The Sikh Coalition is pleased to announce that 54 Members of the U.S. Congress have signed a letter initiated by Representative Joe Crowley (NY) in collaboration with the Sikh Coalition urging the Justice Department and FBI to track hate crimes against Sikhs. Thank you to every person who called or emailed their Member of Congress! We have exceeded our goal, but we want you to do more this weekend.

Last month the Sikh Coalition urged consumers worldwide to sign our
petition to CafePress, demanding that the company stop selling racist t-shirts that promoted bigotry against Sikhs. CafePress, Inc. is based in San Mateo, California and is one of the largest online retailers in the United States. Sadly, the company website was offering for sale a pair of t-shirts that said “No More Ragheads!” and “No More Towelheads!” These racial slurs are often used to disparage the Sikh turban and have been used against Sikhs in the context of hate crimes.
The Sikh Coalition issued an open letter to CafePress CEO Bob Marino on Friday, February 17. The SIkh Coalition's online petition garnered 2,000 signatures in a day. By late Saturday morning, February 18, the racist images were removed from the CafePress website. In addition CafePress
issued a statement expressing "regret" for "any problems or concerns caused by the images in question." In addition, the company encourages you to report offensive content to them by sending an email to
cup@cafepress.com.
Sikh Coalition Continues Its Work With Texas Educators
As part of the Sikh Coalition's ongoing effort to equip Texas teachers with resources on Sikhism, we were recently invited to host a teacher workshop in Houston, TX. The workshop was held at the Region 4 Educational Service Center's Annual Conference for Social Studies on February 4. The Sikh Coalition's Education Director along with local Houston sangat led a presentation on Sikhism, bullying against Sikh students, and concluded with a patka and turban tying demonstration. Each attendee was also given a 20-page packet containing lesson plans, information on Sikhism, and a resource list that contained links to books, films, and teacher resources online. Over three hundred educators attended the conference. To read more about the Sikh Coalition's campaign to include Sikhism in the Texas state standards, please click here.
Sikh Coalition Holds Annual Staff Meeting

In the beginning of February, staff from the California, Washington DC and New York offices came together for the annual staff meeting. During the 2 day meetings, staff reflected on the events of 2011 and discussed operational plans and strategies for 2012. It was a great opportunity for everyone to be under one roof and renew their commitment to the organization.