Civil Rights |

Vishavjit Singh dressed as comic book hero Captain America. (Photo. Fiona Aboud. Source: Salon)

When Captain America wore a turban

September 13, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Earlier this summer, Sikh cartoonist Vishavjit Singh provided a glimpse of his foray through New York City dressed as the superhero Captain America. In an article in Salon magazine published this week, Vishavjit Singh shares more about his experience in challenging stereotypes: I have been skinny all my life, and I felt a stirring of anxiety to be so exposed. Family and friends have pointed out my thin-ness for years, and the self-consciousness has sunk deep into my psyche. Before […]

Categories: Art, Civil Rights, Reflections • Tags: Captain America, comics, Fiona Aboud, hate crimes, Navdeep Singh Dhillon, New York, Sikhtoons, Vishavjit Singh

Scene from Inside Man (2006). (Source: YouTube)

Your weekend Waris, Part IV

September 13, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

This week, a movie scene featuring Waris Ahluwalia from the film Inside Man (2006) is used to open a news story on radio station WNYC, New York’s National Public Radio affiliate. The narrator, Arun Venugopal, highlights aspects about Sikh American history and experience, touching on the history of 1984, race relations between African Americans and Sikhs since 9/11, and of dastar bandi, the Sikh turban-tying ceremony: …we examine the age-old persecution of Sikhs, from India to post-9/11 America. Why do […]

Categories: 1984, Civil Rights • Tags: Arun Venugopal, dastaar bandhi, dastar bandi, Inside Man, Naunihal Singh, New York, Saihajdeep Singh, Waris Ahluwalia, WNYC

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2nd Annual Sikh Coalition 5K for the 5Ks Run. (Credit: Karaminder Ghuman. Source: Sikh Coalition)

Seeking your support for the Sikh Coalition

September 11, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Named after the Sikh articles of faith, the Sikh Coalition is holding its third annual 5K For The 5Ks fundraiser on October 5 in Sunnyvale, California, in support of their work to ensure that Sikhs are able to enjoy our right to practice our faith freely in this country. I have been a volunteer for the Sikh Coalition for two and a half years, and I realize how crucial support from our community is in enabling us to continue our […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Events • Tags: 5K for the 5Ks, California, Sikh Coalition, Sunnyvale

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"Sharing a laugh at Turban Day in New York City." (Source: Huffington Post)

Picture of the Day: “Turban Day” in New York

September 10, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On Sunday, The Surat Initiative held its first ever “Turban Day” in New York to help raise awareness and understanding about Sikhs and the turban by tying turbans on to curious members of the community: The Surat Initiative organized its first Turban Day at Union Square in New York City this past Sunday. Volunteers came from all over the northeast and tied over 700 turbans on their fellow Americans. Hundreds of other New Yorkers stopped by to speak with young […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Events, Interfaith • Tags: New York, Surat Initiative, Turban Day

Palbinder Kaur Shergill, General Legal Counsel of the World Sikh Organization. (Source: IntLawGrrls)

A Sikh woman stands up for rights in Quebec, Canada

September 9, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

A storm is continuing to brew in Canada’s province of Quebec where the provincial government is expected to propose regulations that limit freedom of religion in the province. Earlier this summer, the Parti Quebecois (PQ), the governing party, supported the Quebec Soccer Federation’s now-overturned ban on the patka (a form of turban worn by young Sikh boys), and it is expected that Quebec’s government will be proposing a ban on religious articles of faith such as the turban, hijab and […]

Categories: Civil Rights • Tags: Canada, Parti Québécois, Quebec, Quebec Soccer Federation, SAFAR, Sikh Feminist Research Institute, Turban, World Sikh Organization

Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial in Washington, D.C. (Source: About.com)

The benchmark for social justice

August 28, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On the Sikh blog Naujawani.com (based in the UK), Ranjit Singh “Kuki” Gill discusses Martin Luther King, Jr., and the legacy of his speech at the March on Washington in 1963: He created a bench mark for all the people in America and around the globe who are committed to the cause of justice and equality and who wish to stand up for human dignity and liberty. It is remarkable that many who celebrate the anniversary of the march and […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Events • Tags: "Washington, March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Martin Luther King, Naujawani.com, Ranjit Singh "Kuki" Gill, United States

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Workers install seven domes now adorn the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek earlier this month, as tributes to the lives lost in last year's shooting rampage by a white supremacist. (Source: WISN-TV)

Guru Gobind Singh’s Zafarnama and Oak Creek, Wisconsin

August 27, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

What manliness you have shown by extinguishing a few sparks? You have made the conflagration brighter and more furious. — Guru Gobind Singh to Aurangzeb, Mughal emperor of India, 1705. In 1705, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh, wrote a letter in Persian entitled Zafarnama (“Epistle of Victory”) to Aurangzeb, the Mughal emperor of India who engaged in a campaign to eradicate the Sikh people, resulting in the execution and deaths of the Guru’s four young sons […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind Singh, hate crimes, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, Zafarnama

"A statue of Martin Luther King stands across from the historical Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala." (Photo: Ken Wells, Bloomberg. Source: USA Today)

Still “mountains to climb” to combat hate

August 26, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In USA Today, Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center offers an assessment of where the country is today, 50 years after the March on Washington: “We still have mountains to climb. The best estimates suggest there are a stunning quarter-million hate crimes in this country every year. Hate groups have been rising steadily over the last decade and now number more than 1,000. Our public discourse, including that of a shameful number of politicians, preachers and pundits, is […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: 16 Street Baptist Church, Alabama, Birmingham, hate crimes, March on Washington, Mark Potok, Southern Poverty Law Center, USA Today, White supremacy

(Photo: Steve Rhodes/Flickr. Source: Asian American Writers' Workshop))

Are Asians Trayvon Martin?

August 21, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, I.Y. Lee discusses the Asian American experience in the context of the murder of Trayvon Martin: We are highly educated but increasingly unemployed, growing in political clout but under-represented, examples of the American success story who have on occasion been beaten, tortured, and killed for our race. To move beyond this binary, Asian Americans must find a politics that, through solidarity and activism, breaks the de facto apartheid that creates it. Read more here. […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: Asian American, Asian American Writers Workshop, George Zimmerman, I.W. Yee, Trayvon Martin

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Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Category Archives: Civil Rights

When Captain America wore a turban

Your weekend Waris, Part IV

Seeking your support for the Sikh Coalition

Picture of the Day: “Turban Day” in New York

A Sikh woman stands up for rights in Quebec, Canada

The benchmark for social justice

Guru Gobind Singh’s Zafarnama and Oak Creek, Wisconsin

Still “mountains to climb” to combat hate

Are Asians Trayvon Martin?