Berkeley Recognizes Immigrant Activist Kala Bagai in Street Renaming Ceremony

BERKELEY–Today, Mayor Jesse Arreguin, city and business officials, and the Kala Bagai family, among others, unveiled the newly renamed Kala Bagai Way, formerly the eastern fork of Shattuck Avenue between Center Street and University Avenue. This was the culmination of a community-driven action to rename the street as part of the Shattuck Reconfiguration Project.

“Today we recognize the courage and resiliency of a Berkeley hero who for too long has been wronged by systemic racism”, said Mayor Jesse Arreguin. “Her commitment as an immigrant rights activist and refusal to waiver despite the struggles she faced cannot become a forgotten footnote in history.” 

Kala Bagai and her husband, Vaishno Das Bagai, were among the first South Asians to immigrate to California in 1915, purchasing a home in Berkeley only to be physically barred from entering their home by their neighbors. Despite the setbacks caused by systemic racism, Vaishno became a US citizen in 1921. However, two years later the Supreme Court ruled that Indian Americans are ineligible for citizenship. With his citizenship revoked, he fell into a deep depression that he could not recover from, taking his own life. But through this unimaginable pain, Bagai persisted, going on to raise her three children through college and helped build a South Asian community in Southern California, building bridges between American and Indian cultures. Bagai, who earned the endearing nickname “Mother India” remained at the heart of the community she helped create until her death in 1983 at the age of 90.

“Berkeley residents may have driven Kala from the city a century ago, but this street naming would be a homecoming” said Rani Bagai, granddaughter of Kala Bagai. “It would be a way to not only address the hurt that she and others like her must have felt being pushed out, but a way to honor her for the positive force she ended up being for her community as she organized with neighbors and new immigrants, choosing to ignore hate, and focus on inclusiveness, friendship, and our global commonality.”

“Her story is a powerful example of resilience and resistance in the face of oppression. Kala Bagai was a pioneer, the first in a long line of Indian immigrant women and community leaders”, according to the Asian & Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation, whose mission is to protect historic places and cultural resources significant to Asian and Pacific Islander Americans. “She represents stories of empowerment, community engagement, and resilience as a South Asian American, as a woman of color, as an immigrant, and as a member of the Sikh faith community.”

Over the last few years, $250 million has been invested in Downtown Berkeley, including a new plaza, several new apartment buildings, a new hotel, infrastructure improvements, and a reconfiguration of Shattuck Avenue to improve traffic safety. As part of this process, Berkeley residents were asked to nominate and vote for a new name for the eastern fork of Shattuck Avenue. Of the finalists, Kala Bagai Way was chosen, and approved by the City Council in September 2020. 

On the Shattuck reconfiguration project, Berkeley City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley stated “we want Shattuck Avenue to be safer for all, no matter if you come by foot, bike, BART, AC Transit, or car.” The Shattuck reconfiguration project, which broke ground in early 2019, cost just over $10 million, with funding from local, regional, state, and federal funds and grants.  

Berkeley has over 200 miles of roads, but not a single block is named after an Asian American, despite Asian Americans representing 20% of the city’s population. Kala Bagai will become the first South Asian and woman of color to have a street named after them in Berkeley.

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