Her life changes after 9/11, when her project funds must be re-negotiated and the first of many hate crimes directed against Sikhs takes place. and to India as part of her quest to take part what she will later call “Revolutionary Love.”

If you found this article helpful, please consider supporting our independent reporting and truth-telling for as little as $5 per month. “I was the first girl in my ancestral line whose parents told her that she could become anything she wanted,” Kaur writes. Not only does she aid others suffering loss through a process of forgiveness, confrontation and reconciliation-but she also offers an intimate and affecting account of her own journey. She learns early on, as a child, when confronted by a young friend, that she must “accept Christ or go to hell,” that “white supremacy has always been twinned with Christian supremacy.” (Tim Dennell / Flickr) She exposes the rift between the dream of this country and the brute reality of it-where those with the most agency are white, male and Christian. Her story draws the reader into those lives most vulnerable to the national divide: the us and them, the dominant and powerless, the black and white. This kind of love, Kaur writes, is not a “feeling,” but a labor.įirst and foremost, “See No Stranger” is memoir-a vivid and compelling coming of age narrative of a young girl born into California farmland owned by her grandfather. This vision of one-ness comes from her faith and issues a call to service. An anthem throughout the book is: “ You are a part of me that I do not know”-and this “you” is, as often as is not, what she calls “an opponent.” If I were to reduce the entire tome to one sentence, I would say it is to approach each other as parts of ourselves. We learn how to negotiate with-and care for-the self and others, and how to reckon with those who seek to do harm. Readers gain an education in Sikhism-both in history and faith-along with lessons in traveling the high road of love. Her telling is informed by her listening. Both that speech and her TED talk offer a connecting vision about the work she has done and its promise for all of us-especially for victims of hate crimes, racial profiling and those caught in the claws of immigration policies and police brutality. Kaur herself gained national prominence after the publication of a rousing address she gave during a “watch night service” at the Washington D.C.

Valarie kaur see no stranger