An Anti-Caste Revolution: A Podcast with Sonny Singh

An in-depth conversation with the Sikh musician and educator about growing up as a child of immigrants and turning to music for solace and inspiration.

By Todd Miller

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April 13, 2023

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An Anti-Caste Revolution: A Podcast with Sonny Singh

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Launching from last week’s Q&A with Sonny Singh, a Sikh musician and educator, we delve into his role in the film From Here, an eloquent and moving documentary that follows the stories of four children of immigrants who confront racism, xenophobia, and an oppressive immigration system with creativity and activism. Sonny is a musician with the band Red Baraat. In 2022 he released a solo album called Chardi Kala—in which he returns to the Sikh devotional music of his childhood (which we discuss at length in this podcast). Sonny has also spent decades working as an educator on social justice issues.

For listeners in southern Arizona: the film discussed below, From Here, will be showing in Ajo on April 14 at the Ajo Plaza Rec Room at 7 p.m., in Tucson at the Loft Theatre on April 15 at 2 p.m., and in Flagstaff at Northern Arizona University on April 17 at 4 p.m. Click here for other screenings in New York, California, and in Europe.

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Author

Todd Miller is Editor-in-Chief and co-founder of The Border Chronicle. He is the author of four books that examine border militarization and its externalization, surveillance technology and industry, climate change, and the search for alternatives. His books include Build Bridges, Not Walls: A Journey to a World Without Borders (City Lights, 2021) Empire of Borders: The Expansion of the U.S. Border Around the World (Verso, 2019), Storming the Wall: Climate Change, Migration, and Homeland Security (City Lights, 2017), and Border Patrol Nation: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Homeland Security (City Lights, 2014).

Todd’s forthcoming book is a deep examination of water as a border issue in an age of climate-induced heat waves and drought. It will be published by Seven Stories Press in 2027.

Besides The Border Chronicle, articles by Todd have appeared in the New York Times, The Nation, San Francisco Chronicle, In These Times, Guernica, TomDispatch, and Al Jazeera English, among other places. He has also authored and co-authored reports on border surveillance, the border industrial complex, and climate change for the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute, where he is a fellow.

Todd’s book Storming the Wall received the Izzy Award in 2018 for “path-breaking and in-depth reporting.” He also received first place in “Community immigration reporting” by the Arizona Press Club in 2013. Todd has a bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies and Journalism from Prescott College, where he is also an adjunct professor.

In his spare time, Todd likes to travel, read, philosophize, and hang out with his two kids—whether it be going to a dance recital or being a basketball coach.