Divided We Fall, Americans in The Aftermath - Valarie Kaur
My last post was just a small idea about how it is like living in USA being a Sikh. I heard about some hate crimes after 9/11 and thought like I knew it all but today I got a chance to know alot more about the experiences of the people who have been living here for years.
I got an email from the Sikh Student Organization of my university about the screening of this movie "Divided We Fall - Americans In The Aftermath". At first, I was not sure if I wanted to see this movie as I had no company to go with and it required a 10-12mins of walk in -10 degree celcius twice (everybody gets lazy in this weather :p). But sitting on my laptop all day, I just felt like doing some research about the movie. I found a few videos on youtube and also the website of this movie where I saw this 7 minute trailer after which I could not resist watching it.
Divided We Fall | Official Movie Site
Valarie Kaur, a third generation American Sikh girl, started this project at the age of 20 and truly speaking, she was the last person I would imagine making such a movie just because of these reasons. But while watching the movie, you can tell the efforts put into it. Travelling across the country, searching for victims of hate crimes post 9/11... She even went to India to see the wife of Mr. Balbir Sodhi who was shot dead outside his gas station on September 15, 2001, just to show a glimpse of the pain that many innocent people suffered during that time period. Hats off to Valarie and her team for their efforts.
Valarie's Blog
The movie is not just about the Sikhs in America, but about all the victims of hate crimes post 9/11 which included Muslims and even Mexicans. Your three generations may be American citizens, but one incident and the color of your skin can undo all that. Suddenly you are an alien in this country on a mission to destroy it. Eight year old Samir Akhter, who was born here, is picked on with names like Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussain by his fellow classmates just because he is a Muslim with a brown skin!! What does he knows about blowing up a building with a plane?? All he knows is that he is an American like all his friends.
A friend of mine, who spent his whole childhood in US, tells me his experience... "They used to call me Gandhi when I was in school and used to yell Cow Lover and Hindu with an Indian accent while I used to walk down the halls". He is a Christian but seems like even that does not helps when you are of a foreign origin with brown skin. If this is whats happening here with people who have been living here for generations, what should I expect being an Indian who has been here for only last 3yrs.
People were chased, harassed, stabbed and even shot to death but the media is not going to tell you the complete story. After all, they have a business to run. I was in India at that time and had no clue about the intensity of such incidents that were taking place in America post 9/11. Terrorism is always a great threat, but the fear that it can result into is even worse. This movie is an excellent effort in bringing forward such stories to the people and should be promoted worldwide. As Valarie says "Stories can bind us, can break us open, can make us human to each other".
I got an email from the Sikh Student Organization of my university about the screening of this movie "Divided We Fall - Americans In The Aftermath". At first, I was not sure if I wanted to see this movie as I had no company to go with and it required a 10-12mins of walk in -10 degree celcius twice (everybody gets lazy in this weather :p). But sitting on my laptop all day, I just felt like doing some research about the movie. I found a few videos on youtube and also the website of this movie where I saw this 7 minute trailer after which I could not resist watching it.
Divided We Fall | Official Movie Site
Valarie Kaur, a third generation American Sikh girl, started this project at the age of 20 and truly speaking, she was the last person I would imagine making such a movie just because of these reasons. But while watching the movie, you can tell the efforts put into it. Travelling across the country, searching for victims of hate crimes post 9/11... She even went to India to see the wife of Mr. Balbir Sodhi who was shot dead outside his gas station on September 15, 2001, just to show a glimpse of the pain that many innocent people suffered during that time period. Hats off to Valarie and her team for their efforts.
Valarie's Blog
The movie is not just about the Sikhs in America, but about all the victims of hate crimes post 9/11 which included Muslims and even Mexicans. Your three generations may be American citizens, but one incident and the color of your skin can undo all that. Suddenly you are an alien in this country on a mission to destroy it. Eight year old Samir Akhter, who was born here, is picked on with names like Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussain by his fellow classmates just because he is a Muslim with a brown skin!! What does he knows about blowing up a building with a plane?? All he knows is that he is an American like all his friends.A friend of mine, who spent his whole childhood in US, tells me his experience... "They used to call me Gandhi when I was in school and used to yell Cow Lover and Hindu with an Indian accent while I used to walk down the halls". He is a Christian but seems like even that does not helps when you are of a foreign origin with brown skin. If this is whats happening here with people who have been living here for generations, what should I expect being an Indian who has been here for only last 3yrs.
People were chased, harassed, stabbed and even shot to death but the media is not going to tell you the complete story. After all, they have a business to run. I was in India at that time and had no clue about the intensity of such incidents that were taking place in America post 9/11. Terrorism is always a great threat, but the fear that it can result into is even worse. This movie is an excellent effort in bringing forward such stories to the people and should be promoted worldwide. As Valarie says "Stories can bind us, can break us open, can make us human to each other". 
