13 Progressive Faith Leaders to Watch
The Center for American Progress has compiled a list of thirteen progressive faith leaders to watch in 2013. I’m incredibly honored to be included at number six among such distinguished colleagues! 2012 presented us with unprecedented challenges in the fight for equality and civil liberties, and our work is far from complete. Here’s to the good work ahead.
Check out the 12 other progressive faith leaders to watch here.
Valarie Kaur—a filmmaker, civil rights advocate, and organizer—is a standout figure in the world of interfaith organizing and activism. In addition to helping lead campaigns for racial dignity, religious pluralism, immigrant rights, prison reform, and gay and transgender and gender equality, Kaur was recently put in charge of Groundswell, a nonprofit initiative of Auburn Seminary that uses online tools to help people of faith mobilize for social action. As founding director of the initiative, which is dynamically strengthening faith-based organizing in the 21st century, Kaur is making headway toward achieving a goal long sought by faith-based activists: making interfaith open-source organizing efficient and accessible to the masses. A third-generation Sikh American, Kaur also advocated for the victims of last August’s shooting in a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, visiting the town several times in the aftermath of the tragedy, and playing a leading role in the relief efforts. As Groundswell grows and as Sikh Americans join with others to mobilize to expand federal hate-crime classifications, look for Kaur and her innovative work to continue to be at the forefront of progressive change.