From Oak Creek Patch: About 100 people attended a candlelight vigil Sunday night at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin for victims of the Newtown school shootings. Credit: Mark Schaaf
Oak Creek Stands for NewtownMass shootings are happening all too often across the country, and no one knows this better than the residents of those communities affected.
The residents of Oak Creek, WI, understand the pain these shootings cause—just four months ago, a white supremacist shot and killed six people at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin.
That’s why Oak Creek stood with Newtown, CT, on Sunday, holding a vigil to remember the 26 people killed in a shooting rampage at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday. Read the full story about the vigil on Oak Creek Patch.
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"Dialogue does not mean everyone at the ‘table’ will agree with one another. Pluralism involves the commitment to being at the table—with one’s commitments." —The Pluralism Project at Harvard University
The California legislature designated November as Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month
By Amrit Kaur Sidhu
My 5-year-old Sikh-American brother came home from his local public school wearing a headband of paper feathers that adorned the top of his patka (small turban). He proudly showed me his ‘magical’ macaroni necklace, as he told me that he was dressed as a Native American. Struggling to react to this inherent irony, I was once again reminded of how I had been taunted as a Sikh-American in elementary school for being a ‘dot-Indian’ or a ‘feather-Indian’. Not only was his school perpetuating a stereotype, but was also blatantly misappropriating the culture of an indigenous community that has systematically and historically been bullied.
Harpreet Singh Saini is sworn in before testifying. Photo Credit: AP
“I want to tell the gunman who took her from me: You may have been full of hate, but my mother was full of love,” said Harpreet Singh Saini, who lost his mother in the tragic hate crime killings at a Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek Wisconsin on Aug. 5.
We joined Oak Creek, WI for a vigil and funeral after the mass shootings at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin. In this short film, we witness the community coming together in the wake of tragedy.
Thousands gather in the center of town to support the Sikh community in the aftermath of the Aug. 5, 2012 hate crime killing at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, a suburb of Milwaukee. Mayor Steve Scaffidi, Police Chief John Edwards, and Amardeep Kaleka, son of the slain temple president, share prayers and hopes for peace and unity. Days later, the community comes together again for a memorial service for the six victims of the attack.
Photo: Katie Sokoler/Gothamist
Lights have been rising throughout the community of Oak Creek and beyond in commemoration and honor of the fallen - six individuals shot last Sunday at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin.
Since the tragic killings, mourners of diverse backgrounds and religions have united in a number of candlelight vigils, from the immediate Sunday and then Tuesday night vigils in Oak Creek, to the vigils across the nation, of which more than 100 took place this week alone. A memorial service was held Friday morning for the six victims.
Friday's service took place at Oak Creek High School and drew hundreds of attendees wearing scarves over their heads in honor of Sikh tradition. Six coffins adorned with flowers stood in the gym, next to large, framed portraits of the deceased. A video projection commemorated the dead and wounded.
From the Chicago Tribune: Candlelight vigil for victims of Sikh temple shooting in Wisconsin at Palatine Gurdwara in Palatine, IL on Aug. 6.
Communities nationwide join together to honor the victims of the Oak Creek, Wis. Gurdwara massacre on Aug. 5 that left six dead and three wounded. The nationwide invitation is organized by the Sikh Coalition, Sikh leaders and organizations.
"A crime like this should be condemned, regardless of what ethnic or religious group is targeted. The shooting is no less or more reprehensible if it was directed against Americans attending a mosque, synagogue or church. This type of attack is not attack on one community; it's an attack on us all," said Sikh Coalition Executive Director Sapreet Kaur.
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