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— Sounds True Presents —
10 Days to Activate Revolutionary Love
January 22–31, 2021
Welcome
Welcome to The People’s Inauguration!
The event begins in:
Days
Hours
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Daily sessions will unlock as they become available, and will be accessible for the duration of the free 10-day event.
A welcome message from Valarie Kaur
Dear friends,
Welcome to this 10-day journey! I’m so grateful you are here. I’m Valarie Kaur, and I’m excited to partner with Sounds True to bring you this experience.
The People’s Inauguration begins with a kickoff celebration on January 21, 2021, followed by a free 10-day virtual event that will inspire, equip, and embolden you to enter this new era with revolutionary love—love for others, for opponents, and for ourselves.
Each day of the event you’ll hear powerful stories, insights, and wisdom from a wide range of visionaries, and receive hands-on tools and practices to take into your life and community. You can access each day’s presentations by navigating the sidebar on the left-hand side of this page. New presentations will be released each day and will remain available for the duration of our 10-day journey.
If you would like to learn at your own pace or explore even deeper, we invite you to consider the Upgrade Package. It gives you lifetime access, downloadable materials, bonus gifts, and more.
The People’s Inauguration comes at a time of great transition in our nation and world. As we reckon with deep injustice, inequality, grief, and loss, we have an opportunity like never before to reimagine a future that holds all of us in its loving embrace.
Here we go!
With love,
Valarie Kaur, JD
Host of The People's Inauguration
Founder of the Revolutionary Love Project
Author of See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love
About your host
Valarie Kaur
Valarie Kaur is an activist, lawyer, filmmaker, and founder of the Revolutionary Love Project. She has won national acclaim for her story-based advocacy, helping to win policy change on issues from hate crimes to digital freedom. A daughter of Sikh farmers in California, she earned degrees at Stanford University, Harvard Divinity School, and Yale Law School. Valarie’s debut book, See No Stranger, expands on her popular TED Talk.
Daily schedule for The People’s Inauguration
Baratunde Thurston
Emmy-nominated host and New York Times bestselling author
Ari Afsar
Singer and composer who originated the role of Eliza in Chicago’s Hamilton
America Ferrera
Award-winning actor (Ugly Betty, Superstore), author, and Harness cofounder
special kickoff event
To kick off our journey into revolutionary love, join Valarie, Baratunde Thurston, and Ari Afsar for a nationwide celebration of healing, inspiration, music, and art to reaffirm our core values and reimagine our future.
Baratunde Thurston
Emmy-nominated host and New York Times bestselling author
Simran Jeet Singh
Writer, teacher, scholar, and activist
Allie Young
Storyteller, writer, and citizen of the Diné (Navajo) Nation
Wonder
Wonder is the practice of cultivating an awe-filled, reflective openness to others’ thoughts and experiences, their pain and joy. In this session, Baratunde Thurston, Simran Jeet Singh, and Allie Young discuss how wonder has helped them understand their own experiences and those of others from marginalized communities.
Session Highlights:
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Why wonder is the wellspring of love
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Seeing others, even strangers, as a part of ourselves we do not yet know
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Immersing ourselves in stories outside of our own and our community
Rev. Dr. Traci Blackmon
Leading voice for social justice through the redemptive power of love
Rev. Michael-Ray Mathews
Deputy director of Faith in Action and host of the Prophetic Resistance podcast
Najeeba Syeed, JD
Associate professor of Muslim and interreligious studies, Chicago Theological Seminary
Grieve
Those we grieve with, those we sit with and weep with, are ultimately those we organize with and advocate for. Transformative faith leaders Rev. Dr. Traci Blackmon, Rev. Michael-Ray Mathews, and Najeeba Syeed join Valarie to discuss how grief has forged some of their deepest connections, helping to bridge cultural divides in their communities.
Session Highlights:
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How is grieving an act of love?
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Creating rituals for our own grief
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The importance of showing up to grieve however we are able
Ai-jen Poo
Award-winning organizer, author, and prominent voice in the women’s movement
Caitlin Breedlove
Deputy executive director of organizational advancement, Women’s March
Isa Noyola
Translatina activist, cultural organizer, and deputy director at Mijente
Fight
To fight is to choose to protect those in harm’s way; to fight with revolutionary love is to fight against injustice alongside those most impacted by harm. Here, Ai-jen Poo, Caitlin Breedlove, and Isa Noyola discuss how when we fight with and for one another, we begin to build the solidarity needed for collective liberation and transformation—a solidarity rooted in love.
Session Highlights:
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Recognizing the fight impulse in our bodies, and channeling that impulse into something that gives life
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Developing metaphorical “swords and shields”
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Becoming a strong “accomplice” for vulnerable communities
Rabbi Sharon Brous
Spiritual innovator, named “most influential rabbi in America” by Newsweek/The Daily Beast
Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis
Womanist minister, author and fierce champion for love and justice
Amy Olrick
Author, journalist, and techie studying the science of connection
Maggie Wheeler
Facilitator, songwriter, choir director, and actress on NBC’s hit series Friends
Rage
To rage is to honor and tend to our own pain so that trauma does not hijack our ability to see another’s humanity. But how do we process our rage in a way that is healthy and safe for ourselves and others? Join Rabbi Sharon Brous, Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, Amy Olrick, and Maggie Wheeler as they reveal how they harness their rage to grow as people and activists, working toward an anti-racist society.
