Forum designed to create proactive dialogue between government officials and Sikh American community Washington, DC, November 19, 2008 – The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) and the Sikh Society of Florida together have organized a Know Your Rights Forum for the Sikh American community of South Florida on Sunday, November 23, 2008. The following agencies will provide community members with critical information about combating employment discrimination, hate crimes, and school bullying: Nitza Wright – Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; Mildred Duprey de Robles – U.S. Department of Justice; Marcos Regalado – Miami-Dade County Equal Opportunity Board; and, Randall Mullings – Broward County Public Schools. An invitation was extended to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to discuss the recruitment of Sikh Americans into the local police force. DATE: Sunday, November 23, 2008 TIME: 1:30 p – 2:30 p LOCATION: Sikh Society of Florida (16000 SW 60th Street, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33331) The Sikh American community must continue to build bridges of understanding with government agencies to ensure that we educate ourselves about our rights, educate our public servants about the Sikh religion, and bring Sikh Americans into the mainstream. This forum falls just one week after a highly successful event held in Indiana, where Sikh Americans have felt especially vulnerable to employment discrimination. For the past three years, SALDEF has organized over a dozen KYR Forums throughout the United States, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, California, and Indiana. SALDEF urges all members of the Sikh American community to encourage their local sangat to host a SALDEF Know Rights Forum to make sure they understand their rights and build relationships with government leaders in their area. SALDEF would like to thank the management and community leaders of the Sikh Society of Florida, as well as the participating government agencies, for supporting and sponsoring this event. For additional information about this event, please contact Rajdeep Singh Jolly at legal@saldef.org or via phone at (202) 393-2700 Ext 131. PLEASE distribute this to your family, friends and at the local Gurdwara.
Know Your Rights Forum – South Florida; 11/23/08
Washington, DC, November 13, 2008 – The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the oldest Sikh American civil rights organization in the United States, in conjunction with the Sikh Satsang of Indianapolis and the Gurdwara Shri Guru Hargobind Singh Sahib, have organized a Sikh American town hall meeting on Saturday November 15, 2008. SALDEF organized this town hall after learning that some Sikh American community members have considered leaving the State of Indiana for neighboring States where employers are perceived to be more welcoming of Sikh articles of faith. Members of the Sikh American community from Indiana are encouraged to attend this event with their children so that they may be informed about their civil rights and engage in ongoing dialogue and partnership with the government leaders who attend. The following agencies will be providing the community with critical information: * Daniel Harter – Regional Director; Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) * Thomas Van Worme – Indiana Field Office; Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Invitations have also been extended to the Indiana Department of Education, Indianapolis Police Department, Senator Evan Bayh, Senator Richard Lugar, and Congressman Dan Burton. DATE: Saturday, November 15, 2008 TIME: 11:00 am – 1:00 pm LOCATION: Sikh Satsang of Indianapolis 10950 Southeastern Avenue Indianapolis, Indiana 46239 These forums provide a unique opportunity for Sikh community members to learn about their rights and about protecting their families and our community from hate crimes, school bullying, and discrimination. The focus of these forums is to facilitate dialogue and partnership between the Sikh American sangat and our public servants. For the past three years, SALDEF has organized over a dozen Know Your Rights Forums in areas throughout the United States including in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas, Maryland, Virginia and California. SALDEF encourages all residents of the Indianapolis area to attend this important forum. SALDEF would like to thank the management and community leaders of the Sikh Satsang of Indianapolis and the Gurdwara Shri Guru Hargobind Singh Sahib for supporting and sponsoring this event as well as the participating government agencies. PLEASE distribute this to your family, friends and at the local gurdwara.
Washington, DC – November 11, 2008: For the past 13 years, SALDEF has been representing the interests of and defending the Sikh American community in Washington DC and across the nation. Since our founding as SMART (Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Taskforce), an all-volunteer organization, we have expanded into the oldest and largest Sikh American civil rights organization in the United States. This is only because of your support. DC Fund 08 To show our appreciation, on Sunday December 14, 2008 from 5:00pm to 8:00pm SALDEF has organized our 2008 Washington DC Area Community Fundraising Dinner at the Four Points Sheraton at 1201 K Street NW in DC. Get your tickets today! This event will be a time for friends of SALDEF to come together at a family-friendly event in order to strengthen SALDEF’s work and the community bonds that tie us all together. SALDEF is proud to announce – for the first time in our Nation’s Capital – our special guest, internationally renowned Sikh comedian, Bali Bhan, who has performed at some of the top comedy clubs in the United States At the event, you will hear about SALDEF’s 2008 achievements as well as our plans for 2009 and beyond including our plans for the development of the first National Center for Sikh American Civil Rights, here in the nation’s capital. Before November 30, tickets for Adults are only $50 and for Children/Students are only $20. Prices will increase after November 30, so be sure to get your tickets today! If your company wishes to become a sponsor of the event, please contact SALDEF National Director Rajbir Singh Datta at 202-393-2700 ext 127 or via email at 2008Dinner@saldef.org. Please forward this to your friends and family! REMINDER: Please make sure that you have taken 5 minutes to complete the National Sikh American Exit Poll!
