Remember Oak Creek

Eleven years ago, on August 5, 2012, a white nationalist entered a Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin – and opened fire. Seven beloved community members were ultimately killed. It was the deadliest massacre of Sikhs on U.S. soil ever. Today, our wounds are still open and white nationalist violence continues to bleed us. But we are not victims. We are survivors, healers, artists, and warriors. And our story can show America how to stand in solidarity, bravery, and love.

Will you stand with us?

Learn the story. Take action.

A Legacy of Strength

Learn the Story

Read the first-hand chronicle of the story of Oak Creek from a Sikh civil rights leader – from the book See No Stranger by Valarie Kaur 

Use this guide to teach Oak Creek as a story of grief, solidarity, and love – from the Revolutionary Love Project

Use these resources from the nation’s largest Sikh civil rights organization to learn about the Sikh faith – from The Sikh Coalition

Take action

Raise Your Voice

As we reflect on 11 years since Oak Creek—and additional acts of targeted mass violence in Charleston, Isla Vista, Pittsburgh, El Paso, Poway, Buffalo, and elsewhere across our country—we choose to take action. Not enough has been done to stem the rising tides of violent hate in the United States, but Congress can move forward with three critical pieces of legislation today:

  • The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act will create better federal standards for appropriate investigation of white nationalist and supremacist groups and implement several common sense processes to combat white supremacy—while not falling into tropes of racial and religious groups who may become unintentional targets of national security responses.
  • The Justice for Victims of Hate Crimes Act will close a loophole in the law that currently prohibits the Department of Justice from prosecuting the majority of hate crimes in this country. 
  • Encourage congress to conduct hearings to pursue legislation to address the role of social media platforms becoming the conduit for white nationalist and supremacist groups to communicate, recruit, and fund their activities.

 

Fill out the form on the right to automatically send a letter to your Representative and Senators supporting these three critical pushes. In calling for meaningful change, you can help honor those we have lost to hate and prevent future tragedies against all of our communities.

Thank you to everyone who took action with us last year! Thanks to you, our partners at the Sikh Coalition, and advocates across the nation, The Nonprofit Security Grant Improvement Act became law last December! Learn more about this victory via a blog post from our friends at the Sikh Coalition.

Spread the Word

Today, too many Americans don't remember Oak Creek. We can change that together.
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Eleven years ago today, a white nationalist entered a Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin – and opened fire. Seven beloved community members were ultimately killed. It was the deadliest massacre of Sikhs on U.S. soil ever.

Too many Americans don’t remember Oak Creek. But we do. We remember the blood in the prayer hall, and the bullet holes in the langar hall. We remember the lives lost. We also remember the resilience and courage of those who rose up in the face of trauma and terror in Chardi Kala – even in darkness, ever-rising spirits.

Today we honor those who we lost: Paramjit Kaur, Prakash Singh, Ranjit Singh, Satwant Singh Kaleka, Sita Singh, Suveg Singh Khattra, and Baba Punjab Singh.

Join @RevLoveProject + @SikhCoalition to take action at RememberOakCreek.org.

#RememberOakCreek

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Today we #RememberOakCreek, the deadliest massacre of Sikhs on U.S. soil ever. Seven beloved community members were killed.

Too many Americans don’t remember Oak Creek. Join @RevLoveProject + @sikh_coalition to learn the story + take action RememberOakCreek.org.

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To honor those lost in Oak Creek and in too many other targeted acts of mass violence across our country, we are calling on Congress to pass:  The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act, to focus and prepare our government on the urgent threat of white supremacy;  The Nonprofit Security Grant Program Improvement Act, to help houses of worship access resources for safety and emergency preparedness; and  The Justice for Victims of Hate Crimes Act, to close a loophole that keeps the federal government from prosecuting most hate crimes in the United States.  Join us at RememberOakCreek.Org #RememberOakCreek #OakCreek 

Tweet:

To honor Oak Creek + make our communities safer, we are calling on Congress to pass the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act, the Nonprofit Security Grant Program Improvement Act, + the Justice for Victims of Hate Crimes Act. Join us at RememberOakCreek.org #RememberOakCreek

Harpreet Saini lost his mother in the shooting. His landmark testimony, along with a groundbreaking advocacy push, led to the FBI officially tracking anti-Sikh hate crimes.

“Two days after our mother was killed, my brother Kamal and I ate the leftovers of the last meal she had made for us. We ate her last rotis… 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.”

- Harpreet Saini

Articles + Books

VOices tHAT LEAD AND remember

After he lost his father in the Oak Creek massacre, Pardeep Kaleka began an unexpected friendship with a former white supremacist. Read the extraordinary story of their friendship and their mission to fight against hate.

Read this chronicle of our communities’ struggles since 9/11 in this award-winning book by renowned activist Deepa Iyer. She tells stories of racial profiling, hate crimes, surveillance, and the strength to fight to change policy and culture.

A history of Sikh American struggle and courage since 9/11, a personal story of awakening, and a manifesto for our time, Valarie Kaur’s book offers a blueprint for the future. Read Chapter 7 for a comprehensive chronicle of the Oak Creek massacre, available for free here.

Mayor Steve Scaffidi steered Oak Creek through the tragedy with immense courage and moral leadership. “I followed the lead of the Sikh community,” he tells us. Read his account in this powerful book.
Sikhs in America: A History of Hate
The Lessons of the Oak Creek Massacre
He Was 12. He Had Just Moved to America.
Five Years Later, Why Americans Must Remember Oak Creek
Memorial to Baba Punjab Singh Brings Community Together
A year later, Sikhs keep up fight against gun violence
How Hate Gets Counted

After Sikh temple shooting, a historic hearing
2nd graders reach out to the Sikh community

Videos

Watch this 9-minute short film on the Oak Creek massacre, featuring the voices of survivors and children of the dead. Created by Valarie Kaur and Sharat Raju three months after the shooting.

In this episode of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, Hasan Minhaj explores the intersection of anti-Sikh hate and Islamophobia in America in the years after 9/11.

In this episode of CNN’s United Shades of America, W. Kamau Bell speaks to multiple Sikh community members across the country about the Sikh American identity and experience.

Take a tour inside the gurdwara in Oak Creek with Valarie Kaur and Deeptej Singh. This is an inside-look into how the community reclaimed a site of massacre and restored a sacred space.
This News 21 special report examines hate in America, including how a rise in religious hate crimes has affected Sikhs and other communities.
Listen to this in-depth interview with Valarie Kaur on her work chronicling the Oak Creek massacre and the aftermath. To read more of her reflections on the lessons of Oak Creek, click here.

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