A Reflection on Denver's First Sikh Parade

**UPDATE**: First of all, I would like to thank all the support on this blog. I know this has been receiving attention, so I would like to state for the fact that I welcome any discussion, that is the Gurmat way. I will not delete any comments.

Colorado's 1st Parade Celebration of Sikhs

On 05/22/16, history was made for the growing population of Sikhs in the state of Colorado. The first Nagar Keertan, or Sikh parade, took place at East High school in Denver. Over 1,500 people attended the event, whether it be as spectators, or parade participants. 

I remember attending my first Nagar Keertan in Toronto back in 2008, so obviously, this event became somewhat nostalgic. It was the first step for Sikhs in Colorado to spread awareness and education about Sikhism. Growing up in Colorado my whole life, I have seen the transformation of the Sikh- American community and my generation of millennials becoming more involved with the unique plight of Sikhs in a changing post- 9/11 America.  Serene Singh and I just co-founded the first Sikh Student Association in Colorado, located at CU Boulder. Sikhs within Colorado are heavily concentrated in the cities of  Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder, and Castle Rock. Being the first Sikh parade to take place within all of Colorado, all of these communities were invited to perform sewa (commmunity service) and participate in activities. I live Colorado Springs & attend school in Boulder, so I was ecstatic to see how this event in Denver would transcend into those communities I am a part of. After helping organize both SALDEF's Langar on the Hills, an event focused on garnering the attention of public officials in DC through the concept of Langar, I was eager to bring those skills to this.  

During the day, I mainly focused my time talking to the media, non-Sikhs who attended the event, and giving a brief speech about SALDEF, an organization who has given me the tools and resources to Sikh Youth from all around the country to speak their truth.  (Here is the Denver Post article)

Pictured with SSA Youth President: Serene Singh

I absolutely adored every aspect of the day, but what I enjoyed the most was talking to the non-Sikh community who showered us with support. Speaking as someone who was bullied in school, and now advocate for change, I felt inspired that we, as Sikhs, could count on our neighbors. Seeing Americans sitting on their porches waving, cheering, sometimes even walking among us, I felt the change being made. Even changing one person's perception of my community meant one more person knowing that we exist, we are real, and that we are Americans.  

I do think it is important to critically evaluate events like this, because there is always room for improvement. Especially with a young Sikh community in America, striving for accuracy in what we project outwards should be given priority. After the event took place, I sat down and began to think of all the longing concerns I had and what they could have stemmed from. I am saying this with all the genuineness in my heart- these are just my suggestions in making this event's message clear, and not to hurt anyone, and especially not the sewa done. If there is one thing I have learned from leadership, it is about speaking with honesty and courage, despite what the consequences might be.  My faith has also taught me to speak with josh, himmat, and also in chardi kala. 

1. Platform for ALL voices: The SSA President and I were scheduled to give speeches representing

   

   SALDEF Presentation

   SSA @ CU Boulder and SALDEF, and also perform keertan. However, everything but my speech was cut the day before. To make matters more disheartening, practically 90% of the speeches/keertan programs that took place at the event were by males. The individuals that were representing Sikh Youth in Colorado, the female perspective, the minority perspective, were being cut. Maybe it is only coincidence, but mine was the only one that kept getting pushed back ( located at 18:30) and further back due to people running over-time on their speeches/keertan. Unfortunately, every time I would go sit next to the podium amongst other men waiting for my turn, I would always be the only one asked to move. I later realized all video cameras that were pointing at the podium would only show men, and no one was being asked to move otherwise. Every time a man wanted to sing or say a few words, I would always be the one having to move back and wait for them to finish. By the time I was given the chance to speak on behalf of SALDEF, I was being told aggressively I could only speak for 1 minute, and the entire time I was speaking, men were behind me tapping me on the back, indicating for me to finish. Despite having a powerpoint prepared detailing my work as a Sikh Youth, I could barely give justice to what it deserved. 

Now, I am not complaining about the time given to me. I understand large scale events often have a lot of time constraints. But what did concern me was I was the only one who was asked to keep waiting for my speech and those who were suppose to go after me, were being switched around and also weren't being rushed. I would have much preferred to be told there would be no time for me to speak, then having to constantly be told to move away from the cameras multiple times while waiting my turn.

1. Female Representation ( or lack there-of): I have always struggled with the lack of female representation in gurudwara politics, and sometimes attributed that to females just not wanting to come forward. But upon further evaluation, I noticed a couple of things. All 10 of the Panj Pyaare, were male. All volunteers wearing the volunteer badges, were male. All speakers on behalf of the gurudwara, were male. Sewadaars in the diwaan hall doing guru ka seva, all male. Granted, I am sure there were females who were in roles, but my worry is it wasn't a proportional amount to the amount of females in our community. In fact, a non-Sikh asked me why no females were wearing sashes, and I didn't have a good enough answer to give back.  On one hand, we are telling media about equality of the sexes, holding banners with quotes from SGGS about female empowerment, and yet, not making it a point to showcase females in the same way as males. If we want to practice what we preach about equality, we need to make it a point to bring women forwards, and not push them behind. Even if females are not in political positions in our gurudwaras, I do think it is the job of the sangat to make sure roles are accessible to all. Granted, women were doing sewa before the event in large ways. My hope is in the future, American spectators at the event can see this in full force the day of. Sikhism is beautiful with it's pioneering movement to equate the sexes and we should symbolically demonstrate that, as a community, in all aspects.
2. Engaging with our American neighbors: I noticed as the event went on how confused non-Sikhs were walking in. I saw them not wanting to enter the diwaan hall for fear they were not allowed, what protocol was, or looking for a place to pay for langar. I saw tables set up everywhere asking for monetary donations, but no one willing to answer questions our American community had about who we are. So I quickly took the liberty in filling that void.

