The Revolutionary Love Project envisions a world where love is a force for justice and wellspring for social change.
what we do
We produce stories, tools, curricula, conferences, films, TV moments, and mass mobilizations that equip and inspire people to practice the ethic of love. Our current projects focus on racism, nationalism, and hate against Sikh, Muslim, Arab, and South Asian American communities. We are a national initiative based at the University of Southern California, Office of Religious Life.
what is revolutionary love
We believe it’s time to reclaim love as a public ethic. Love has been captured by greeting cards and pop songs as personal and romantic — too fickle and sentimental to be a revolutionary force. But the greatest social reformers in history grounded entire movements in the ethic of love. When we reclaim love through a feminist lens, then love is a form of sweet labor — fierce, bloody, imperfect, and life-giving. That means love can be taught, modeled, and practiced. Revolutionary Love is the choice to labor for others, our opponents, and ourselves.
why now
We believe Revolutionary Love is the call of our times. In an era of enormous rage, we must resist dangerous policies and acts of hate that threaten our most vulnerable communities. But resistance alone will not deliver us: We will burn out or even start to mirror the rage we are resisting. So we are staging a cultural intervention to birth a new future. Our mission: to equip our movements and communities with tools to labor in love — love for others, our opponents, and ourselves. When we pour love in these three directions, then love becomes revolutionary.
Valarie Kaur’s SEE NO STRANGER: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love is a practical guide to changing the world, a synthesis of wisdom, a chronicle of personal and communal history – all joined together by a story of awakening. Whether you are new to the work of social change, or you have been in the fire for decades, See No Stranger offers stories and tools to anchor your efforts and fortify you to last in the labor of birthing a nation that has yet to be born.
“The future is dark — Is this the darkness of the tomb, or the darkness of the womb? Is our nation dead or still waiting to be born? We choose to believe that our nation is in Transition. We are in labor. Labor requires pain — and love. Revolutionary Love is the call of our times.” – Valarie Kaur, civil rights activist and founder of the Revolutionary Love Project
here is what we have done together:
See No Stranger: A Memoir & Manifesto of Revolutionary Love
This is the story of revolutionary love—a radical and joyful practice to heal ourselves and transform the world around us.
1+ million views of TED talk
on "3 Lessons of Revolutionary Love in an Era of Rage" by founder Valarie Kaur
14 million+ people reached online
in our annual Valentine's Day campaign to
#reclaimlove as a force for justice, mobilizing...
550 PARTNERS + 120 THOUGHT LEADERS
+ 60,000 FOLLOWERS
inspiring panels with thought leaders
on Revolutionary Love, including Parker Palmer,
America Ferrera, Rabbi Sharon Brous, and Van Jones
the day of revolutionary love, day of rising
to reclaim love as a public ethic with V-Day, Women's March & Love Army and... 50 PARTNERS + 120 THOUGHT LEADERS + 60,000 FOLLOWERS
exclusive panel for nbc
to get underrepresented stories on TV with our partner Harness, resulting in first-ever TV moment with a Sikh on THIS IS US + more to be announced
thousands of dollars raised
to support visionary candidates in local elections, including the first Sikh mayor of a major US city
45,000 GOTV calls
to get out the vote and protect Muslim Americans from voter suppression in the 2016 election
emmy win!
for a groundbreaking episode on Sikhs in America
we helped make possible on CNN's United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell
200+ watch parties and dialogues
on how to practice Revolutionary Love
in the face of hate and white nationalism,
based on Kaur's TED talk
first-ever Revolutionary Love concert
featuring Ani di Franco, Ari Afsar, and more
producing music to root our movement in joy
320 grassroots leaders + 50,000 more online
equipped at the annual Revolutionary Love conferences hosted by Rev. Jacqui Lewis at Middle Church with Rev. William Barber, Van Jones & Bill Moyers
100 film screenings, workshops, & keynotes
to combat hate against Sikh & Muslim Americans, equipping 5000+ college students
hundreds of calls to congress
to defend threats to healthcare, economic justice, and net neutrality + to declare #NoMuslimBanEver and #FamiliesBelongTogether
first-ever leadership retreats
for Sikh American women justice leaders, with partners Auburn Seminary & The Sikh Coalition, providing support for 20 Sikh women leaders
and here’s where we’re going:
The Revolutionary Love curriculum (coming Summer 2020)
Supporting and expanding upon the 10 practices of revolutionary love described in Valarie Kaur’s book See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love. The purpose of these lessons is to equip participants to practice revolutionary love as a tool for personal and political transformation. These lessons offer a guide to teaching and learning about revolutionary love in classrooms and community spaces, and can be used by individuals for their own independent learning, and by those who have yet not read Kaur’s full text.
