Valarie Kaur (1981-)

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“I study religion and ethics and law. I wish to face the violence and fight it. I don’t want to fight alone. And so I write.” Valarie Kaur is a third-generation Sikh American who has used her voice to explore hate and healing in post-9/11 America in her documentary Divided We Fall (2008). What started out as her undergraduate thesis after the September 11th attacks her junior year in college has turned into her life’s work. She’s a writer, lecturer in religion and law and filmmaker.

Kaur studied religion and international relations at Stanford University. She also has a masters in theological studies from Harvard Divinity School. There she became the founding director of Harvard’s Discrimination and National Security Initiative. Kaur is also studying law at Yale. You can read her “Into the Whirlwind” at valariekaur.blogspot.com.