Please join with friends and family to support SALDEF in defending the rights of Sikh Americans Featuring Special Guests Internationally Renowned Sikh Comedian Bali Bhan Musician and Baltimore-native Amrita Kaur Dang Four Points Sheraton 1201 K Street NW Washington DC 20005 Sunday, December 14, 2008 5:00p – 8:00p CLICK HERE FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES INDIVIDUAL TICKETS: Adults: $50 ($65 after November 30 ♦ $75 at the Door) Children 4 – 12 yrs: $20 ($25 after November 30 ♦ $30 at the Door)
Washington, DC: November 7, 2008 – As 2009 nears, now is the time to place your order for the New and improved Sikh Awareness Pocket Calendars. The calendars are a popular and easy-to-use tool to increase awareness about Sikhs and Sikhi in your local community. In their sixth year of production, the 2009 calendars have been fully redesigned to include updated full-color images of Sikh Americans, along with more examples of core Sikh values and facts about Sikhs in the United States. On the back, the calendars have a 2009 calendar in a small, handy, easy-to-use design. The calendars are available in packages of 100 for $10 plus shipping and handling fees. Order Your 2009 Pocket Calendars Today! The Pocket Calendars are a great way to introduce myself to my customers. They are a must have for all Sikh businesses.” -An Oregon Small Business Owner Get Your Calendars before the New Year Begins! To help you reach out more effectively to your community, friends, and neighbors, Spanish language versions of the 2009 pocket calendars are also available. The calendars are perfect for distribution at your workplace, schools, convenience stores, gas stations, senior citizens centers, or public libraries. Sikhs across the nation have shared them with their friends, neighbors, customers, and local officials. SALDEF commends the Sikh American community for taking the initiative to inform their friends, co-workers, customers, and acquaintances about their culture and faith. To order the calendars and other SALDEF publications, please click here or email SALDEF at pubs@saldef.org.
Washington, DC – November 4, 2008: The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the oldest Sikh American civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, urges the Sikh American community to make their voices heard on Election Day! SALDEF Exit Poll 2008 This year, SALDEF redesigned its Issues Page, which had a record number of hits in the past two months, to ensure that Sikh Americans from across the United States had all the information they needed about their polling locations. In addition, Sikhs from across the country hosted voter registration drives and posted record registration numbers this year! To ensure that our nation’s leaders hear the Sikh Voice, SALDEF has again unveiled its National Sikh American Exit Poll. This poll will help us document voting trends, party registration, and first-time voters based on geographic area. This poll will provide SALDEF with vital information about the demographics of the Sikh American community across the United States and assist in future advocacy efforts on behalf of the Sikh American community. “As a vocal minority, Sikh Americans must ensure that they turn out to vote on Tuesday,” said SALDEF National Director Rajbir Singh Datta. “We also must work towards ensuring that our elected officials understand what are the most important issues to the Sikh American community, and this Exit Poll is a necessary step in that direction.” Please spend 5 minutes to complete the Exit Poll and forward it to your friends and family urging them to take the poll!
