Category: Martin Luther King Jr.

Ahimsa, Art, Love, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., nandalal Bose, sarvodaya, Satyagraha, soul force, Swami Vivekananda, Theology, Truth, Year of GandhiLeave a comment

“Our Greatest National Sin” by Sw. Vivekananda

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In this essay, Swamiji enjoins Indians to unite in loving brotherhood in protection of their sisters, wives, and daughters. He emphasizes that the uplift of India is impossible so long as the nation’s leaders ignore the inherent worth of women and the poor. The causes of their ongoing oppression lie in foreign conquests, the dishonoring of womanhood (shakti), the abuse of caste, and above all, materialism. The “don’t touchism” of puritannical untouchability is the bane of India’s progress, Swamiji argued; “The chief cause of India’s ruin has been the monopolising of the whole education and intelligence of the land, by … Continue reading “Our Greatest National Sin” by Sw. Vivekananda

Ahimsa, Art, Barack Obama, imperialism, India, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., neocolonialism, neoliberalism, peace, Vinoba BhaveLeave a comment

ഭൂമിദാനം / भूदान / Bhoomidan

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Bhoomidanam (“land gift”) was a movement led by Acharya Vinoba Bhave, an Indian sage and Gandhian disciple who walked hundreds of miles through India for 13 years with the mission of convincing landlords to renounce some of their holdings, for the social uplift of the poor and downtrodden and in order to promote village self-sufficiency. Chief amongst his many accomplishments was the founding of the Brahma Vidya Mandir, an ashram where women practiced agriculture, prayer, and nonviolence in order to achieve self-sufficiency. Like Gandhiji, he sought peace, freedom, and self-determination for the Indian people from the tyranny of the British … Continue reading ഭൂമിദാനം / भूदान / Bhoomidan

American Empire, Art, imperialism, India, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Pan Asia, Pan-Africanism, Paul Robeson, peace, philosophy, poetry, politics, Sarojini Naidu, Satyagraha, Soviet Union, W.E.B Du Bois, world economyLeave a comment

The Gift of India and the Violence of the West: Some Reflections

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Can ye measure the grief of the tears I weep Or compass the woe of the watch I keep? Or the pride that thrills thro’ my heart’s despair And the hope that comforts the anguish of prayer? And the far sad glorious vision I see Of the torn red banners of victory? when the terror and the tumult of hate shall cease And life be refashioned on anvils of peace, And your love shall offer memorial thanks To the comrades who fought on the dauntless ranks, And you honour the deeds of the dauntless ones, Remember the blood of my … Continue reading The Gift of India and the Violence of the West: Some Reflections

Jesus and the Disinherited, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., philosophy, poetry, politics, science, Soviet UnionLeave a comment

Martin Luther King Jr., Letter to Darrell Randall Re: the Importance of Visiting the Soviet Union and India

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Dr. King explains to Randall, of the National Council of Churches, the motivations underlying his plan (subsequently abandoned) to visit the Soviet Union. Dr. Darrell Randall National Council of Churches 297 Fourth Avenue New York, New York Dear Dr. Randall: Thanks for your very kind letter of recent date concerning my interest in going to Russia incident to my visit to India. First, I must apologize for being somewhat tardy in my reply. Unfortunately, your letter was misplaced during my secretary’s daily trips between the office and my residence where I am convalescing. Althought we have not been able to … Continue reading Martin Luther King Jr., Letter to Darrell Randall Re: the Importance of Visiting the Soviet Union and India

Ahimsa, Art, Gandhi, Gandhi 150th, Howard Thurman, imperialism, India, Jesus and the Disinherited, life, light, literature, Love, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Pan Asia, Pan-Africanism, peace, philosophy, sarvodaya, Satyagraha, science, social reform, Swami Vivekananda, Theology, Truth, Year of GandhiLeave a comment

Ahimsa as a Science Of Love and Social Action

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Impure means result in an impure end. Hence, prince and the peasant will not be equaled by cutting off the prince’s head, nor can the process of cutting off equalize the employer and the employed. One cannot reach truth by untruthfulness. Truthful conduct alone can reach truth. —Gandhiji The artist of this untitled piece, K.H. Ara, was a satyagrahi who was imprisoned for his participation in the famous Salt Satyagraha. The production of salt, a dietary staple, was heavily taxed by the British colonial administration. Satyagrahis marched for nearly a month on foot to the sea. More than 80, 000 … Continue reading Ahimsa as a Science Of Love and Social Action

Gandhi, Howard Thurman, India, Jesus and the Disinherited, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., W.E.B Du Bois, William Stuart NelsonLeave a comment

Satyagraha: Gandhian Principles of Non-Violent Non-Cooperation By William Stuart Nelson

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Reprinted from THE JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT Autumn-Winter Issue, 1957-1958 CHANGE in the social order today is proceeding often violently and is frequently being resisted just as violently. Our own country is caught in a strange conjunction of Christian and democratic principles, fanatical resistence even to the belated application of these principles, and grave uncertainty as to how best the victims, the victimizers, and the innocent can escape both moral embarrassment and physical pain. Somehow, happily, men appear less reluctant than formerly to hear testimony to faith in non-violence, a testimony borne so urgently in the past by Jesus of … Continue reading Satyagraha: Gandhian Principles of Non-Violent Non-Cooperation By William Stuart Nelson

Gandhi, Howard Thurman, India, Jesus and the Disinherited, Martin Luther King Jr., Pan Asia, Pan-Africanism, philosophy, poetry, politics, science, Theology, W.E.B Du Bois, Year of Du Bois, Year of GandhiLeave a comment

Mahatma Gandhi on Satanic Civilization

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IT IS my firm belief that Europe today represents not the spirit of God or Christianity but the spirit of Satan. And Satan’s successes are the greatest when he appears with the name of God on his lips. Europe is today only nominally Christian. In reality, it is worshipping Mammon. Young India, 8-9-1920 Neither railways nor hospitals are a test of a high and pure civilization. At best they are a necessary evil. Neither adds one inch to the moral stature of a nation. Young India, 26-1-1921 I wholeheartedly detest this mad desire to destroy distance and time, to increase … Continue reading Mahatma Gandhi on Satanic Civilization

black Buddha, Gandhi, India, Jesus and the Disinherited, Martin Luther King Jr., Pan-Africanism, philosophy, Theology, W.E.B Du Bois, Year of GandhiLeave a comment

Gandhi’s Gospel Of Love and the Shadow Puppets Of Western Civilization

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Betrayal in the Garden Amongst Indians and African-Americans who possess lived experience of the movement for peace and freedom in the twentieth century, the memory of Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1959 visit to India, the Land of Gandhi, persists. Upon his return, King emphasized that “the bourgeoise—white, black or brown—behaves about the same the world over,” and enjoins the Americans to support the Indian independence “in a spirit of international brotherhood, not national selfishness,” the spirit which undo reigns today in the relation of the West to the rest of the world. However, it nevertheless also remains true that a … Continue reading Gandhi’s Gospel Of Love and the Shadow Puppets Of Western Civilization

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Martin Luther King, Farewell Statement for All India Radio, March 9, 1959 (Audio)

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Farewell Statement for All India Radio Listen to Audio here Leaders in and out of government, organizations—particularly the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi and the Quaker Centre—and many homes and families have done their utmost to make our short stay both pleasant … Continue reading Martin Luther King, Farewell Statement for All India Radio, March 9, 1959 (Audio)