N. Anurag Ansari-Lahiri, LCSW, PLLC

03/03/2025

📚 February reads:

📱 Lavash at First Sight by : a q***r Armenian diaspora romcom, v cute. Loved the non-stereotypical family dynamics (around q***rness) and vibes.
📖 Tehrangeles by : this felt like reading a reality tv show, behind the scenes of KUWTK? I needed something easy on the heart and it gave. I want a spin off solely based on the youngest sister.
📱 Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by : this was AMAZING, will be reading his other graphic novel adaptations ASAP. I’d been needing to revisit Parable of the Sower lately, and other Afro-futurism, and this was a stimulating format. Set in post-apocalypse 2024, very eerie how much Octavia Butler predicted indeed.
📖 The Good Muslim by : a heart-breaking piece of historical fiction set in post-war Bangladesh, from the perspective of a sister/daughter. It gave me some perspective, to say the least! I need to read the book that it is a sequel to, waiting on the library 🤞🏽

02/21/2025

Hopping on this insta-therapist trend. Everyone is posting super uplifting things they’ve been saying to clients, while I’m over here dropping uninspiring truths in sessions. So anyway, who wants to join my anti-therapist therapist club? 😜

❗️Disclaimer #1: this is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, I’m not a complete buzz kill.
❗️Disclaimer #2: I am not the first therapist to say these things.

Things I said as a therapist this week:

💬 i don’t know the right way to cope with this world we live in.
💬 therapy can’t solve macro level issues.
💬 we can’t self-care our way out of ongoing collective trauma.
💬 it is unreasonable to ask ourselves to be hopeful and optimistic in this moment.
💬 your reactions aren’t anxiety, they are reasonable reactions to our world continuing to collapse.

01/30/2025

I took a break from my kindle (named Kendall) and checked out some books from the library, such a wholesome experience 📚🐛:

📖 Cactus Pear For My Beloved by : such a sweet act to document and honor her family’s history in Palestine. I became so invested in her parent’s beautiful love story.
📖 The Lucky Ones by : so well written, even my dad enjoyed it and he’s hard to impress. Also learned a lot about the Gujarat genocide that I didn’t know!
📖 Mis(h)adra by : extremely validating to read about someone else’s experience of epilepsy and its impact on our mental health. The graphics were striking, I wanted to read it a million times just to look at it but alas it was a library book.
📖 Rosewater by : what a rollercoaster to go through with the protagonist. It was written in a way that made me feel like I was in the scenes, or watching a TV show. Loved that it was set in England in places I was somewhat familiar with, and got a peek into Guyanese cultural references.

01/23/2025

In honor of recent wins in Syria and Palestine, here are some other historic successes of resistance movements around the world. It goes without saying that these wins were not perfect wins, and there were struggles that came after these events. That being said, I’ve still found some comfort in learning from history. Big thank you to everyone who helped proofread and fact check!

- Irish Free State
- The Haitian Revolution
- Liberation War of Bangladesh
- The Cuban Revolution
- Arab Spring
- Burkinabe Uprising
- Algerian Independence
- Hirak
- Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa
- Vietnam War

What are some wins in political history that you draw strength and inspiration from? Comment below.

01/14/2025

January 11th, 2025
📍Chicago, IL

01/07/2025

Semi-recently spotted street art in Bristol (UK) and Chicago 😍

12/16/2024

Hello! I just got back from a visit to my hometown in England. While clearing out the house I found so many photos I hadn’t seen in over 2 decades. The first slide is a photo of me with my maternal grandmother and the second is with my paternal grandmother. Both photos were taken in West Bengal, India. Unearthing old photos and documents have inspired some archiving projects and journaling exercises. Maybe I’ll share more here 🤔

11/09/2024

Hi friends! I’m working with .xu.tang and 200+ comrades around the world this weekend to fundraise for 100+ Palestinian families and 2 mutual aid projects in Gaza (that serve thousands more families)!

DONATE: Venmo / PayPal / CashApp elizabethxutang (memo: “families”)

- Meet the families and learn more about them at bit.ly/100fams

- Learn about the mutual aid projects by The Sanabel Team (.gaza14) and Dr. Hassan Abujarad (President of Gaza University)

Slide 2: A video from Dr. Abujarad documenting the use of the July 2024 funds to provide clean water to his refugee camp

Thank you so much!

