2013 ChangeMakers

Sukhjinder KaurSukhjinder Kaur Dhariwal is a Sikh Amer­i­can pub­lic school edu­ca­tor from Mil­wau­kee, Wis­con­sin.  Fol­low­ing the mass shoot­ing at the Oak Creek gurud­wara on August 5, 2012, Ms. Kaur emerged as a promi­nent and pow­er­ful advo­cate for the Sikh Amer­i­can com­mu­ni­ty.  In the after­math of the tragedy, Sukhjin­der used her con­nec­tions as a teacher to serve as a crit­i­cal cul­tur­al link between the U.S. Depart­ment of Jus­tice and the com­mu­ni­ty. Ms. Kaur is dis­tin­guished for her holis­tic approach to social jus­tice, the inti­mate con­nec­tion she forged with sur­vivors and fam­i­ly mem­bers, and her con­tin­ued and con­struc­tive efforts in build­ing con­nec­tions between the South Asian and non-South Asian com­mu­ni­ties in the Mil­wau­kee area.  As part of a long-term strat­e­gy towards trust-build­ing and heal­ing, Sukhjin­der is work­ing with school dis­tricts in Wis­con­sin to ensure the teach­ing of Sikhism is incor­po­rat­ed into the cur­ricu­lum and is build­ing youth lead­er­ship through the Sikh Vir­sa Camp­ing Retreat for Sikh teens.

 

Silk Road Rising Logo-35pt-croppedSilk Road Rising is a Chica­go-based per­for­mance group that uses online videos and live the­ater to tell sto­ries through pri­mar­i­ly Asian Amer­i­can and Mid­dle East­ern Amer­i­can lens­es. Silk Road Ris­ing was found­ed in 2002 as a cre­ative response to the attacks of Sep­tem­ber 11, 2001 by Malik Gillani and Jamil Khoury), with the aim of coun­ter­ing the neg­a­tive rep­re­sen­ta­tion of Asian Amer­i­can, Mid­dle East­ern Amer­i­can, and Mus­lim Amer­i­can peo­ples.  Mosque Alert, launched on the 10th anniver­sary of the attacks, is a first of its kind online civic engage­ment and new play devel­op­ment process that illu­mi­nates the chal­lenges faced by Mus­lim Amer­i­cans when try­ing to build hous­es of worship.

 

BupendraBupendra Ram is a stu­dent activist who orga­nizes at the inter­sec­tion of the undoc­u­ment­ed, queer and Asian Pacif­ic Islander (API) com­mu­ni­ties at Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty at Fuller­ton, where he is a full time stu­dent.  He has col­lab­o­rat­ed with South Asians for Jus­tice and Satrang (a South Asian Queer Orga­ni­za­tion) to devel­op the API Undoc­u­ment­ed Schol­ar­ship Fund.  Bupen­dra is com­mit­ted to shar­ing his unique sto­ry and expe­ri­ences to encour­age eli­gi­ble API indi­vid­u­als to apply for the Deferred Action for Child­hood Arrivals (DACA) and to be embraced for their con­tri­bu­tions to build­ing a more demo­c­ra­t­ic, rep­re­sen­ta­tive and inclu­sive America.

 

aparna sharmaAparna Sharma was one of the lead­ers of the South Asian Pro­gres­sive Action Col­lec­tive for over eleven years, and a long-time advo­cate for immi­grant and wom­en’s rights. She played a crit­i­cal role in SAPAC’s civic engage­ment, art and activism, anti-com­mu­nal­ism, and bridge build­ing in Chica­go and beyond.  Her affil­i­a­tions include the Crown Fam­i­ly Phil­an­thropies, Chica­go Foun­da­tion for Women, Loy­ola University’s Cen­ter for Urban Research and Learn­ing, Asian Giv­ing Cir­cle, Lead­er­ship Cen­ter for Asian Pacif­ic Amer­i­cans, Women and Girls’ Col­lec­tive Action Net­work, and more. Dr. Shar­ma passed away on Feb­ru­ary 9, 2013.