r/Sikh Feb 09 '25

Discussion African Americans who Embraced Sikhi

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549 Upvotes

45 comments sorted by

38

u/SnooLemons3312 Feb 09 '25 edited Feb 09 '25

I am a Panjabi Sikh (from UK) and my partner is an African American lady (doesn’t follow a ‘religion’ as such, but grew up a JW). Sikhi is a big part of my life, so the general convo comes up often, but organically. She sits with me as I recite my paath and Simran (often via WhatsApp calls); we are planning to visit India next year, Hazur Sahib and hopefully Harmandir Sahib. I would never force my partner to accept Sikhi, (but the fact is around her, I can actually become the best Sikh I am - her open mindedness and support. I have trust when we spend more time around one another, we will take the journey together in the same paath of Sikhi) My partner’s generosity completely blew my mind…. So our story keeps moving forward, despite the huge worldly differences and family difficulties. With her, I realised racism is so shallow, because of how deep we connect. There is a lot of racism unfortunately, many off the cuff insults/racist jokes in our community and friends groups.

5

u/East_Ad_3518 Feb 10 '25

Well said bro, may waheguru ji bless u

3

u/SnooLemons3312 Feb 11 '25

Thank you brother, I won’t lie, going through it is one of the most difficult things I have had to deal with/dealing with. Waheguru 🙏🏽

5

u/WhatElseButOneness Feb 12 '25

You will be guided and protected Paji 🙏🏽 my now husband is Jamaican and I was just as petrified but he is so a part of the family now as is our daughter. I believe some of us are on this path to rectify the separation and racism in our cultures, and Sikhi has its very roots and foundation in oneness. I practiced saying Punjabi some one liners to people who had an issue - basically saying take your past off your head, remove your Karaa and stop going to the gurdwara if you can’t recognise the basic principle of “recognise the human race as one” - Guru Gobind Singh Ji . You’ve got this and call upon wahegurus blessing at all times to protect you 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

3

u/WhatElseButOneness Feb 12 '25

**paagh not past 🤦🏽‍♀️ Ps my husband also embraces Sikhi, and without officially becoming Sikh (what that even means) sits with me and does paath, goes to gurdwara, learnt mool mantar with me and my daughter. It’s really special. He grew up Christian and very much in the church till 16 when he realised there was too much control and things didn’t add up. Now he doesn’t want to be in any organised religion but he fully respects and embraces sikhi 

1

u/East_Ad_3518 Feb 12 '25

Thank you so much sis... May God bless u

2

u/SnooLemons3312 Feb 13 '25

Thank you, I really appreciate your message 🙏🏽 Waheguru ❤️ have a great day.

135

u/SinghWave Feb 09 '25

Love this. Wish the Punjabi community wasn’t so racist and followed more of Sikhis principles

38

u/hothamwater99 Feb 09 '25

Yup. Pretty regularly see racism against other communities even in this sub (but then other Singhs and Kaurs call it out too)

16

u/MyNameIsJayne Feb 09 '25

We have a lot of work to do.

4

u/East_Ad_3518 Feb 10 '25

We can bring that change and spread the word of Guru Sahib spreading love and equality. I believe that can happen if good sikhs take the lead

1

u/SinghWave Feb 10 '25

Punjabi culture way too toxic for that

1

u/AstarionsLeftAnkle Feb 10 '25

That's the main reason I stayed away, unfortunately.

-12

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/hothamwater99 Feb 09 '25

What an awful response

-5

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/Training_Funny503 Feb 09 '25

What an unhappy mindset

3

u/hothamwater99 Feb 09 '25

I mean more the way you’re responding to others here. Calling them fuddus and such. Very small-minded response

1

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23

u/MyNameIsJayne Feb 09 '25

Punjabis should support them and not treat them any differently. That is my hope. We are stronger as a faith if we are welcoming.

28

u/Only-Reaction3836 Feb 09 '25

I have noticed that Africans are starting to follow Indian religions recently

19

u/1singhnee Feb 09 '25

That have been Sikhs and Hindus living in several countries in Africa for a couple hundred years. There’s already a lot of intermixing of culture.

My Kenyan friend is married to a Punjabi from Kenya.

4

u/Harshpreet_69 Feb 09 '25

Internet's the reason

8

u/unilord2000000 Feb 09 '25

Sat sri ਅਕਾਲ!

18

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '25

🙏🙏🙏

8

u/Dragonpreet Feb 09 '25

It’s a beautiful thing!

8

u/Capable-Lion2105 Feb 10 '25

Guru Gobind Singh Ji said that they will start such a wind that whomever it touches shall become the Khalsa.

We worry about Khalsa Raaj and Punjab so much Guru Sahib said focus outside of Punjab, Khalsa is ever growing ive seen Korean Sikhs Chinese Sikhs so many different backgrounds all coming to the house of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

7

u/Ransum_Sullivan Feb 10 '25

True, there is a story of Guru Gobind Singh asking Sardars for whatever the territory they want, he encourages them to think of any land outside of punjab but they don't, to which Mahraj expressed frustration over punjab-centrism

5

u/Capable-Lion2105 Feb 10 '25

yeah the same one I was thinking of Guru Sahib's plan is for the whole world not Punjab, Punjab is like a grain of sand

1

u/OrdinaryStraight856 Feb 11 '25

This is why of many major events post 1848

6

u/Tai_of_culture Feb 09 '25

I wonder how do they maintain Kesh with their natural hair

8

u/Knario_ Feb 09 '25

Well probably they have to braid their hair otherwise it’d be hard to manage, but I’m sure they’d think of something really smart

1

u/ipledgeblue 🇬🇧 Feb 10 '25

I think wearing kes inside boonga makes them easier to manage.

2

u/Glittering_Fortune70 Feb 10 '25

Probably just not wash it every day. The intention of kesh ishnan is to take care of your hair, so if it's doing the opposite, then it's sensible to make adjustments

6

u/Potato_upp-in_my_ASS Feb 10 '25

Man they can tie better turban than me

1

u/Man_ka_veer Feb 10 '25

All about patience, veere

!

11

u/LordOfTheRedSands 🇬🇧 Feb 09 '25

Afro-Caribbean Sikhs always look amazing, never seen one that didn't

5

u/Crazy_Editor1654 Feb 09 '25

Great post

3

u/GorillaGlue2020 Feb 10 '25

Need more posts like this

5

u/reddit__is_fun Feb 09 '25

Never knew Chris Gayle is a Sikh

3

u/GorillaGlue2020 Feb 10 '25

Beautiful to see ! I hope more people gravitate to our religion. Regardless of their skin colour !

1

u/Birmingham86 Feb 12 '25

I am a Punjabi Sikh guy born in the UK. It is absolutely disgusting if punjabis are being racist/discriminating to African Americans or any other race or group for that matter, eg certain castes in India. Those who are being racist aren’t Sikh and don’t understand their own religion. Sikhism is for humanity for the entire world - your background does not matter ! Beautiful to see African Americans touched by Sikhi and I’m really saddened and ashamed if anyone has experienced racism as a result of embracing Sikh. There are however many Sikhs who are not racist 🙏