Sri Lankan American

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Sri Lankan Americans are Americans of Sri Lankan descent. In 1975, Sri Lankan immigrants were classified for the first time as belonging to a category separate from "other Asian". In that year, 432 entered the United States. The number increased to 14,448 in the 1990s due to Sri Lanka's civil war. Sri Lankan Americans settled largely in cities.[1] As of 2005, Los Angeles's Sri Lankan American community claims 35,000 members.[2]

Sri Lankan Americans are persons of Sri Lankan origin from Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Malay, descendants of Chinese traders and descendants of colonizers such as Portuguese(born and raised in SL), Dutch Burgher(born and raised in SL) and of English(born and raised in SL) backgrounds who are raised in the United States, born in the United States, or are naturalized citizens of U.S. They incorporate American values into their lives and continue to practice Sri Lankan cultural aspects as well. One issue regarding the term 'Sri Lankan American' is that many Sri Lankans identify separately as Tamil, Singhalese, Moor (Muslim) or Dutch Burgher and may continue to do so in the United States.[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] Organizations

  • Association of Sri-Lankans in America: Jay P. Liyanage, Chairman.
  • Sri Lankan American Cultural Association (SLACA)[3]
  • Sri Lanka Association of New England (SLANE)[4]
  • Sri Lanka Foundation[5]
  • Sri Lanka America Association of Southern California
  • Sri Lanka Arts & Drama Circle of California[6]

[edit] Notables

  • Dushyanthi-Model, singer, actress, and dancer .[7]
  • Mary Anne Mohanraj-Speculative fiction writer and editor who helped found Strange Horizons.[8]
  • Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah-Social anthropologist linked to Harvard.[9]
  • Thushari-Actress, Writer, Emcee & Performance Artist: Creator of "Jelly Noose" & South Asian Minizine-"Apsara"[10]
  • Vinaini Jayasinghe-dance prodigy who has been dancing(classical-Bharata Natyam) since she was one year old[11]
  • Ruwanga Samath-Producer/Composer and founder of the Bird Call Productions [12]
  • Delon-Rapper/Record Producer-first Sri Lankan-American to get on the Billboard charts[13][14]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Every Culture
  2. ^ PBS
  3. ^ Slaca.org
  4. ^ SLANE
  5. ^ Sri Lanka Foundation - Home
  6. ^ Sri Lanka Arts And Drama Circle Of California
  7. ^ Nirali Magazine
  8. ^ Harper Collins "She was concerned that as one of the first Sri Lankan-Americans writing in English, her depiction of Sri Lankan culture might be taken as overly authentic and authoritative."
  9. ^ Minnesota State University Mankato
  10. ^ thushari.com
  11. ^ Savithri Arts Academy - Bharatha Natyam, Kuchipudi, Indian Classical Dance Institute by Dr. Sinduri
  12. ^ MySpace.com - The Bird Call Productions™ - LOS ANGELES, California - Hip Hop / R&B / Pop - www.myspace.com/thebirdcall
  13. ^ DeLon - Home
  14. ^ Top Music Charts - Hot 100 - Billboard 200 - Music Genre Sales

[edit] External links

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