August 5, 2013 marks the first anniversary of the bloody massacre at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek. A White supremacist gunman killed six and wounded five priests and worshippers who had gathered for Sunday services. Sikh-American activist and filmmaker Valarie Kaur was in Oak Creek in the aftermath of the tragedy, working to help the grieving families and create a short documentary film about the impact of the attack, which was classified as an act of domestic terrorism. Valarie Kaur is Director of Groundswell, a multifaith movement for justice at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City, and she spoke to us from Oak Creek where she returned for the observance of the first anniversary.
In Part I of this interview (above) Valarie shares her experiences in Oak Creek both last year, and this weekend. Part II (below) features Pardeep Kaleka, the eldest son of Satwant Singh Kaleka – the president of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, who was gunned down during the attack – and Arno Michaelis, a former neo-Nazi / White Supremacist who today is a writer and public speaker for tolerance and peace.