Sikh gives passionate address, a prayer for America

[Martinius]

Perspective | ‘Breathe! Push!’ Watch this Sikh activist’s powerful prayer for America.

A Sikh lawyer and activist was part of an interdenominational service at the Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, on Dec 31, 2016. Her short but powerful talk has just recently been noted. You can read or watch the video of her talk via the link above. The quote below I found especially powerful, something for all of us to think about and reflect on. Not only for what we do in this country, but how we ignore our own Catholic and Christian faith in tacitly allowing in America what she describes.

"And in America today, as we enter an era of enormous rage, as white nationalists hail this moment as their great awakening, as hate acts against Sikhs and our Muslim brothers and sisters are at an all-time high, I know that there will be moments whether on the streets or in the school yards where my son will be seen as foreign, as suspect, as a terrorist. Just as black bodies are still seen as criminal, brown bodies are still seen as illegal, trans bodies are still seen as immoral, indigenous bodies are still seen as savage, the bodies of women and girls seen as someone else’s property. And when we see these bodies not as brothers and sisters then it becomes easier to bully them, to rape them, to allow policies that neglect them, that incarcerate them, that kill them."

 

[tadoflamb]

"And in America today, as we enter an era of enormous rage, as white nationalists hail this moment as their great awakening, as hate acts against Sikhs and our Muslim brothers and sisters are at an all-time high, I know that there will be moments whether on the streets or in the school yards where my son will be seen as foreign, as suspect, as a terrorist. Just as black bodies are still seen as criminal, brown bodies are still seen as illegal, trans bodies are still seen as immoral, indigenous bodies are still seen as savage, the bodies of women and girls seen as someone else’s property. And when we see these bodies not as brothers and sisters then it becomes easier to bully them, to rape them, to allow policies that neglect them, that incarcerate them, that kill them."

That's the first time that I can remember indigenous peoples being included in these lists of disenfranchised groups. Props to Valarie Kaur for that. Usually, they're left out.

I loved the breathe/push analogy.

 

[Martinius]

I have noticed that some of the best Christian insights come from non-Christians.