Session Highlights:
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Defining and developing “safe containers” for our rage
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Resisting the urge to disconnect when witnessing the rage of communities of color and others who experience injustice
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Asking ourselves, “What information does my rage carry?”
Van Jones
CEO of REFORM Alliance, CNN commentator, host of The Redemption Project and The Van Jones Show
Sister Simone Campbell
Attorney, activist, and author of the influential “Nuns’ Letter”
Listen
Listening to our opponents is seeking to understand them. It is an act that preserves their humanity—and our own. In this conversation, foremost listeners Van Jones and Sister Simone Campbell reveal why deep listening is not only moral, but strategic in building bridges of understanding.
Session Highlights:
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What is required of us when we practice deep listening?
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Listening to our own bodies to know when it is safe to listen to our opponents
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Why we must risk being changed by what we hear when we listen
Lisa Sharon Harper
Public theologian and founder/president of Freedom Road
Brian McLaren
Speaker, activist, public theologian, and author of Faith After Doubt
Deepa Iyer
Writer, lawyer, strategist, facilitator, and coach
Sherrilyn Ifill
President and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Reimagine
To reimagine is to explore a vision of a relationship, community, and world where we all flourish. How would you reimagine the world you want to live in, and what does collective reimagining of our world require of us? Lisa Sharon Harper, Brian McLaren, Deepa Iyer, and Sherrilyn Ifill join Valarie to discuss why imagination has been an essential component of their individual journeys with social transformation.
Session Highlights:
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Imagining the world we are fighting for, not those we are fighting against
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Protecting our collective imagination through pockets of revolutionary love
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Rituals and art as a means of nurturing our imagination
Seane Corn
Internationally celebrated yoga teacher and humanitarian activist
adrienne maree brown
Writer, doula, podcaster, and pleasure activist
Breathe
Breathing creates space in our lives to think and see differently, enliven our imagination, awaken to pleasure, and let joy in. It sustains us—and each other—in our shared labor. But how do we practice this act of love for ourselves when the labor ahead makes us feel breathless? Join adrienne maree brown to discover why we don’t have to make ourselves suffer in order to serve.
Session Highlights:
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Discovering our ancestors’ ancient rituals for breathing in community
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Noticing beauty in the world
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Taking time in your day to slow down and focus on your breath
Rev. angel Kyodo williams
Zen priest and author of Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living with Fearlessness and Grace
Susan Raffo
Writer, cultural worker, and bodyworker
Push
To push is to choose to enter into grief, rage, or trauma as part of a healing process. Pushing requires us to discern the right times to breathe and rest, and the right time to push through painful sensations, emotions, and thoughts to birth new possibilities. Join Rev. angel Kyodo williams and Susan Raffo as they discuss how breathing and pushing can help us to heal and transform as individuals, as communities, and as a society.
Session Highlights:
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Investing in healing practices that best serve you
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Engaging in processes of accountability
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Exploring the links between inequalities, healing, and justice
Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, PhD
Marine biologist, policy expert, and founder of Urban Ocean Lab
Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III
Senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ and social justice activist
Transition
What awaits us on the other side of our labor? As a medical term, “transition” is the final and most dangerous stage of childbirth—but the metaphor is just as apt in our labors for justice. In this session, Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III discuss why we, the people, are America’s greatest hope for transitioning to a better future.
Session Highlights:
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Becoming attuned to our sacred inner wisdom
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Finding our deepest courage to keep pushing, even when it is difficult, to birth new realities
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Asking ourselves, “What stories am I willing to let die in order for new possibilities to be born?”
Ani DiFranco
Iconic singer-songwriter, feminist, and founder of Righteous Babe Records
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II
Founder of Repairers of the Breach and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign
Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis
Theologian and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign
Parker J. Palmer, PhD
Prolific activist-author and founder of the Center for Courage & Renewal
Resistance Revival Chorus
Collective of 70+ women and nonbinary protest singers
Joy
Joy is the gift of love. Beyond a feeling, joy is the core practice that sustains all others. During this joyful celebration of music and wisdom, Ani DiFranco performs new music inspired by Valarie’s writings, along with special guests the Resistance Revival Chorus. And Valarie interviews three transformative social leaders: Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, and Dr. Parker J. Palmer.
Session Highlights:
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Why is joy a necessary practice of revolutionary love?
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Noticing and protecting your joy each day
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Joy as an act of moral resistance and reimagining
Valarie Kaur, JD
Sikh activist, filmmaker, civil rights lawyer, and leader of the Revolutionary Love Project
Go Forth
To close out The People’s Inauguration, Valarie presents a special send-off to inspire and empower you to “Go Forth” in revolutionary love.
Begin your journey:
Summoning your deepest wisdom
Introductory Teaching & Practice with Valarie Kaur
Within each of us resides a voice of wisdom and self-compassion, but learning to summon it takes intentional practice. In this video session, Valarie guides us to strengthen our connection to this deep wisdom, becoming attuned to what it has to teach us and giving it permission to dispel our inner “not-enoughness.” She introduces the practice of keeping a wisdom journal, which will aid us in each daily home practice throughout this 10-day journey.
“Imagine if a critical mass of us are being led by our deepest wisdom—perhaps that is how we take humanity across this threshold.”
–Valarie Kaur
Theme Song by Ani DiFranco
People’s Inauguration Symbol © Obey Giant Art Inc.
© 2021 SOUNDS TRUE · ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
© 2021 SOUNDS TRUE · ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
© 2023 AWARENESS TRAINING INSTITUTE ·
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED