Bay Area Pledges to Change the American Sikh Narrative

:datelined:Last night, a gathering of Sikhs in Fremont (near San Francisco), California, pledged to raise the profile of Sikhs in the United States.� The event was organized by local Sikh volunteers to help the initiatives by the National Sikh Campaign.� Donations of $500,000 were made by the Bay Area Sikhs in just one hour.

Speaking at the event, Jasvir Gill, one of the organizers of the fundraiser, spoke about the need to remain positive while combatting the growing hate crimes.� He spoke about the concept of chardi kala, and explained how Sikhs thrived despite having gone through genocides.

Dr. Rajwant Singh and Gurwin Ahuja, founders of the National Sikh Campaign, explained their initiatives as they called upon the attendees to donate for the project.� Last year, the National Sikh Campaign hired AKPD to work on media initiative.� AKPD had ran a successful campaign for President Barrack Obama in the past. Dr. Rajwant Singh explained, �So far, the narrative (around Sikhs) has been focused on bullying and hate crimes. �This can be changed. We are working with the organization that was able to put a man with the middle name Hussain in the White House.� This is the same group that has now developed ads for the Sikhs.�

Dr. Rajwant Singh said that National Sikh Campaign, along with other leading Sikh organizations, completed research, and based on the results, AKPD designed ads that can raise awareness of Sikhs in America.

Gurwin Ahuja, another co-founder of the NSC, spoke about his own struggles in America.� He talked about his struggles as he started his career at the White House.� Following a brief talk about the research by AKPD, Gurwin shared three ads that were completed by AKPD.� Out of the three, the second one received the biggest applause by the audience.

Dr. Rajwant Singh said that National Sikh Campaign will be using the funds to first air advertisements on the Sikhs in the Bay Area.� He explained that air time on CNN and Fox News can be arranged easily if the Bay Area Sikhs donated $500,000 to the project.� In less than an hour, the goal was met.� As Sikhs continued to donate and make pledges, Davinderpal Singh from Indian Idol performed to the attendees.

Key dignitaries at the event also included Congressman Mike Honda and 2014 Democratic Candidate Ro Khanna.