Rupinder Mohan Singh |

Cartoonist Vishavjit Singh poses as Captain America in New York's Central Park. (Photo Credit: Fiona Aboud. Source: Sikhtoons)

Picture of the Day: Captain America Singh

June 12, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Vishavjit Singh, the artist behind Sikhtoons, has often opined about adding diversity to America’s pop culture superheros. In October 2012, he wrote an opinion piece for The Seattle Times in which he envisioned a super hero to fight hate crimes, and in a radio interview with National Public Radio in November, he talked about the backlash he received about this vision and of his rendering of Captain America as a Sikh man. On a recent photo shoot in New York, […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Picture of the Day • Tags: Captain America, Central Park, Fiona Aboud, hate crimes, National Public Radio, New York, NPR, Seattle Times, Sikhtoons, Vishavjit Singh

Sonny Singh at a rally in New York. (Source: with WINGS and ROOTS)

with WINGS and ROOTS seeks public support

June 11, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

with WINGS and ROOTS is a documentary currently in production by filmmaker Christina Antonakos-Wallace in which she is presenting the stories of five people, living either in Berlin or New York, who come from recent immigrant communities. The film highlights the individual and collective struggles of immigrants in their societies. Among the individuals featured in the film is Sonny Singh, a Sikh living in New York. Part of his story became the topic of the 2011 short film Article of […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, TV/Movies • Tags: Article of Faith, Berlin, Christina Antonakos-Wallace, Germany, New York, Sonny Singh, Where are you from from?, with WINGS and ROOTS

"Widening the Lens on Boys and Men of Color." (Source: Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy)

The experiences of Asian American males in California

June 11, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The website Colorlines summarizes seven findings of a study entitled “Widening the Lens on Boys and Men of Color” by the organization Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP). The seven findings presented by Colorlines about boys and men in the Californian Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) and Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian (what the study abbreviates as “AMEMSA”) communities debunk the “model minority” myth that is often used to describe Asian Americans. One such conclusion discusses the experiences of […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Reports/Studies • Tags: AAPI, AAPIP, AMEMSA, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, Bhujangi Youth Academy, bullying, California, Colorlines, Jakara Movement, model minority, Widening the Lens on Boys and Men of Color

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Aasif Mandvi is an Indian-American actor-comedian who co-stars in The Internship, where, yes, he has an Indian accent. (Photo credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

Snake-charming into Hollywood

June 7, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Actor/comedian Aasif Mandvi, an Indian American (though not a Sikh), talks about the stereotypical roles he was forced to accede in order to make his way in Hollywood: I got a callback, and my agent called to ask if I owned a turban. I said — a little defensively, I admit — that if I owned a turban, I would probably have worn it; it’s not something you leave home without. She laughed, saying, “Yeah, that makes sense — but […]

Categories: Profiles, TV/Movies • Tags: Aasif Mandvi, Hollywood, stereotypes

US Marine Cpl. Gurpreet Singh from Antelope, California, died in combat in Afghanistan in June, 2011. He was posthumously awarded with the Bronze Star with Combat "V" for valor last week.(Photo: News10/KXTV)

Sikh American marine awarded posthumously for valor

June 7, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

At a ceremony last week, the US Marines posthumously awarded Cpl. Gurpreet Singh (of Antelope, California) with the Bronze Star with Combat “V” (which recognizes acts of heroism). His sister, Manpreet Kaur, described how Cpl. Singh was inspired by his Sikh heritage: “When he was younger, he always looked up to people who fought wars,” Kaur said. “He would see the military men who sacrificed so much and would look up to them. He admired the courage of how people […]

Categories: Profiles • Tags: Antelope, Bronze Star Medal, California, Cpl. Gurpreet Singh, United States Marine Corps

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"No injuries were reported and no arrests made when unrest between hundreds brewed Sunday afternoon at the Glen Rock [New Jersey] temple. " (Source: Ridgewood-Glen Rock Patch)

Conflicts at Gurdwaras in NJ and CA last Sunday

June 5, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

It happens with disgusting frequency in our Gurdwaras when conflicts develop into physical acts of violence in and around our sacred spaces. Last November, an especially violent riot took place at a Gurdwara in Yuba City, California, and just this past weekend, Sikh communities in Glen Rock, New Jersey, and in Turlock, California, bore witness to the condemnable acts of the demented. It is unclear what the reasons of the conflict were in either case. At the Siri Guru Singh […]

Categories: News Bits • Tags: California, Glen Rock, Gurdwara, Gurdwara conflict, New Jersey, Turlock

"Simran Kaur, advocacy manager for the Sikh Coalition, recently spoke to 10 classes at Selma High School to help educate them about the Sikh community. The coalition wants to increase awareness, following the May 5 beating of an 82-year-old Sikh man in Fresno. The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office has called the assault a hate crime. Here, Kaur sits at teacher Alison Sickler’s desk as students write about what they learned from Kaur’s presentation." (Source: The Selma Enterprise)

Eliminating stereotypes through education

June 5, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In the wake of last month’s attack on 82-year-old Piara Singh in Fresno, California, the Sikh Coalition provided awareness presentations to ten classes at nearby Selma High School. The school’s principal, Mark Babiarz, discusses why it was important: “We need to educate others outside the community of Selma about the many contributions that the Sikh community makes to Selma, the state of California and throughout the nation. Education is the key to eliminating stereotype bias and ignorance about any culture.” […]

Categories: Education • Tags: California, Fresno, Mark Babiarz, Selma, Selma High School, Sikh Coalition, Simran Kaur

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"In the Sikh community garden in Fresno [California], where older gardeners mentor younger ones." (Credit: Jim Wilson | The New York Times)

The community gardens of Fresno, CA

June 3, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In The New York Times, Patricia Leigh Brown writes about community gardens in Fresno, California, as places of support for various communities, including the Punjabi Sikh Sarbat Bhalla Community Garden, which provides a safe space for conversation for Sikh women: “Young women have to prove ourselves more than our brothers do,” she said. So the group members supports one another, “especially if a girl is down,” [Parmeshvar Kaur Dhaliwal] said. …and Sikh men: Amandip Singh Gill, a 32-year-old garden organizer, […]

Categories: News Bits • Tags: Amandip Singh Gill, California, Community Garden, Fresno, New York Times, Parmeshvar Kaur Dhaliwal, Punjabi Sikh Sarbat Bhalla Community Garden

"A Sikh boy stands on the water’s edge [at Hemkund Sahib]. It’s estimated that upward of 150,000 people make it to Hemkund each year." (Photo credit: Michael Benanav | The New York Times)

Visiting Hemkund Sahib

June 3, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

While it is not so uncommon to see Americans write about their first visit to Darbar Sahib (aka the Golden Temple) in Amritsar, India, a recent article in The New York Times by Michael Benanav describes his visit to Hemkund Sahib (a site associated with the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh), a very different Gurdwara located at an altitude of 14,000 feet in the Himalayan mountain range near Tibet: But even to a nonbeliever, the allure of a sacred lake […]

Categories: Reflections • Tags: Amritsar, Darbar Sahib, Guru Gobind Singh, Hemkund Sahib, Himalaya, Michael Benanav, New York Times

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Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Author Archives: Rupinder Mohan Singh

Picture of the Day: Captain America Singh

with WINGS and ROOTS seeks public support

The experiences of Asian American males in California

Snake-charming into Hollywood

Sikh American marine awarded posthumously for valor

Conflicts at Gurdwaras in NJ and CA last Sunday

Eliminating stereotypes through education

The community gardens of Fresno, CA

Visiting Hemkund Sahib