Valarie Kaur (born February 14, 1981) is an American activist,

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

maker,

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, educator, and faith leader. She is the founder of the Revolutionary Love Project. Kaur's debut book, ''See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love'', was published in June 2020. The book expands upon Kaur's TED Talk.

Early life and education

She was born and raised in an

Indian-American Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from India. The terms Asian Indian and East Indian are used to avoid confusion with Native Americans in the United States, who are also referred to as "Indians" or "Am ...

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

family in

Clovis, California Clovis is a city in Fresno County, California, United States. It was established in 1890 as a freight stop for the San Joaquin Valley Railroad by a group of Fresno businessmen and Michigan railroad speculator Marcus Pollasky. The railroad bou ...

, where her family had settled as farmers in 1913. Kaur earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies and International Relations from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the religious studies, academic study of religion or for leadership role ...

, and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

. She is a member of the

California Bar The State Bar of California is an administrative division of the Supreme Court of California which licenses attorneys and regulates the practice of law in California. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law ...

Career

When a family friend,

Balbir Singh Sodhi Balbir is an Indian name. * Balbir Singh (disambiguation) is a common name among the Punjabi Sikhs. Other notable people named Balbir include: * Nalini Balbir (born 1955), French Indologist * Balbir Prasad Chaudhary, member of the 2nd Nepalese Co ...

, was the first person killed in a hate crime after September 11, 2001, Kaur began to document hate crimes against Sikh and Muslim Americans, which resulted in the award-winning documentary film ''Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath''. Since then, she has made films and led story-based campaigns on hate crimes,

racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the offender profiling, selective enforcement or selective prosecution based on race or ethnicity, rather than individual suspicion or evidence. This practice involves discrimination against minority pop ...

immigration detention Immigration detention is the policy and practice of incarcerating both foreign national asylum seekers/refugees and immigrants — whether suspected of unauthorized arrival, illegal entry, visa violations, as well as those subject to deportation ...

solitary confinement Solitary confinement (also shortened to solitary) is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single Prison cell, cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to ...

marriage equality Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 billion people (20% ...

, and

Internet freedom Internet censorship is the legal censorship, control or suppression of what can be accessed, published, or viewed on the Internet. Censorship is most often applied to specific Network domain, internet domains (such as ''Wikipedia.org'', for exam ...

. She is the founder of Groundswell Movement, considered "America's largest multifaith online organizing network", recognized for "dynamically strengthening faith-based organizing in the 21st century." She is also co-founder of Faithful Internet which organizes people of faith to protect net neutrality. She is the founder and director of the Revolutionary Love Project, a non-profit that produces tools, curricula and mass mobilizations aimed at reclaiming love as a force for justice. Kaur's film making and activism have focused on gun violence prevention, racial profiling, immigration detention and prison practices, and Internet neutrality. Her activism has also included education work to combat hate crimes against

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and

Americans. She founded the Yale Visual Law Project to inspire and equip new generations of advocates. Kaur served as the Media and Justice Fellow at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society and Senior Fellow at

Auburn Theological Seminary Auburn Theological Seminary, located in New York City, teaches students about progressive social issues by offering workshops, providing consulting, and conducting research on faith leadership development. The seminary was established in Auburn, ...

. Kaur has given speeches at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

, and the

Parliament of the World's Religions There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World's Religions, the first being the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893, which was an attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. The event was celebrated by another c ...

. Kaur has frequently collaborated with her husband and creative partner, Sharat Raju. Together the two have produced several documentary films, including ''Stigma'' (2011) about the impact of New York City police's

Stop and Frisk A ''Terry'' stop in the United States allows the police to briefly detain a person based on reasonable suspicion of involvement in criminal activity. ("In ''Terry v. Ohio'', 392 U. S. 1, 30 (1968), we held that the police can stop and briefly d ...

policy, ''Alienation'' (2011) about immigration raids, ''The Worst of the Worst: Portrait of a Supermax'' (2012) about solitary confinement in prison, and ''Oak Creek: In Memorium'' (2012) about the

Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting The Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting was a mass shooting that took place at the gurdwara (Sikh temple) in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, on August 5, 2012, when 40-year-old Wade Michael Page fatally shot six people and wounded four others. A seventh vi ...

. Shortly after the

2016 U.S. presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and ...

, Kaur delivered a Watch Night address that went

viral The word ''Viral'' means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). It may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spre ...

with over 30 million views worldwide. In 2017, she delivered a TED Talk entitled "3 Lessons of Revolutionary Love in a Time of Rage."

Books

In June 2020 Kaur's debut book, ''See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love'' was published by One World (an imprint of

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House Limited is a British-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was or ...

)''.'' The book expands upon Kaur's TED Talk. Kaur published ''Sage Warrior: Wake to Oneness, Practice Pleasure, Choose Courage, Become Victory'' (with

Oneworld Publications Oneworld Publications is a British independent publishing firm founded in 1986 by Novin Doostdar and Juliet Mabey originally to publish accessible non-fiction by experts and academics for the general market. Based in London, it later added a li ...

) in 2024.

Recognition

The Center for American Progress named Kaur "a standout figure in the world of interfaith organizing and activism." In 2012, she received the American Courage Award by Asian Americans Advancing Justice. In 2013, she was named a "Person of the Year" by

India Abroad ''India Abroad'' was a weekly newspaper published from New York City, which focuses on Indian news meant for an Indian American, Indian diaspora and expatriate audience. The publication is known for its annual award ceremony for the "India Abroa ...

and one of eight Asian American "Women of Influence" by

Audrey Magazine ''Audrey Magazine'', or also known as ''Audrey'', was a publication focusing on Asian American women, published quarterly throughout the U.S. History The first issue of the magazine hit newsstands in March 2003. The magazine was named after the ...

. In 2015, Kaur was recognized as a "Young Global Leader" by the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

. In 2016,

awarded her the Peter J. Gomes Memorial Honor.

Awards

ReelWorld Film Festival Reelworld Film Festival, founded in 2001 by Tonya Williams, is held annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The festival screens film and provides professional development for Canadian racially diverse and indigenous filmmakers and media artists. ...

*Won: Outstanding International Documentary (2007) - ''Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath''

Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is an annual film festival held in Los Angeles, California. Established by Christina Marouda in 2003, as a nonprofit organization devoted to paving the way for a greater appreciation of Indian cinema< ...

*Won: Audience Choice: Best Documentary (2007) - ''Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath'' Asian Americans Advancing Justice * Won: American Courage Award (2012)

* Named: Person of the Year (2013) Audrey Magazine * Named: One of eight Asian American "Women of Influence"(2013)

* Named: A "Young Global Leader"(2015)

* Won: Peter J. Gomes Memorial Honor(2016'')''

Meadville Lombard Theological School The Meadville Lombard Theological School is a Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist seminary in Chicago, Illinois. History Meadville Lombard is a result of a merger in the 1930s between two institutions, a American Unitarian Associatio ...

* Named: Honorary Doctor of Divinity(2022'')''

References

External links

* *
SeeNoStranger.comRevolutionaryLoveProject.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaur, Valarie Living people American Sikhs Stanford University alumni Harvard Divinity School alumni Yale Law School alumni American film directors of Indian descent American documentary filmmakers American nonviolence advocates American civil rights activists 1981 births 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers American women writers of Indian descent