A Sikh and a Former White Supremacist Find Forgiveness After Hate
by Arno Michaelis, Pardeep Singh Kaleka and Robin Gaby Fisher
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Apr 2018
240 pages
Genre: Biography/Memoir
Publication Information
The powerful story of a friendship between two men - one Sikh and one skinhead - that resulted in an outpouring of love and a mission to fight against hate.
One Sikh. One former Skinhead. Together, an unusual friendship emerged out of a desire to make a difference.
When white supremacist Wade Michael Page murdered six people and wounded four in a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin in 2012, Pardeep Kaleka was devastated. The temple leader, now dead, was his father. His family, who had immigrated to the U.S. from India when Pardeep was young, had done everything right. Why was this happening to him? Meanwhile, Arno Michaelis, a former skinhead and founder of one of the largest racist skinhead organizations in the world, had spent years of his life committing terrible acts in the name of white power. When he heard about the attack, waves of guilt washing over him, he knew he had to take action and fight against the very crimes he used to commit.
After the Oak Creek tragedy, Arno and Pardeep worked together to start an organization called Serve 2 Unite, which works with students to create inclusive, compassionate and nonviolent climates in their schools and communities. Their story is one of triumph of love over hate, and of two men who breached a great divide to find compassion and forgiveness. With New York Times bestseller Robin Gaby Fisher telling Arno and Pardeep's story, The Gift of Our Wounds is a timely reminder of the strength of the human spirit, and the courage and compassion that reside within us all.
"Starred Review. Inspiring...gives readers hope that the next generation can do much to heal America's great divide." - Booklist
"An instructive book that attempts to extend the message of brotherhood and compassion that has been forged from tragedy." - Kirkus
"Witnessing their brotherhood unfold through the years has been among the greatest sources of inspiration in my life. Now this book makes it possible for their story to embolden countless others." - Valarie Kaur, lawyer, filmmaker and founder of the Revolutionary Love Project
"This is a must read blood and guts story for everyone, the weak and the strong. It is a horrific story of blood, shed through violence and and a triumphant, beautiful story of guts, used to stand up against hate, violence and racism. The Gift Of Our Wounds is a gift to all human beings, showing that love will trump hate in the end every time and, 'It's the only thing, that there's just too little of.'" - Daryl Davis, Musician and Activist
"A powerful and heartfelt memoir by an unlikely friendship, offering compassion and understanding but more importantly hope for the future of humanity." - Madeleine Black, author of Unbroken: One Woman's Journey to Rebuild a Life Shattered by Violence
"Arno Michaelis and Pardeep Kaleka are living examples of the transformative power of friendship. Because each was willing to take the risk of meeting, because each was willing to allow for the possibility that their nemesis might in fact not be as terrible as each had been told, their meeting and mutual understanding has not only transformed each of them as individuals, but also the lives of so many others. I can't think of a book that is more needed right at this moment." - Abigail Disney, filmmaker, philanthropist, activist
This information about The Gift of Our Wounds was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Arno Michaelis is author of My Life After Hate and works with Serve 2 Unite. He has appeared on major media outlets including the BBC, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, and The View.
Pardeep Singh Kaleka is co-founder of Serve 2 Unite and has appeared on NBC, Fox, CNN, Democracy Now, NPR, and Voices on Antisemitism.
Robin Gaby Fisher is a New York Times bestselling author of several non-fiction books and a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing.
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