Season for Non-Violence January 30 – April 4 The significance of these dates: The Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi was on January 30, The Assassination of Martin Luther King was on April 4, January 30 – April 4 The significance of these dates: The Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi was on January 30, The Assassination of Martin Luther King was on April 4, 1968.
Who was Mahatma Gandhi? An Indian nationalist leader, born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on October 2, 1869 in West India. He studied law in London, but in 1893 went to South Africa, where he spent 20 years opposing discriminatory legislation against Indians. As a pioneer of Satyagraha, or resistance through mass non-violent civil disobedience, he became one of the major political and spiritual leaders of his time. Satyagraha remains one of the most potent philosophies in freedom struggles throughout the world today.
Mahatma Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and However, when the organization was to award him the prize in 1948, he was assassinated. Since the Nobel Prize is never awarded posthumously, the committee chose not to award the peace prize to anyone that year on the grounds that there was “no suitable living candidate.”
What is the Nobel Peace Prize? On 27 November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, giving the largest share of his fortune to a series of prizes, the Nobel Prizes. As described in Nobel's will, one part was dedicated to "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".
Famous Recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize Theodore Roosevelt 1906– role in helping to cease the Japanese War Henry Kissinger and LeDuc Tho 1973– roles in helping to cease the Vietnam War Mother Teresa 1979 – work in slums of Calcutta Dalai Lama 1989 – non-violent struggle to end Chinese domination of Tibet Mikhail Gorbachev 1990 – role played in ending the Cold War Aung San Suu Kyi 1991 – non-violent struggle for democracy in Burma Nelson Mandela 1993 – role playing in ending apartheid regime Kofi Annan – 2001 – shared with the United Nations in role in helping make world more organized and peaceful Jimmy Carter 2002 – find peaceful solutions for international conflicts Al Gore 2007 – raising awareness about climate change Barak Obama 2009 – effort to strengthen international diplomacy Theodore Roosevelt 1906– role in helping to cease the Japanese War Henry Kissinger and LeDuc Tho 1973– roles in helping to cease the Vietnam War Mother Teresa 1979 – work in slums of Calcutta Dalai Lama 1989 – non-violent struggle to end Chinese domination of Tibet Mikhail Gorbachev 1990 – role played in ending the Cold War Aung San Suu Kyi 1991 – non-violent struggle for democracy in Burma Nelson Mandela 1993 – role playing in ending apartheid regime Kofi Annan – 2001 – shared with the United Nations in role in helping make world more organized and peaceful Jimmy Carter 2002 – find peaceful solutions for international conflicts Al Gore 2007 – raising awareness about climate change Barak Obama 2009 – effort to strengthen international diplomacy 297/Nobel-Peace-Prize-ten-famous-winners.html
Who was Martin Luther King? (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of a Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, he was a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. In1955, he led the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States.
At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement. On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated. g-bio.html
MLK Quotes I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.
Who is Arun Gandhi? Born in 1934 in Durban, South Africa, Arun is the fifth grandson of India’s legendary leader, Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi. Growing up under the discriminatory apartheid laws of South Africa, he was beaten by “white” South Africans for being too black and “black” South Africans for being too white; so, Arun sought eye-for-an-eye justice. However, he learned from his parents and grandparents that justice does not mean revenge, it means transforming the opponent through love and suffering.
Grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi, taught Arun to understand nonviolence through understanding violence. “If we know how much passive violence we perpetrate against one another we will understand why there is so much physical violence plaguing societies and the world”. Through daily lessons, Arun says, he learned about violence and about anger. He began serving the underserved and established the Institute of Hope.
What is the Institute of Hope? The Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute helps eradicate the scourge of poverty and human degradation. Gandhi said: “Poverty is the worse form of violence,” and must be tackled on all fronts to ensure human rights and human dignity to those who are victims of societal exploitation.
Gandhi Center for Learning, Kohlapur, India 4:07 4: :32 A Ray of Hope Gandhi for Children
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