SALDEF Regional Offices Spearhead Education Activities Washington, DC – October 17, 2008: Over the past several months, regional offices of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the nation’s oldest Sikh American civil rights and advocacy organization, have been organizing and spearheading efforts to educate non-Sikhs about Sikhism and to inform Sikhs about their rights in the United States. To continue and expand these efforts, we need your support TODAY! Your monthly donation will go a long way in ensuring the work to educate our neighbors, elected officials and community members keeps going strong. Camp Gian 2008 California: Los Angeles – SALDEF Western Regional Director Kavneet Singh and volunteer JaspreetSingh Sethi presented SALDEF’s bullying awareness presentation to roughly 80 Sikh children at the 10th Annual Camp Gian. The two 55-minute, interactive sessions engaged campers and encouraged them to remain confident in themselves while reaching out to parents and teachers for help. By understanding past incidents of school harassment, the children learned to recognize bullying, understood its origins, and identified appropriate action to take when bullying occurs. Rajdeep at Panel on Towelhead Hollywood – After SALDEF’s engagement with Warner Bros regarding the film ‘Towelhead,’ we have been moving swiftly to develop long-term relationships with producers, directors, actors, and studio executives to increase the number of Sikh Americans in the film industry. San Jose Gurdwara San Jose Just last week, SALDEF and the San Jose Gurdwara assisted in the rehabilitation of four youth assailants after multiple vandal attacks against a Sikh American family. Massachusetts: Boston – After continued engagement with local law enforcement across the state, SALDEF Regional Director Navjeet Singh convinced the Massachusetts State Police to issue the first-of-its-kind online training module to educate all 3,000 officers on Sikhism across the State. This follows another achievement when Navjeet and six volunteers, completed a year long campaign training all 3,000 officers Boston Police Department officers on Sikhism. Texas: Houston – For the past few years, SALDEF Regional Director Bobby Singh has been conducting quarterly Sikhism presentations for 40-50 new cadets at the Houston Police Department. New Jersey: SALDEF Regional Director Savraj Singh Dhanjal recently completed a bullying and harassment presentation for over 50 Sikh youths in New Jersey. The presentation (watch the abbreviated version) is designed to inform youth on what to do when faced with a bully and to increase their confidence. Oregon: SALDEF Regional Director Sat Hanuman Singh Khalsa has been spearheading ground-breaking training activities within TSA, local law enforcement, state police, and local legal experts on Sikhism and the challenge of Sikh Americans. His efforts have led government officials and schools to dramatically increase their desire to learn more about the community. With all of our national engagement and education efforts, the aforementioned local efforts are critical to the success of the Sikh American community. We must understand and reach our fellow Americans on the street in order to make a change in how Sikhs are perceived and treated. However, to continue our ground breaking efforts, we need your support TODAY! A monthly donation of just $25, $50 or $100 will help expand our education efforts to businesses, reach more schools and Gurdwaras, and train the next generation of Sikh youth leaders to engage their communities. To learn more about our Education Activities, please contact SALDEF at education@saldef.org Please distribute this widely to family, friends and at the local Gurdwara
SALDEF and San Jose Gurdwara partner to rehabilitate youth Washington, DC – October 14, 2008: Over the past several months, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the nation’s oldest and largest Sikh American civil rights and advocacy organization, in collaboration with the San Jose Gurdwara, was involved with the administration of a probation period for 4 youth assailants in San Jose. In October 2007, SALDEF was contacted by a Sikh family in San Jose who was concerned with the increase in the number of attacks on their home. For months, the Singh residence was the site of numerous hate-motivated attacks on their property. Their home was spray painted with vulgar language such as “Osama,” “Al Qaida,” and “Nigger.” Their home was toilet-papered on numerous occasions and the family frequently received vulgar and threatening phone calls in the middle of the night. Through their perseverance, the family was able to catch the assailants — 4 Southeast Asian and 1 South Asian teenagers — by identifying the vehicle and license plate number that they saw in front of their house. On more then one occasion the San Jose Police Department (SJPD) commented to the family that the attacks were simply pranks and nothing to worry about. However, it was clear to SALDEF that after the non-action by the police and a rumor that spread about a physical threat being made against the family’s son, that action was needed. SALDEF immediately reached out to the SJPD and District Attorney to ensure that the assailants were prosecuted and offer SALDEF as a resource for law enforcement authorities in dealing with the case. After working with the SJPD, San Jose Gurdwara Management, the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office, and the Santa Clara Probation Department, SALDEF, with the support of the family, was successful in negotiating that all 4 of the boys who were convicted go through an education series about Sikh traditions and beliefs as well as curriculum around hate and intolerance and its effect on the larger community. Additionally, 2 of the 4 convicted students were sentenced to 50 hours of community service at the San Jose Gurdwara. The youths