   

   At the Parade

   Although it became the most fruitful part of my time at the Nagar Keertan, I do think this is an excellent platform to spread awareness and actually engage correctly  in one on one conversations with people who show a genuine interest in getting to know who we are. In the future, perhaps these keertans can distribute fliers and other materials about Sikhs while walking in the parade. I think living in America at a time when people solve their anger with guns, and politicians rhetoric is often hate-filled, education about our faith is key to making us known. 
3. Gurudwara Politics: Furthermore, rules were being passed by leaders that were meant to uplift only some. As a co-founder of SSA, that too the only SSA in Colorado, I was so excited for our organization to be recognized at the parade and bring the student voice to the table. However, at the event, we were told banners were not allowed. Now, that is a completely understandable rule to make, no denying that. But certain organizations were being promoted during the parade, while all others are "banned." Up until the day of the event, it was being promoted as a joint Sikh parade on behalf of all Sikhs in Colorado and neighboring states. However, even when police commissioners from Colorado Springs were wanting time to speak at the event, they were being told there was "no time." We were honoring candidates for public office, who have yet not made any tangible change for Sikhs in Colorado, but didn't have time to honor those on the ground making America a bit safer. Especially with how recently Oak Creek happened and all the shootings happening in our state, I do think the Police departments play a tremendous role in keeping our community safe. Now, I know this is a touchy issue, because our gurudwaras are very centered over politics. Questions like "who can make us earn the most money," and "which person can shout the loudest in a room," is often what I hear in meetings. I think we have lost sight as a community what the meaning of sangat is. Yes, maybe a sangat being given power back isn't the most structured, and maybe it isn't the most easy to handle. But I honestly believe the sangat is what makes our community unite despite internal divides. Financial status, gender identity, education status, age, caste, creed, color, whatever it might, don't belong in gurudwaras. We, as a Sikh community, should strive to be better than that, and I know we can.
   
   
   This was by no means an attack on an event, just a critical reflection on what we can do in future years. Once again, I would like to stress I do appreciate the sewa put by everyone in making this event happen. Moving forwards, I think it would be great if the Sikh community, not just limited to Colorado, can take on these points as things to improve on in future years. Our youth need to be engaged, our females need to feel empowered, and our broader American community needs to feel welcomed. Only then, can Sikhs really leave a footprint in our American history.

In Chardi kala!

These views reflect nothing but my own. 

Update ( October 13th, 2016): Wow. It has been a couple of months since I published this blog and I am still amazed with the amount of attention it has received. I must say, during the first month of this being out, I was met with intense backlash, even from uncles I have grown up with my entire life. To put in perspective to those of you who might be reading this for the first time, here are some of the comments I received ( both verbally and written)...

• "it's absurd and ridiculous to bring FEMALE ANGLE on this."
• "This girl is crazy."
• " Delete this blog. If you don't, you and your family would face severe consequences."
• " You can only have this blog up on 1 condition... Send it to me so I can edit it and approve."
• "The reason why you weren't given time to speak is because you didn't donate enough money to the event."
• "Why on earth would the Denver Post quote 3 girls?"
• "Women can NEVER become Panj Pyaare. That can just never happen."

The worst part? The list goes on.....

A couple of things I would like to say. The whole point of 'blogging' is for one to share their perspective, thoughts, and opinions. I welcome discussion, and I actually haven't deleted any comments to the blog because I think the Sikh community needs to have more open dialogue. All comments that have been deleted were as a result of the person who wrote them. My point is, I am a confident youth leader. What that means for me is I speak my mind unconditionally, and shouldn't have to send this blog to anyone for edits, or censorship.

More importantly, I was so disappointed at the amount of threats my family was receiving because of this blog. Granted, we might disagree on some of my ideas, but by no means should it open doors filled with hate and blanketed threats. The most interesting part about this whole experience was I wasn't confronted once face to face by anyone who had an issue with the blog. It would be circled around friend groups, which would then reach me.

Now I agree, I didn't donate enough money. I am a student, I don't have a job that pays enough for me to donate. But that should be okay. Never once did our Gurus discriminate someone on the basis of money, so why has the Sikh community started to today? To my knowledge, the SGGS doesn't equate money with spiritual power, so why use it as a criteria to distinguish if someone can speak at a Sikh event or not?

If me speaking my mind, encouraging other youth to do the same, and advocating for groups of marginalized Sikhs to have a bigger say in events is "crazy," then by all means deal me in.

 I think Steve Jobs put it best when he said, "Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do."

Slowly and surely though, I started to see a shift in the conversation to one more accepting of my thoughts. Organizations that were not even Sikh based, began to share my blog on their platforms. I was so blessed to have had SALDEF, an organization I have been with for the past 3 years have my back through everything. I had uncles from the area bring me on to other projects and have my voice in decisions. ( To read about the latest project I was asked to help out with, please visit here). But most importantly, I am glad to have had youth leaders in my life constantly encourage me to not delete this blog and continue to speak my truth.

At the last event I helped put on, where I gave a speech about the Sikh turban to more than 2,000 people, I realized what my blog has led me to. It led me to opportunities I would have never received had I not written it. Many individuals who were so against me in the beginning came and apologized to me at that event for the way they behaved. I was given time to speak my truth, whereas I was pushed away at the Nagar Keertan. I'm not saying this to say I am in the right. Granted, I make mistakes. But this blog sparked something in the community, and I think it transformed people to view events like this in a different light.

The history of Sikhism, alongside Gurbani, has often given me the inner strength and power to keep moving forward. That is what I am going to try to continue even today.