December | 2012 |

Hardeep (left) and Simran Darar (right) perform kirtan at the Sikh Education and Awareness Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana, earlier this month. Photo by Lori Way.

Sikh Education and Awareness Conference held in Fort Wayne, IN

December 15, 2012 by American Turban Guest Contributor

Lori Way is a doctoral student at Union Institute and University in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she is majoring in humanities and culture with a specialization in Martin Luther King studies, and a Sikh civil rights advocate. She currently teaches art history and art appreciation in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area, and is also employed at an adult secondary credit program in Kendallville, Indiana. Earlier this month, Lori organized the Sikh Education and Awareness Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and was […]

Categories: Events • Tags: Fort Wayne, Indiana, Ivy Tech Community College, Lori Way, Sikh Education and Awareness Conference

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Children are evacuated from their elementary school in Newtown, CT, after a shooter attacked on December 14, 2012. (source: CNN)

Thoughts and prayers for the innocent lives lost in Newtown, CT

December 14, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

I am sickened with today’s news of another mass shooting in this country, this time at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. Preliminary reports indicate around 20 people are dead, half or more of whom are children. It was only a couple of days ago that we were still coming to terms with a shooting at a mall in Portland, Oregon. Gun violence has been a recurring topic on this blog during the last two years, after shootings that took […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, News Bits • Tags: California, Connecticut, Elk Grove, gun violence, Gurmej Atwal, hate crimes, Newtown, Oak Creek, Surinder Singh, Wisconsin

Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, Department of Justice Civil Rights Division

US Assistant Attorney General visits Oak Creek, WI

December 13, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Visiting the gurdwara, the overwhelming message I took back from the congregation is one of unity – a resolve to work together, with members of every faith to foster understanding, and to ensure that such tragic acts of violence are never repeated. — Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez of the Civil Rights Division of US Department of Justice, after his visit to the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin last week. The Department of Justice has joined calls to have the FBI […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: FBI, FBI Hate Crime Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, hate crimes, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Thomas Perez, United States Assistant Attorney General, United States Department of Justice, United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, Wisconsin

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Vigil at Sikh ReligiousVigil at Sikh Religious Society of Chicago Palatine Gurdwara in response to the murder of six Sikhs at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in August.(source: Twitter user @iammintusingh)

SAAPRI and Sikh Religious Society to commemorate HR 1193

December 13, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

To commemorate the anti-hate resolution (HR 1193) passed by the State of Illinois House of Representatives in the wake of the mass shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin and hate crimes targeting Muslims, the South Asian American Public Research Institute (SAAPRI) and the Sikh Religious Society of Chicago in Palatine, Illinois will be holding an event on Sunday, December 16: South Asian American Policy & Research Institute (SAAPRI) and Sikh Religious Society (SRS) located in Palatine commend the Illinois […]

Categories: Events, Hate Crimes • Tags: hate crimes, HR 1193, Illinois, Illinois House of Representatives, Oak Creek, Palatine, SAAPRI, Sikh Religious Society of Chicago, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, South Asian American Public Research Institute, SRS, Wisconsin

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US Population by Race and Hispanic Origin (source: US Census)

US Census forecasts increasingly diverse country

December 12, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

According to a recent forecast by the US Census Bureau, the United States will continue to become more racially diverse and will reach a level of plurality by 2043 in which no racial group will be in majority: “The next half century marks key points in continuing trends — the U.S. will become a plurality nation, where the non-Hispanic white population remains the largest single group, but no group is in the majority,” said Acting Director Thomas L. Mesenbourg. As […]

Categories: Reports/Studies • Tags: Census, Diversity, pluralism, United States, United States Census Bureau

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Gunman opens fire in Oregon mall (source: CNN)

No solution to gun violence without meaningful discussion

December 12, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

After yet another mass shooting in the United States — this time at a mall in Portland, Oregon yesterday — Congressman Eric Blumenauer made a statement today in the House of Representatives about the plague of gun violence that has now victimized residents of his home district: Mr. Speaker, one is haunted by these events—we had one in Aurora, Colorado in the theater where there were twelve people killed, sixty wounded;, six people killed at the Sikh temple this summer; […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, News Bits, Politics • Tags: Eric Blumenauer, gun violence, Oregon, Portland

Woven bracelet that the Oak Creek Police Department had specially made for their officers to remember the shooting at the Oak Creek Gurdwara, including orange for the Sikh community, blue for the police officers, and black for those that were lost that day. (source: Sikh Coalition)

Quote of the Day: “strangers no longer”

December 11, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Things have changed in Oak Creek, of course, in the months since a gunman with white supremacist ties took the lives of six temple members and wounded four others. Oak Creek and the Sikh community are strangers no longer; they will forever be linked with each other. — An article in the Oak Creek Patch describes Sikh awareness presentations being provided to Oak Creek, Wisconsin city staff, police department and schools by the Sikh Coalition. The article also includes an […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: Gurdwara, hate crimes, Oak Creek, Sikh Awareness Seminar, Sikh Coalition, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

Baltej Singh Dhillon (source: Whitterings)

Turban-wearing Sikh now to guard Queen of England

December 11, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In the United Kingdom, one Jatinderpal Singh Bhullar, a Sikh, became the first soldier to wear his turban instead of the traditional bearskin as a member of the Scots Guards at Buckingham Palace: LONDON — Britain’s Ministry of Defense says a Sikh soldier has become the first guardsman to parade outside Buckingham Palace while wearing his traditional turban. Fifty family members were on hand Tuesday as Guardsman Jatinderpal Singh Bhullar as he took part in the changing of the guard […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Picture of the Day • Tags: Baltej Singh Dhillon, bearskin, Buckingham Palace, Canada, Jatinderpal Singh Bhullar, RCMP, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Scots Guard, Stephen Harper, stetson, United Kingdom

Cover of "Guru Nanak Vol. 1" from Gyan Khand Media.

Sikh Comics releases Guru Nanak graphic novels

December 10, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Back in February, I had the opportunity to review two graphic novels published by Gyan Khand Media (http://www.sikhcomics.com), a publishing house that creates comics based on Sikh history. The two I reviewed were stories of Guru Tegh Bahadur and Baba Deep Singh. The author behind Sikh Comics, Daljeet Singh, was also good enough to share the story behind the project as well. Recently, I was contacted by Daljeet Singh who indicated that two new novels have been released. I was […]

Categories: Art, Literature, Resources, Sikhism • Tags: Daljeet Singh Sidhu, Guru Nanak, Gyan Khand Media, Sikh Comics, sikhcomics.com

Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Monthly Archives: December 2012

Sikh Education and Awareness Conference held in Fort Wayne, IN

Thoughts and prayers for the innocent lives lost in Newtown, CT

US Assistant Attorney General visits Oak Creek, WI

SAAPRI and Sikh Religious Society to commemorate HR 1193

US Census forecasts increasingly diverse country

No solution to gun violence without meaningful discussion

Quote of the Day: “strangers no longer”

Turban-wearing Sikh now to guard Queen of England

Sikh Comics releases Guru Nanak graphic novels