It was part of his commitment to love all. “He wore his turban as part of his Sikh faith. It all comes back to Balbir Singh Sodhi for her, as she takes this moment, the publication of her book, to reflect on her 20-year activism journey. In their homes, in their schools, in their industries, in their streets, in their neighborhoods, as well as in the halls of power.” For the next 20, 25 years, I want to be able to help equip and inspire people to put love into practice right where they are. “And I feel like that is my particular role in the movement now. The marches in the streets, the flooding of halls of power.…They also happen in the spaces where people are coming together to inhabit any way of being,” Kaur says. “I keep thinking, revolutions happen not only in the big, grand, public moments. She first heard racial slurs when she was in grade school, felt pressure from those around her to adopt Christianity and was the only one in high school to go to a prestigious university like Stanford, which is where she was, trying to make sense of the world, when 9/11 happened. Kaur grew up in Central Valley, California, the granddaughter of Indian immigrants, in what was a very white, Christian community. “What if the world that we dream is waiting to be born? A world that is multiracial, equitable, sustainable, healthy…” “The future is dark - is this the darkness of the tomb or the darkness of the womb? What if our America is not dead, but a nation still waiting to be born?” Kaur says. The concept of revolutionary love, which her publisher told her is “a cultural intervention,” is her process of asking questions that she believes will lead us to a more peaceful world. Thus began her real work around the idea of revolutionary love, which is the work that guides her today, both with her book, “See No Stranger,” and with the platform she has created online around education and tools for how to talk about 9/11. And that act of love, that act of seeing Balbir Uncle, not as a terrorist, or as the stranger, or as a foreigner, but as a brother, was revolutionary for this family.

“And when I went back home, I realized that the nation as a whole didn’t know Balbir Uncle’s story, but this tiny community had told the story to their neighbors, their faith communities, educators, and 3,000 people came. Tell them thank you for their love,’” Kaur says.

And they wept with me, and they cared for me. When I went to Arizona for my husband’s memorial, they came out in the thousands. “I asked her, what would you like to tell the people of America? And I was expecting bitterness, despair. She embarked on a road trip with her cousin cross country to speak to people about what was happening, and saved Balbir’s wife for last. Cannes Film Festival 2023: Live Updates of All the Looks From Red Carpets, Arrivals and Photocalls

See no stranger by valarie kaur