist and theorist, Soundararajan has consistently integrated cultural and digital storytelling into her activism. Her book, The Trauma of Caste, applies a trauma-informed lens to Dalit feminism and collective healing, linking Ambedkarite philosophy with contemporary social justice efforts.

The Tamil Nadu government plans to present the Vaikom Award at an official ceremony later this year.