assisted in helping in the Khalsa School office, cleaning the grounds of the Gurdwara, working with local Sikh American high school students on a car wash fundraiser, and helping to collect data on Sikh youths affected by bullying and harassment in school. “The purpose of the community service was to facilitate an opportunity for the youths to interact with the local Sikh American community and to learn more about Sikhs and our faith,” said SALDEF Managing Director Kavneet Singh. “Knowing that the crimes were hate motivated was a disturbing find. Thirteen-year-olds aren’t born with hate; they learn it. Our hope through this community service was to encourage them to unlearn that destructive behavior.” SALDEF is continuing to work with the local school district to ensure the safety of Sikh youth and to facilitate long-term constructive communication between the local Sikh American community and school officials. If you believe that your child is experiencing difficulties in school, contact SALDEF immediately at education@saldef.org so that your concerns can be addressed before the incidents escalate. Please distribute this widely to family, friends and at the local Gurdwara
Washington, DC – October 7, 2008: Last week, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the nation’s oldest Sikh American civil rights and advocacy organization, was alerted to incidents of bullying and harassment at a San Francisco Bay Area junior high school, involving Sikh American students who wear daastars (Sikh turbans) and maintain their long kesh (uncut hair). School officials proactively contacted SALDEF to arrange a presentation for the entire student body, numbering over 300, about the Sikh faith, customs and articles of faith. The presentation, conducted by SALDEF’s Managing Director Kavneet Singh, was extremely well received by both the students and faculty alike. In fact, at the request of SALDEF, the faculty and administration of the school have agreed to organize an internal presentation which will:
- Familiarize school officials with the religious practices and beliefs of Sikhs;
- Better position teachers and administrators to identify how Sikhs are targeted by and subjected to harassment and bullying by their fellow classmates; and,
- Learn strategies to prevent this harassment from happening in their school.
“We commend the school officials for their vigilance in meeting the needs of their Sikh American children, and in making sure that these incidents didn’t escalate into something much bigger,” said SALDEF Managing Director Kavneet Singh. “Knowing how to interact with the community and develop greater partnerships before something happens is the key to ensuring safety and greater appreciation for the diversity of our nation’s communities.” SALDEF has worked with school districts in the past, most notably in 2004 when the Fremont School District in California’s Bay Area, required their entire staff and faculty to view a taped presentation of SALDEF’s Introduction to Sikhism and How to Best Interact with Sikh American School Children. Also earlier this year, SALDEF was requested to make presentations to three Montgomery County Maryland Schools to prevent hate and bias attacks, in the wake of an attack on two elder Sikh American men. SALDEF will continue to work with school officials to help them develop better understanding and appreciation for the Sikh American community. If you believe that your child is experiencing difficulties in school, contact SALDEF immediately at education@saldef.org so that your concerns can be addressed before the incidents escalate.
DALLAS — Dallas County has revised its security screening procedures to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of a Sikh man who was ordered out of a courtroom for refusing to remove his turban, a civil rights group said Wednesday. The new policy revealed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Texas calls for security personnel at all county buildings to allow people wearing religious head coverings or other religious garments to walk through a metal detector without removing the item. If the detector beeps, security personnel will use a hand-held detector or conduct a private search. The policy was developed by the county based on models provided by the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund. It led to the dismissal last week of a case brought by the ACLU on behalf of Amardeep Singh. According to the suit filed last year, Singh was ordered out of a Justice of the Peace courtroom under threat of arrest in June 2006. Singh had gone to defend himself from a traffic ticket when he was told by court personnel and Judge Albert Bernard Cercone to remove his “hat.” When Singh tried to explain that wearing a turban is a required religious practice for members of the Sikh faith, the judge and court officials refused to hear his explanation. Sikhs compare the turban to yarmulkes worn by many Orthodox Jews and hijabs worn by many Muslim women and say removing it is humiliating. There are an estimated 500,000 Sikhs in the U.S., according to their legal defense group. “The Constitution protects the right of Mr. Singh and every citizen to access their government without compromising their religious beliefs,” said Lisa Graybill, legal director of the ACLU Foundation of Texas. “By applying this new policy, the county and Judge Cercone will help ensure that right is respected in Dallas County.” Last year, officials in Lawrenceville, Ga. revised their policy after a Sikh man was kept from entering the court because of his turban, according to documents in the lawsuit. A federal guideline also revised last year allows air passengers to keep on headwear such as turbans at screening checkpoints. It gives airport screeners the option to pat down headwear at the metal detector if a passenger does not want to remove it for personal reasons. [http://www.chron.com/]