On September 15, I traveled to a gas station in Arizona for the fifteen year memorial of Balbir Singh Sodhi. He was a turbaned Sikh father who was the first of dozens killed in hate crimes in the aftermath of 9/11. His murder turned me into an activist. Since then, I have joined his brother Rana — along with a generation of activists — to fight to end hate in America.
But fifteen years later, our communities are not any safer. This election season, reports of hate crimes against Sikhs and Muslims have tripled. We feel trapped in an endless cycle — terrorism followed by hate violence, profiling, surveillance, detentions, deportations, and bombardments abroad, followed by more bombings and bullets.
So to test our own ability to love this election season, Rana Sodhi and I did something we had never done before.
We called his brother’s murderer in prison — and Rana forgave him.
It was the first step down a long road toward reconciliation. You will hear Rana’s story this week — alongside reflections from a doctor, a professor, a pastor and more.
This is Revolutionary Love — love that drives courageous action to change the world around us and within us. It calls us to extend the ethic of love toward others, our opponents, and ourselves, stretching out to the hurting, the oppressed, and even the guilty. Love stands for all of them.
This week we will explore how LOVE STANDS for the oppressed, the vulnerable and even our enemies, and how we can live out this love before and after November 8.
Revolutionary Love is the call of our times.
When you meet people through your day, hold these questions in your heart:
Who are you?
What is your story?
What is my role in your flourishing? And what is your role in mine?
Valarie Kaur is an award-winning filmmaker, civil rights lawyer, activist, author, entrepreneur, Sikh thought leader, and movement-builder who uses stories to drive social change. Inspired by the Sikh faith, her new venture, the Revolutionary Love Project, harnesses the ethic of love to drive courageous action in American public life. Learn more about it here: http://revolutionarylove.net/
Article source http://westandwithlove.org/week-6-love-stands/
