25-Year Memorial for Balbir Singh Sodhi - Mesa, AZ

In honor of Balbir Sodhi, we are gathering with faith leaders and artists to reimagine what the next 25 years rooted in love can look like. This September will mark twenty-five years since the terrorist attacks on 9/11. This momentous anniversary calls for our whole hearts and fiercest moral clarity. We must grieve the more than three thousand lives taken, and we must tell the truth: our nation chose to respond to 9/11 with enormous racial and state violence that continues today. The first person we lost in that violence was Balbir Singh Sodhi. On September 15, 2001, Balbir was planting flowers in front of his gas station when he was murdered by a man who called himself a "patriot". Balbir was a Sikh American father who wore a turban and beard as part of our faith. He was the first of dozens murdered in hate in the aftermath of 9/11. The gas station in Mesa, AZ where Balbir was killed has become a site of pilgrimage, where people gather with the Sodhi family in memorial each year on the night of his death. This year, on September 15th, the family will gather once again, this time to mark twenty-five years since Balbir's death. Let's show them they are not alone. Join us for Balbir Sodhi’s twenty-five-year memorial in person at the gas station: Mesa Star Gas Station 7956 E University Dr, Mesa, AZ 85207 Arrive by 6:15 pm MST • 6:30 PM: Evening Prayers with Sikh Community • 7:00 PM: Memorial Event begins • Followed by Langar (Community Dinner) OR register to join us via livestream here → We'll be joined by faith leaders and artists to grieve, witness, and reflect on the twenty-five-year arc that led us to this moment — and reimagine what the next twenty-five years rooted in love could look like.