Valarie Kaur keynote speech for Penn State’s Women’s History Month teaches ‘Revolutionary Love’

Activist and author Valarie Kaur led a conversation about pondering life Wednesday evening in the HUB-Robeson Center’s Heritage Hall as part of Penn State’s Women’s History Month.

Kaur discussed her “Revolutionary Love Project,” of which she is the founder, as well as her book “See No Stranger,” where she asked Penn State students to consider justice from the angle of love.

Kaur detailed what the Revolutionary Love Project is about and how “people like those in the audience tonight” need to practice it for the sake of the communities people live in.

“Revolutionary love is when we are brave enough to see a stranger, to be able to look at any person and say, ‘You are a part of me I do not know yet.’ We all have the power to see other people through those eyes, and that it is a powerful anti-racist revolutionary practice,” Kaur said. “With this practice, we can start to change the world around us.”

Kaur introduced the “Revolutionary Love Compass,” which displayed different ways to handle and apply that love “to ourselves, others and our opponents.” According to Kaur, each side of the compass had three steps, that with joy, achieves “Revolutionary Love.”

She said these key concepts are portrayed in her book, which she began writing after she graduated from her undergraduate at Stanford University.

Becca Geiger Wallen, the associate director of the Gender Equity Center, said this event helped get an important message across to students.

“The reason why we wanted to bring Valarie to Penn State is really to equip students, who may be frustrated with different situations or issues, with the tools to be able to address controversial topics, or even just conflicts, with others in a way that is productive and meaningful,” Wallen said.

Wallen also talked about why Kaur was specifically chosen to be one of the first speakers for this month’s events.

“The goal first and foremost was to kick off Women’s History Month. The theme for this year is ‘Celebrating Women Who Tell [Our] Stories,’ and so that perfectly aligns with value and the words of Valarie,” Wallen said.

These goals weren’t the only goals that the Gender Equity Center had, according to Yvette Wilson, the director of the Gender Equity Center. Wilson spoke on how Kaur inspires a new hope to Penn State students through her life stories and experiences.

“The Gender Equity Center is always looking for really people to come and talk about subjects that are relevant to our community and to our students,” Wilson said. “With Valarie Kaur coming tonight — she’s just an incredibly unique woman who’s just doing some really amazing work, and her background Sikh faith, her activism, her law degree— there’s so many different layers of her and her identity that come together, and it’s just amazing to see it.”

Kaur used her many backgrounds, such as being a Sikh, to demonstrate how she lives her messages. She called herself a “Sage Warrior” because a “warrior fights” and a “sage loves.”

Within these layers, Kaur also found “magic and mystery” in her life and asked the audience to apply the same view to themselves.

“Our ability to experience the magic and mystery — to live in the present — is what makes us a part of the world. It gives us wonder, and wonder is wellspring for love,” Kaur said.

Kaur also asked Penn State students to consider how they show their solidarity, as it should contains elements of love to make the solidarity “deep.”

Rachel Galloway, the assistant director at the Center for Spiritual and Ethical Development, said she sees solidarity as a place for us to grow as a community, sharing similar sentiments of Kaur.

“I really just hope that people take away the fact that we’re bigger than ourselves, that other voices matter… that that we need to be confident in our in our own skin and also in finding out about others.” Galloway said. “I think the message she shared really sums it up beautifully. That it really is about others. It’s about engaging with your ‘opponents,’ and it’s about loving yourself.” 

Galloway said she initially sat and listened to Kaur in 2018 at the Parliament of World Religions. She related to Kaur as a mother, community member and “justice seeker.”

“Her message really spoke to me. Just the concept of revolutionary love — I find it really powerful,” Galloway said. “As someone who works with the religious and spiritual communities on campus, it was really important to elevate her voice in this time.”

From the discussion, Wallen said she hopes those who listened can take away at least the one message — how to fight for each other.

“It’s the notion of what Valarie was saying. It is that really, this work is all about love,” Wallen said. “Oftentimes, when we’re in the field of diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice, we talk a lot about fighting for those sorts of things, which certainly is true — but envisioning that fight differently, in the sense to not only should we heal ourselves, but also heal others.”

Kaur ended her discussion with a book signing.

“Our revolutionary love is the call of our times, and longevity and resilience are only possible in a community where we love,” Kaur said. “Who we see, what shapes us, what we do, oftentimes it can feel overwhelming to figure how to change the world when we need to consider all of this, but the answer is right here where we all are in the space between us. The frontlines for justice work is right in front and with us.”