25 Seconds Could Raise $25,000 for the Sikh Youth

3 clicks are all it takes.  JPMorgan Chase Bank partnered up with Facebook to have sort of an “American Idol” of charity giving.  The 100 charities with the most votes by December 10th will receive $25,000.

VOTE FOR THE JAKARA MOVEMENT BY CLICKING HERE!

There are a great number of Sikh charities that are participating.  The Jakara Movement has the most votes for the Sikh groups – and needs your support to bring $25,000 to our community to support projects by the Sikh youth.  This weekend alone, the Jakara Movement had 6 events.  There were 5 camps, titled, “A Nation Never Forgets” that were hosted in Los Angeles, Turlock, Stockton, Yuba City, and Orange County.  Here are some pictures from just one.

In the Bay Area, the Jakara Movement helped host the forum “Women and 1984”, bringing scholars and activists such as Cynthia Keppley Mahmood (author of Fighting for Faith and Nation and a champion for human rights), Navkiran Kaur Khalra (daughter of the late Shaheed for human rights, Jaswant Singh Khalra), and Jasmine Kaur (a human rights lawyer and member of ENSAAF).

To keep programs, like this going – WE NEED YOUR HELP.  We are asking for ALL Sikhs – whether in the US, UK, Canada, India, Punjab, Malaysia, Australia, Africa, and beyond to rally around the Sikh organizations and provide your support.  Get your non-Sikh friends to vote too!

Log into Facebook and click HERE to vote for the JAKARA MOVEMENT.  And with your 20 votes, do not forget to vote for other great Sikh organizations (ENSAAF, SALDEF, and many others) too.  Inspire and be inspired; together, we are the movement.

Please forward and circulate this widely.  We Need the Entire Community to Rally Behind the Sikh Youth!

A Promise

The following poem was written by a member of the Jakara Movement and presented at the Remembrance March held by the Jakara Movement in memory of those lives lost in the pogroms of 1984.

Written by Simranjit Singh, “A Promise” provides insight into the thoughts of a developing young Sikh leader.  There is angst; there is passion; there is power; and there is inspiration.  Here are his words and his expression.

“A Promise”

By Simranjit Singh

Today I make a promise.

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Visions of Truth in Sweden – Jakara Musings

Dispatch from Sarina Kaur, a Jakara member, currently studying in Tullinge, Sweden.

My inspiration for implementing Jakara’s Visions of Truth in Sweden was rooted in my desire to be with a sangat for the anniversary of November 1984.  Since there was nothing planned by the local Sikhs, I was forced to consider the thought of letting the anniversary pass without being a part of any effort to remember, reflect, or respond – and that thought began to daunt me.  Its easy enough to feel completely and utterly insignificant in our qaum’s bigger fight for justice but to not even be able to unite with a sangat and have an ardaas dedicated to the 25th anniversary of November 1894 was unacceptable, especially when the Swedish sangat seemed like a progressive one.

The way I see it is that you can only do so much for yourself independently but until you are in the right sangat listening to presentations and personal accounts, engaging in discussions and workshops, your experience and your feelings toward our history have been solely influenced by your own limits and your own understandings.  Activism stems from being in the right sangat; the right sangat demands that you take imitative and look within yourself and ask what you will do for your qaum.  It forces you to confront that darkness that is our reality but in a proactive way.  Jakara, among many other organizations and individuals have moved me to do this.

I feel so fortunate to have the Jakara’s support in making such a special event possible half way across the world.  I only hope that this event pushes the sangat here to ask themselves the same questions Jakara pushed me to ask of myself.  I hope that this event will be a step toward unity because regardless of where you are in the world, you have to acknowledge that unity is the first step to our revolution.

The entire Jakara family extends our Ardas to our sister and daughter of the Guru pushing for change across the globe!

Just Another Jakara Story – Kerman

I was first introduced to Jakara three years ago by Naindeep Singh and Simran Kaur. I live in the small town of Kerman and living in a small town has many disadvantages and you aren’t exposed to much of the events going on in other communities. I’d never even heard of Jakara until these two came to visit us. We recently had a Punjabi school open up in Kerman and these two had come to talk to us about Jakara and Jakara Kids’ Camps.

I was immediately interested in the movement and excited to become a part of it. I helped out at the Fresno Kid’s Camp a few times and recently we started our own regional camps in Kerman and I help coordinate those. We just had our third camp last week and it was a success. The kids love the camps and they learn a lot from them. It gets them interested in Sikhi and it motivates them to go out and learn more on their own.

The Jakara Movement has also helped me grow as a person. When I first became involved with the movement I was very shy but as I became more involved I learned to open up and in the process I also met many wonderful people. I’ve learned a lot in these past few years and I’ve really gotten in touch with my roots. I’m thankful for being introduced to Jakara and I’m even more thankful that a small town like Kerman has their own camps now because I feel that along with the big towns, we need to spread the camps to little towns as well. I’ve enjoyed being a part of Jakara for the past two years and I look forward to being a part of it in the future.

-Ramnit Kaur, Age 19, Kerman

Just Another Jakara Junior Story – Fresno

My ties with Jakara first started during my junior year in high school. I wanted to get involved with volunteering and I came across information about an upcoming Sikh camp. I participated in Jakara Juniors as a volunteer, and as I began to learn and get more in touch with my Sikh roots, my interest grew and soon I was a moderator. Being involved with youth and teaching them about our history has helped me tremendously in developing public speaking and social skills.

When I was initially introduced to Jakara I was your typical shy kid.  During the past three years, I have noticed a transformation in my confidence and comfort speaking with others.  Now I find myself to be more outgoing and most important, I’m in touch with my community and my Sikh roots.

This past summer I attended the summer Jakara conference where I met lots of other Sikh youth making change within their communities.  It’s pretty amazing that I started off as a volunteer and just last weekend I was in charge of organizing “Our Nation Never Forgets” Jakara Juniors camp in Fresno. Jakara has helped me grow both as an aspiring lawyer and as a Sikh.  Thank you Jakara!

Iqbal Singh, Age 18, Fresno

Reflections on Working with Sikh Parent Generation

[The following was written by a Jakara Movement member that coordinated our inaugural project of the Remember 1984 Campaign.  These were their personal reflections and they are being published in hope that other Sikh activists may make use of their notes.  They also may be notable because the coordinator engaged directly with Sikh women – editor]

Learning to interact with the parent generation and how to persuade their involvement was one of the key skills obtained through being the project coordinator for this particular project. I gained patience and persistence with my audience, while ensuring that they were committed to the project.

Lessons that may be helpful in increasing participation is to start a lot earlier. It is a tricky balance, I cannot call too early because the parent generation doesn’t exactly carry around calendars. They tend to do things by memory, so asking them 2 months in advance may not work. At the same time, asking them one month in advance was not efficient either. In the future, I would have started calling 6 weeks before the start of the project, send out materials 4 weeks before the project and call them to ensure that they are advertising it to the entire sangat. Sending out the materials really helped them understand what they are supposed to be doing.

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