Yearly Archives: 2010

The Associated Press just covered our clinic’s case against racial profiling in East Haven, CT.  Here’s the story as published in the Washington Post:

The Associated Press
Sunday, December 26, 2010; 3:22 PM

EAST HAVEN, Conn. — Santiago Malave has worked law enforcement jobs in Connecticut for more than four decades, but as a Puerto Rican, he… Continue Reading

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………… …..The Rachel Maddow Show – Dec 12, 2011

Flowers surrounded the casket, and the casket was open. My grandmother Joginder Kaur looked like a doll-version of herself, a deep-pink chunni draped over still-black hair, her smile serene. We granddaughters spoke in turn, holding one another when tears caught in our throats. I read her a letter.

DEAREST MUMMY JI,

I’m having trouble, we’re all having trouble, finding the right words to offer you today. Words never seem enough when… Continue Reading

Joginder Kaur Gill, our sweet “Mummy Ji,” died surrounded by all her children and grandchildren at the age of 81 on Friday night.

Mummy Ji was born on October 22, 1929 to Hardial Singh and Pritam Kaur in Patiala in Punjab, British India.  She married Captain Gurdial Singh Gill on October 10, 1945 (pictured), raised her family, and eventually followed them to Clovis, CA.  Mummy Ji lived a disciplined and spiritual life.  She began and… Continue Reading

The 1700% Project brilliantly captures the sense of cacophony and disorientation of post-9/11 violence for those who still live it — all in five minutes. Amazing artwork, advocacy, and storytelling rolled into one.  Watch this video:

1700% Project: Mistaken for Muslim from Anida Yoeu Ali on Vimeo.

Note: the artist mentions several stories featured in Divided We Fall, including Balbir Singh Sodhi (49, killed by a man yelling… Continue Reading

Tonight, I write from Iona College, a small college founded by Christian Brothers in New Rochelle.  Dr. Teresa Delgado invited me as part of Iona’s Week of the Peacemaker “Advocacy: Speaking out for Justice” — a series of talks, films, and teach-ins that inform and inspire college students to advocate for justice.

We just screened Divided We Fall for 50 college students, followed by an intimate discussion about… Continue Reading

Today is Diwali, the festival of lights, celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains around the world.  Many know the story of Diwali in the Hindu tradition: Lord Rama returns home after slaying the demon-king Ravana, and the people joyously light the kingdom with diyas, oil lamps. In the Jain tradition, Diwali marks Mahavira’s attainment of moksha (527 BC).  And in the Sikh tradition, Diwali marks yet another kind of return: Band Chhorh… Continue Reading

Sometimes I think of myself as the girl with a thousand eyes, seeing the world through kaleidoscope vision, or fragments of multiple lenses  — legal, ethical, religious, somatic, political, personal. And so, in the effort to say more of “all that unsayable life,” I will share broken pieces of dreams, impressions, and memories on this blog too.  Here’s number one.

A shattered world, shot through with light, the edges burn, and I catch… Continue Reading

It was the most soothing rally I had ever attended.  215,000 people on the mall, standing shoulder to shoulder, pressing in on all sides, and you had never seen a crowd so… calm.  Even blocks away from the main stage, people were exceedingly pleasant to one another — no pushing, no shoving.  They were happy to get a glimpse of the jumbo-trons, politely lowered their signs so that others could see, cheered on those who… Continue Reading

For the last year and a half, I’ve worked as part of a coalition of church leaders, residents, lawyers and fellow Yale law students to fight against racial profiling in East Haven, CT.  I was proud to join them to announce our next major action: filing a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of our clients in federal court.  Our press conference on television: