As an activist, Singh Chan understands how different groups share a stake in the fight for justice.

He is a co-founder of The Jakara Movement, “an institution for the recruitment and training of volunteers and a hub for the Sikh Californian youth.”

Jakara engages young Sikhs through service-learning, activism and volunteerism in their communities. Yet when Singh Chan reflects on his path to this calling, he says that the creation of Jakara wasn’t merely informed by the Punjabi Sikh community’s history—but also by witnessing the racial justice struggles of the Black and Latinx communities in California as he grew up in the eighties and nineties.

Singh Chan is inspired by the younger generation, and says that when he visits the high school down the street, “the Punjabi kids are more than happy to celebrate themselves” in a way he didn’t experience growing up.

"Our longing for social justice, our commitment towards equity and really our sense of being in this struggle have been formed both from our past, but also from our neighbors all around us."

"The people that are right here, right now in this moment make California something so, so powerful. I think there is a spirit, especially amongst the youth, that appreciates parts of the legacies of the past, but is inspired to build a future that is something that we want the whole state to be proud of. I think there's something very, very unique, something very, very special happening in California right now."

Campaign:
The Fabric of California

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