How to Embrace Your Rage with Valarie Kaur: The Next Right Step, Part 3

Lessons Learned with Komal

Valarie Kaur is a civil rights attorney, Sikh activist, and author of “See No Stranger”. In this conversation, Komal talks to Valarie about the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation, the concept of love as a verb that requires labour and care, and the ways that connecting to our ancestry and identity can help us amplify our impact and root into ourselves. Trigger warning: Mention of Sexual Assault.

[4:16] - Rooting into our identities to persevere in the fight for justice: Valarie shares with us the story of how she began to root into her identity and found the Warrior Woman within her after receiving advice from her Grandfather to not 'abandon her post' in her struggle and fight for justice. She shares advice on how you can also connect to the warrior within you to fight for justice.

[11:15] - How does one go about moving through and letting go of the identities that have been thrust upon them? Valarie shares how she has gone through the process of unlearning certain identities that have been thrust upon her, and how she has learned to root into the identities that she wants to be defined by moving forward.

[19:59] - How letting emotions come and go can make you resilient:Komal and Valarie talk about the bravery that it takes to show up with empathy and love in order to fight for change and justice in any space that we exist in.

[25:35] - The difference between reconciliation and forgiveness: Valarie shares her experience with forgiveness and reconciliation, and how forgiveness allowed her to heal herself. How learning to process one’s rage can connect us to the ability to fight for ourselves, and also love ourselves.

[29:28] - Why tuning into your rage can be divine: How we can harness the energy of rage to channel our creative work into the world in a safe container. “The aim of divine rage is not vengeance, but to reorder the world.” - Valarie Kaur

[34:00] - How we can summon our ancestors to tune into our strength: Valarie shares how connecting to your ancestry can support you in showing up in the way that you are meant to in the world.

“To see no stranger is not just about seeing others as a part of you that you do not know, but it is seeing yourself in a world that wants to make you a stranger to yourself.” - Valarie Kaur