November Advocate: Continued Engagement with Law Enforcement

Series of Law Enforcement Trainings Hosted Across the Northeast Throughout the month of October, SALDEF Regional Director, Jaswant Chani, presented to representatives from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Department during four independently scheduled training sessions, totaling over 200 individuals receiving training.  The audience included representatives from the Department of Justice – Community Relations Services, U.S. Attorney’s Office, and local law enforcement.  The training, entitled Building Cultural Competency: Arab, Muslim and Sikh Americans, provided information on the Sikh faith and theology, as well as the challenges facing Sikh Americans. The interactive session ended with an informative question-answer session dialogue around common misconceptions of Sikh Americans and  included the viewing of SALDEF’s training video On Common Ground. SALDEF Trains Over 200 Sheriff’s Officers in  Northern Florida On October 2nd, SALDEF Regional Director, Navtej Singh Khalsa, conducted a series of Sikh Cultural Awareness trainings for the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.  The training focused specifically on Sikh Americans, and allowed for thorough question and answer sessions for officers to participate in. Over 200 officers were trained, with twelve different training sessions held over six days. The senior officers shared positive feedback and SALDEF will continue to work with them in providing this training to non-officer staff as well. If you are interested in SALDEF conducting Sikh Cultural Awareness trainings for your local law enforcement, please contact us. Town Hall Meeting of Religious Organizations at Department of Justice Addresses Religion-Based Hate Crimes On October 3, 2012, the Civil Rights Division and the Community Relations Service (CRS) of the Department of Justice hosted a Roundtable on Religion-Based Hate Crimes at the Robert F. Kennedy Main Justice Building Conference Center. Representatives from 22 religious and interfaith organizations representing a broad array of religious communities participated in a discussion about data collection and reporting relating to religion-based attacks on individuals and places of worship, and the adequacy of current categories in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports. At this town hall meeting, diverse religious groups presented anecdotal and survey evidence about hate crimes against Sikhs and Hindus, as well as against Arab Americans, and recommended that these be added as categories in the Uniform Crime Reports to help better understand religious and ethnicity-based hate crimes. Changes to the FBI Uniform Crime Reports are considered by the Criminal Justice Information Services Advisory Policy Board, a board made up of federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement officials and subject matter experts. Know Your Rights Forum in Boston, MA a Success! On Sunday, October 14th, a Know Your Rights Forum was successfully hosted in Milford, MA for the greater Boston area Sikh sangat.  Over 300 members of the local sangat participated in the forum, discussing issues of hate crimes, school bullying, workplace discrimination, and public accommodations.  The forum hosted Kate Billman-Golemme, Assistant Attorney General-Civil Rights Division; Cynthia Deitle, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Aloke Chakravarty, US Department of Justice, as guest speakers.  Following the informative presentations, sangat members had an opportunity to participate in a question & answer session to learn more about discrimination, hate crime investigations, and safety. If you are interested in having a Know Your Rights forum in your area, please contact us. Sikh Community Leadership Meets with ADL On October 23rd, SALDEF Board Member, Navjeet Singh and local members of the Boston-area Gurdwara leadership, met with the staff of the Anti Defamation League (ADL) in Boston, Massachusetts. The ADL offered the Sikh community leaders assistance in fighting discrimination and confronting the growing needs of security in Sikh religious institutions in the wake of the tragic Oak Creek shootings in Wisconsin.  ADL is the the leading organization that offers support and security training to the leadership of houses of worship. SALDEF Engages with Students in Southern California Reflecting on Oak Creek On October 23rd the University of Southern California’s Asian Pacific American Student Services (APASS) Cultural Center brought together students to discuss issues around hate violence, current political climate, and problems affecting the South Asian and Middle Eastern communities via a panel discussion titled “From Mesa to Oak Creek: Where Are We Now?”.  There were over 40 students in attendance, with panelists including Dean Varun Soni with the Office of Religious Life, Taz Ahmed with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, and SALDEF’s Community Relations Associate, Birpal Kaur.  Students asked questions about policy issues, discrimination, and media reporting related to the Oak Creek tragedy and a discussion was facilitated to understand the climate of hate towards since 9/11. SikhVOTE Campaign Encourages all Sikh Americans to Vote! In the weeks prior to the November 6th Election, dedicated SikhVOTE volunteers called hundreds of Sikh American voters in California and Virginia to remind and encourage them to vote. The voters received information regarding ballots, polling places, and state provided materials.  For the first time recorded, language and culturally competent phone banking and outreach was conducted in Punjabi for voters. SALDEF is proud to have partnered with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (California) and APIA Vote (Virigina), who were key players in the overall success for the SikhVOTE Initiative. We also would like to offer a very special thank you and our sincere gratitude to the hard work and dedication of the numerous sevadars across the country! SALDEF National Gala Draws Over 500 Attendees On October 6th, SALDEF held its National Gala “Chardi Kala: The Sikh American Spirit” in Washington, D.C.  Joined by over 500 guests, government officials, awardees and supporters from across the country, the sold-out event honored the memory of those who lost their lives in Oak Creek, highlighted the heroes born from the tragedy, and recognized those who have contributed to the Sikh American community’s progress and strengthened civil rights in the United States. The Keynote address was given by Cecilia Munoz, Director of the White House Policy Council. Awardees from the night included Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Chief, Cathy Lanier (Public Service Award), CNN (Media Excellence Award), Valarie Kaur (Youth Leadership Award), Karen Narasaki (Dorothy Height Coalition Building Award), Dr. Amarjit S. Marwah (Bhagat Singh Thind Community Empowerment Award), and Comcast (Corporate Achievement Award).  To learn more about the Gala, and to see pictures — click here. Follow us on Facebook & Twitter! To stay more informed about our work and opportunities that may arise for community involvement, please ‘LIKE” us on Facebook. Also, please become a follower of SALDEF on Twitter and get real-time updates about current events in the Sikh American community, issues we are working on, and meetings we are attending.  Check out our recent activity and follow us at facebook.com/SALDEF and twitter.com/saldef Upcoming Events:

  • November 9th – Presentation at South Asian Bar Association Convention – Miami, FL
  • November 14th – Law Enforcement Training – Las Vegas, NV
  • November 16-18th – Sikh Arts & Film Festival – Orange, CA
  • November 18th – Sikh Scouts College Awareness Events
  • November 28th – Law Enforcement Training – Atlanta, GA
  • December 1st – “Give Bigotry No Sanction” Facing History Event – Rancho Cucamonga, CA
  • December 16th – Know Your Rights—Dallas, TX