The Sikh Coalition Newsletter

Justice for All - The Weekly Newsletter
Chet 16, Nanakshahi Samvat 533
March 29, 2002
Volume 4

This week brought with it lots of challenges and opportunities for the Sikh Community. While we continue to educate others about our community, we continue to find challenges big and small that make us more determined in our resolve. Here are some highlights of the activities this week:

Sikh Sisterhood Participates In Panel Sponsored By Barnard Center For Research On Women
March 26, 2002
The Center for Research on Women at Barnard College, Columbia University organized a panel on social activism and fostering women's leadership. Dilpreet Kaur of Sikh Sisterhood, a constituent member of the Coalition, participated in a panel of four activists from various social and political organizations. To find out more about Sikh Sisterhood, go to: www.sikhsisterhood.com

Columbia University Sikhs Co-Sponsors Discussion On Media And Minorities
March 27, 2002
CU Sikhs, a constituent member of the Coalition, co-sponsored a discussion with Dr. Jaideep Singh of Oberlin College on the topic of "De-Coding Race, Religion, and Difference: Deconstructing and Interpreting Racialized Media Representations of Sikh, Muslim, and Arab Americans." The event was well attended and provided fruitful dialogue.

Coalition Participates In SAALT Hate Crimes Panel And Video Screening
March 28, 2002
The South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow, a leading organization addressing hate crimes and other civil rights issues affecting South Asian Americans screened a video produced by them entitled, "Raising Our Voices: South Asian Americans Address Hate." The Coalition appeared on a four person panel discussion on hate crimes after the screening. The Sikh American Association, a constituent member of the Coalition, was an endorsing organization for the event. To find out more about SAALT please go to: www.saalt.org

NYPD Turban Challenge Update
Media coverage of the case continues:
http://www.indypressny.org/article.php3?ArticleID=29

So that as many people in the community can read and hopefully take action, please print the Punjabi flyer on the challenge to the NYPD and distribute it in your Gurdwara. The flyer can be found at: http://www.sikhcoalition.org/amricsingh.asp

With your activism, the number of signatures on the petition to Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD has reached over 6,000. Also, if you or your friends have not had the opportunity, please sign the Coalition petition requesting the NYPD to abolish the no turban rule at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/SikhNYPD/petition.html

Harvard's Pluralism Project Offers Grants For Research On America's Religious Landscape
Message from the Pluralism Project:

"Greetings from the Pluralism Project. We offer small grants for religion departments, for college students, and for high school teachers, to extend our research on America's new religious landscape. For more information and application materials, please visit
http://www.pluralism.org/research/applications.php.

For this summer's student affiliate grants, the application deadline is April 12, 2002. Please help us spread the word to talented college and graduate students! The small grants for high school teachers encourages engagement with the religious communities of their own region as an integral part of both research and teaching.

The RSiSS summer seminar on Religion and Ecology is another opportunity for high school teachers; it will be held June 21-26, 2002, in Los Angeles. Please visit http://www.rsiss.net/teachers.html."

Coalition Criticizes Inaccurate Portrayal Of Anti-Sikh Practices At Holla Mohalla Festival
March 29, 2002

A photo by the Associated Press published on March 28,
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/020328/168/1bmpr.html shows a Nihang Singh drinking bhang, to which the SF Gate commented: "Sikhs consume great quantities of the marijuana leaf concoction during what we presume is a very mellow festival."

The Coalition would like to make it clear that all Sikhs are commanded by the founders of the Sikh faith to forego the use of all intoxicants. It should also be noted that the Nihangs of old, the true warriors of Guru Gobind Singh, were intoxicated with Naam and did not require external substances to engage in bravery and courageous acts.

It is unfortunate that Aman Sharma, the photographer, and the Associated Press chose to highlight this negative aspect of the festival when other positive aspects of Holla Mohalla could have been highlighted.


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