09/24/2024

Text ‘Marcellus’ to 97016 and flood social media with this news! There is still time!

Repost from
•
BREAKING: Despite widespread support for clemency based on serious doubts about the integrity of Marcellus Williams’ conviction and death sentence, Governor Mike Parson () has denied clemency to Marcellus, who is scheduled to be executed tomorrow at 6 p.m. CT. ⁠
⁠
Additionally, the Missouri Supreme Court rejected a request to cancel Marcellus’ ex*****on to allow the lower court to make a new determination about the trial prosecutor’s improper removal of Black prospective jurors on the basis of their race.⁠
⁠
Marcellus’ legal team is still in active litigation with the U.S. Supreme Court. His case has drawn widespread support– more than 1,400,000 concerned citizens petitioned Gov. Parson to commute his death sentence.⁠
⁠
There is still time for the US Supreme Court to stay Marcellus’ ex*****on. Join us in continuing to support his fight for justice by texting “Marcellus” to 97016, and continue sharing his story far and wide.

*****on

08/18/2024

08/13/2024

Do you know someone who is looking for an anti-oppressive BIPOC therapist? Good news: Rama is still accepting new clients! She specializes in art therapy and offers therapy in Arabic and English. She accepts BCBS PPO.

To book a session, visit nanuragtherapy.com/about-rama-wahbeh, scroll down, and click on “Send me an email!” Or:
- Take a screenshot of this image
- Open the screenshot in your camera roll
- Click or hold down on the QR code
- The link will take you to an email to Rama



07/19/2024

We have a new decolonial therapist in our midst! Join me in welcoming Rama to the community. She is a recent graduate of SAIC’s art therapy program. In addition to being trained in art therapy, Rama can offer therapy in English and Arabic. She offers individual therapy (currently Telehealth) for BIPOC and those with intersecting marginalized identities who are 18+. Rama can see clients with BCBS PPO and has some sliding scale availability too.

07/18/2024

It happened, I got Covid for the first time (and last, inshallah) so posting here fell on the back burner. Managing Covid, Paxlovid and the impact on my other meds/epilepsy has been a full-time job. More on that later, but right now there is a lot going on in my (and adjacent) community. Swipe through and support however you can!

- Support ’s fight for custody by donating via Venmo -kay, PayPal.me/nickay, or gofund.me/66B7EE97.
- Help find Taylor Casey by following on instagram and Facebook, sharing posts to reach anyone who may have info, and donating to support her family at https://chuffed.org/project/findtaylorcasey
- Order ’s new collectively authored book about carceral Chicago at https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517917715/imperial-policing/
- Dua’as for Chicago community member, Sultan Alrasheed, who transitioned to ancestor on July 10th 💔

06/24/2024

An old friend and community member from my early days in Chicago is missing 💔 Taylor Casey was last seen in the area of Paradise Island, Nassau, in the Bahamas, on Wednesday, June 19th, 2024. Please help us spread the word far and wide to bring our beloved Taylor home. Please use to spread the word.

06/22/2024

An old friend and community member from my early days in Chicago is missing 💔 she was at a yoga retreat in the Bahamas and was last spoken to there on June 18th/19th. Please please please share this, especially with any contacts you have in the Bahamas.

Please contact her mother with any information:
Colette 708-906-9953

05/22/2024

Sign on to part 2 of our response to the NASW-IL’s recent statement: https://rb.gy/vpyskd

Our demands of the NASW-IL are the following:
* Publicly acknowledge the harm caused by issuing their original statement.
* Publish a statement calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the Israeli occupation.
* Publicly proclaim their commitment to advocate for the rights and freedoms of Palestinians.

04/29/2024

4 Solidarity project ideas for radical artists 👇🏽

✏️ Coloring Pages:
Sketch up simple and educational coloring pages for educators and parents to do with children. Make them interactive like color-by-numbers or connect-the-dots.

🎨 Street Art:
Create fabric banners, graffiti stencils on cardboard, and print stickers to put up all over your city. Use strong messages that are relevant to the neighborhood.

👕 Wear-able Art:
Transfer art and political education to clothing, bags, pins, and jewelry. Folks this person is visible to will see the message.

🪧 Protest Art:
You can make a poster, banner, puppet, 3d poster, or anything with clear messaging and that’s easy to see from a distance.