Conocimiento 2011 – Knocking Down Myths

This past week members of the College Sikhs Collaborative and the Jakara Movement – creating the first Alternative Spring Break – explored the issue of immigration by visiting so-called ground zero – the Mexi/Cali border.  While surge of the Tea Party movement has helped bring nativist sentiments to the fore, the Sikh-American response on the issue has been largely muted.  In 2006, we saw huge protests calling for a more free immigration policy, led largely by our Chicano/a and Latino/a brothers and sisters, as is too often the case, Sikhs, who are also directly affected by issues of immigration – both documented and undocumented – remain passive bystanders to the national debate.  [For those that do not know about the increasing number of Punjabi undocumented workers - including over 1600 that were caught and detained in 2010 alone, see the LA Times article ]  Even worse, is some Sikhs even support candidates that have borderline racist views on such issues.  While groups such as Sikh Coalition and SALDEF have tacitly supported the cause of immigration cause, it is a shame that we have not been more vocal.  Without standing with others (especially on those cases where we have a self-interest!), why should anyone stand with us on the issues we care about?

Day 1 – Orientation
Our trip began with an orientation with our partner organization – Border Angels.

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More News Coming…Lalkaar 2011: Kaur Voices

Come join us at Lalkaar, Jakara Movement’s 12th Annual Collegiate Conference, this summer in Sacramento, CA!!

After 12 years of holding our annual summer conference in Fresno, CA, we have moved our location to Sacramento, CA. This year’s topic will be Kaur Voices. Join Sikh males and females throughout the United States to discuss and work towards ending ending sexism, genderism, racism, casteism, and other social injustices impacting our community. Jakara Movement’s summer conference, Lalkaar, has provided a space, a forum, and a safe place to discuss these issues for over a decade. We hope this is the year you will attend and contribute your ideas to ending the social injustices of discrimination.

Lalkaar provides great networking opportunities for young Sikhs to meet each other and form a sense of unity with their community. The conference will begin on Thursday, June 16, 2011 and will run through Sunday, June 19, 2011. The curriculum of the conference is presented during the morning and afternoon, while during the evenings we provide our attendees with social activities such as, bowling, laser tag, a picnic in the park, an ice cream social, and an evening formal for young Sikhs to build strong networks within the sangat.

A tentative schedule is provided below. However, this schedule is subject to change and will be updated with details frequently so it is important to keep up with us through www.jakara.org!

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Schedule for Conocimiento – ASB 2011

A number of people have asked what will we be doing from March 23-25, 2011.  So here it is:

Wednesday – March 23, 2011

• Set out from Los Angeles at 12pm
• 4pm – meeting with Border Angels, crossing the border and having a workshop at the unmarked cemetery that is the final resting point for a number of people that never make their destination
• 6pm – Understanding Immigration Workshop – “Power to the powerless; Voice to the Voiceless”

Thursday – March 24, 2011

• 8am – arrive at Border Angels site
• 8:30am – drive to Imperial Valley
• 11-5pm: visit the cemetery, see the potter’s grave, create markings for those that died, workshops with immigration advocates, visit barrier wall and talk to law enforcement agencies, put out humanitarian aid and water in the desert, visit Jacuma city, and return.
• 6-8pm: Sneak preview of the Freedom Riders documentary, followed by a Q&A with Freedom Rider Congressman Bob Filner, Civil Rights Activist Harold Brown and Dr. Shirley Weber, Department Chair of the SDSU Africana Studies Department.
• 10pm – following dinner, debriefing

Friday – March 25, 2011

• 7am – make sandwiches for day workers
• 8am – arrive at Border Angels site
• 8:30am – Set off and meet and interview day workers, visit Friendship Park (lunch as beach picnic), visit Chicano Park – park in Hispanic community with murals – tour by mural artist
• 4pm – return and debriefing
• 7pm – following dinner, return to Los Angeles

Immigration Matters – Conomociento

Immigration is a popular topic amongst Punjabis. Many of us being immigrants ourselves, if not the children of immigrants, the topic often hits home. Still anytime the topic of ‘illegal immigration’ takes place (at least here in the United States), many Sikhs believe that it is the problem of Mexicans. Despite the fact that many of us know, have family members, have ourselves come to this country without ‘legal’ documentation, still the problem is that of another.

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times helps explode this myth:

About 650 Indians were arrested in southern Texas in the last three months of 2010 alone. Indians are now the largest group of immigrants other than Latin Americans being caught at the Southwest border…Most of the immigrants say they are from the Punjab or Gujarat states.

I strongly suggest Langa(r)eaders to take a look at the article.  Interestingly enough, despite the importance of the issue, few Sikhs really engage with the issue.  Most Sikh advocacy organizations in the US (SALDEF, Sikh Coalition, etc.) are sympathetic to the issue, but hardly promote action or dialogue within the community.  In fact, the institution that most deals with the issue are our local Gurdwaras.

I am pleased to announce the Sikh youth as taking a strong engagement with the issue.  The College Sikh collaborative has teamed up with the Jakara Movement, to create the first all-SSA Alternative Spring Break (ASB).  This pilot project will look at the issue of immigration through working with border human rights groups, working with families of day laborers, speaking to law enforcement officials, and visiting numerous sites to engage with the issue.  If you are free on the dates – March 23-25, 2011, do register (hey, actually do something during your spring break!).  THE DEADLINE FOR REGISTERING HAS BEEN EXTENDED until Sunday, March 20, 2011!  I hope to provide a report of the initiative afterwards.

Jakara Fresno and Kerman – Raise over $500

Every year Kid’s Day is a special fundraising event for Central California’s Valley Children’s Hospital.  This year, just like last, the chapters in Fresno and Kerman helped raise money for the hospital.  This year they combined for a spectacular $525.  We salute all the people that come together to make great things possible.  Together, we are the movement.

A 2011 Sikholarly Success

My apologies for a post that is far overdue.  So Sikholars 2011 came and went.  This year was an even greater success than last year with attendance of over 110+ and a growing number of presenters.  This year’s Sikholars 2011 class – Kamal Arora, Amneet Singh Bali, Sonia Dhami, Amandeep Kaur Dhillon, Neelamjit Singh Dhillon, Sandeep Singh Dhillon, Roopan Kaur Gill, Gurbachan Singh Jandu, Tarnjit Kaur Johal, Varinder Singh Johal, Simran Kaur, Sujot Kaur, Tavleen Kaur, Semran Kaur Mann, Ranjanpreet Kaur Nagra, Neilinder Singh Ranu, Sharanjit Kaur Sandhra, and Elizabeth Weigler – was our best yet and we look forward to incoming Sikholars classes.

The event was made possible by the CSU East Bay Ethnic Studies Department, the Sabharwal Sikh and Punjabi Studies Chair, the CSU East Bay Sikh Students Association, the Jakara Movement, and the scores of volunteers.

Below the fold, as promised are uploaded copies of some of the papers (we did not receive permission from all the Sikholars to upload their papers due to ongoing research, publication in academic journals, etc.).  These papers will be made available for one month as per our goal of greater democratization of research.

We look forward to Sikholars 2012

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