Emerging from the Shadow of September 11

Abstract

On September 15, 2001, the murder of a turbaned Sikh family friend launched then-college student Valarie Kaur on a road trip to chronicle hate crimes across the United States. For nearly a decade, she filmed stories in her community—Sikh American men, women, and children whose brown skin and turbans marked them as suspects. Her journey unfolded into a broader exploration of who counts as “one of us” in times of crisis. She now speaks widely to inspire all Americans to recognize that their struggles to live without fear are bound up in one movement for justice.