While I know everyone by now has already heard about the Sikh gurdwara shooting that left numerous men and women killed, and my thoughts and prayers go out to members of the Oak Creek sangat, I did want to extend my thanks to members of the media who were able to educate individuals about Sikhs and our culture in general. As written best by a good family friend of mine, Associate Professor Dawinder S. Sidhu of the University of New Mexico, the violence that we as Americans witnessed on that Sunday truly stemmed from ignorance and fear towards others. This isn’t the first time Sikhs in America have been attacked or targeted since 9/11; while no attack is ever less harmful or less hateful, this attack took the most number of lives in a truly tragic way.

Out of all of the chaos from that Sunday, with all of the numerous reports swirling about what was actually going on that Sunday morning, I felt that the media did a great job disseminating information about Sikhs, who we are, and our culture. Given that I was traveling back home from a trip that Sunday, I was unable to get to my computer and read on the web. However, access to Twitter, and specifically access to the TuneIn Radio app, allowed me to get up-to-date information on what was going on. I’d like to sincerely thank all of the people who work at WTMJ 620 local news radio in Milwaukee who provided listeners with information not only about the events transpiring in Oak Creek, but for also providing listeners with information about the Sikh faith, basic tenets about our faith, and information on how Sikhs have been targeted since 9/11. It was truly responsible and educated news media, and I can’t thank you enough for your dedication to providing your listeners with all of that information.

The more we can get the word out, the more we can educate, the more we can get the community at large to recognize Sikhs in society, the better the chances we can reduce or even stop these types of events from happening in the future. Hopefully one day these acts of violence will stop, not just against Sikhs, but against everyone, as we are all Americans, regardless of race, color or creed.