I have to admit, I hadn’t heard of Valarie Kaur before reading her memoir, See No Stranger. She’s led a fascinating life: from a childhood in California and university education at Stamford, to becoming a legal observer at Guantanamo Bay and documentary-maker on gun violence and racial injustice. Kaur is now a renowned activist championing compassion. Her rallying cry in See No Stranger is for us to embrace ‘revolutionary love’ – a philosophy to show love to everyone, even our enemies. Kaur’s own troubling experiences make her pledge to end animosity all the more applaudable, and she provides steps on how we can reach that stage. Readers who enjoy memoir mixed with self-help and spirituality will find Kaur’s kind words a balm for these divisive times.
An urgent manifesto and a dramatic memoir of awakening, this is the story of revolutionary love.
Finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize "In a world stricken with fear and turmoil, Valarie Kaur shows us how to summon our deepest wisdom."-Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love
How do we love in a time of rage? How do we fix a broken world while not breaking ourselves? Valarie Kaur-renowned Sikh activist, filmmaker, and civil rights lawyer-describes revolutionary love as the call of our time, a radical, joyful practice that extends in three directions: to others, to our opponents, and to ourselves. It enjoins us to see no stranger but instead look at others and say: You are part of me I do not yet know. Starting from that place of wonder, the world begins to change: It is a practice that can transform a relationship, a community, a culture, even a nation.
Kaur takes readers through her own riveting journey-as a brown girl growing up in California farmland finding her place in the world; as a young adult galvanized by the murders of Sikhs after 9/11; as a law student fighting injustices in American prisons and on Guantánamo Bay; as an activist working with communities recovering from xenophobic attacks; and as a woman trying to heal from her own experiences with police violence and sexual assault. Drawing from the wisdom of sages, scientists, and activists, Kaur reclaims love as an active, public, and revolutionary force that creates new possibilities for ourselves, our communities, and our world. See No Stranger helps us imagine new ways of being with each other-and with ourselves-so that together we can begin to build the world we want to see.