september 2006

Vol. 33 Issue 368 $3 Global Thought and Local Action for Nonviolent Social Change

Special Issue: 100 Years of Gandhian Nonviolent Action

Featuring: Gandhi, Bacic, Starhawk, Einstein, King, Orwell, & Sheehan

Kate Donnelly-Colt cradles Cal Donnelly-Colt at a nonviolent blockade of Wall Street in New York to protest exploitation and militarism, November 19, 1984. Photo: © Ellen Shub PEACEWORK From the Editor’s Desk “In 1921, Gandhi made it clear that he had no desire to found a sect. He added, ‘I am really too ambitious to be satisfied with a sect for a following.’ Sixteen years later Gandhi asked his Peacework is published monthly except followers to forget him on his passing, to ‘cleave not to my name but cleave to the principles [of August and January by the New England truth and nonviolence].’” Regional Office of the American Friends — Tom Weber, Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research Service Committee (AFSC); phone: 617/661- In his playfully humble egotism, Mohandas Gandhi was quite honest. Gandhi was 6130; fax: 617/354-2832; [email protected]; indeed ambitious, endeavoring to change the historical rules which had governed politics www.afsc.org/peacework. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the and social change worldwide for millennia: in particular the basic rule which dictated that AFSC. Periodicals postage paid at Boston, MA armed force makes the rules. and additional locations. Postmaster: Send Among the revolutions that Gandhi endeavored to undertake in his lifetime were the address changes to Peacework, AFSC, 2161 recognition of immigrant rights in South Africa, the abolition of war, the mobilization of Mass. Ave., Cambridge, MA 02140. millions to nonviolently decolonize India and the rest of the world, the transformation of Published since 1972, Peacework serves religions into a force for peace, the empowerment of village-based political and economic movements for nonviolent social change, par- self-determination, the end of a centuries-old caste system, the inclusion of women as equal ticularly in the Northeast, by covering social participants in politics, the transformation of village sanitation systems, and the redefinition justice and peace issues in a way that links of the struggle for mutual understanding as a valuable aspect of human existence. grassroots work with national and interna- Some may claim that the “war on terror,” and the cycles of violence in Iraq, Afghanistan, tional perspectives. The work of the AFSC is Chechnya, Israel-Palestine, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Sudan, and Uganda, among rooted in the spiritual insights of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Since 1917 the other places, are proof that Gandhi failed. The politics of violence still inflict untold suffer- AFSC has worked with people of many reli- ing on millions of people each year. gious and ethical traditions to affirm the And yet: South Africa did change its immigration rules, in 1914. In the decades that dignity and promise of every individual, to followed, the apartheid regimes in the US and South Africa were overthrown mainly by relieve the suffering of war and poverty, to nonviolent action; scores of countries have been liberated by nonviolent insurrections; foster peace and reconciliation, and to pro- India banned the caste system (though it persists); a global feminist movement challenges mote social justice. male domination and violence worldwide; and millions of people and thousands of non- Subscriptions are: Regular, $23; student/ governmental organizations have been mobilized to almost double the average human low-income, $14; prisoners, $1; Mexico and life-expectancy, largely through improved sanitation. Canada, $25; overseas, $40. Two-year rates, Most issues of Peacework are filled with contemporary accounts of these struggles: sto- respectively: $40, $25, $1.50 (no two-year ries about resisting war, feminist organizing, public health campaigns, struggling for social rates for international subscriptions). justice, speaking out for political freedom, working for economic democracy, and creating In addition to our web page where current ecological alternatives. In this special expanded edition, we decided to take a longer view. issues are posted, Peacework is available in On the fifth anniversary of the murder of thousands of civilians and military personnel microform from UMI, 300 North Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106; 800/521-0600, and on on September 11, 2001, we knew there would be endless re-hashing of the politics of vio- tape from the Braille and Talking Book Library, lence in the corporate media. But September 11 is also the date when Mohandas Gandhi Perkins School for the Blind, 175 N. Beacon began his first campaign of nonviolent direct action, 100 years ago. What if we used this St., Watertown, MA 02172; 617/924-3434. moment to critically reflect on 100 years of Gandhian nonviolent action? Peacework is a member of the Independent In the first part of this issue: survivors of violence from around the world will converge Press Association, an organization of indepen- in the week before September 11th to declare an alternative: the politics of reconcilia- dent periodical publishers in North America. tion. Dave Taber reminds us to keep a historical focus when remembering victims of terror ISSN: 0748-0725. attacks. Jack DuVall sets the stage by chronicling the rise of People Power worldwide (a Editorial material in Peacework is published theme echoed towards the end of this issue by Fred Fay’s and Fred Pelka’s tribute to dis- under a Creative Commons Attribution- ability rights activist Justin Dart, and by Bill Quigley’s account of the aftermath of Katrina NonCommercial-ShareAlike License one year on). The Mayor of Asheville proclaims September 11 as a day for peace, and the (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc- sa/2.5/) unless otherwise specified. Readers poet E. Ethelbert Miller alerts us to the dangers and importance of becoming allies for each are invited to submit brief items for the other in the face of racist backlash. “Pieces” section, as well as letters to the edi- Gandhi’s 1906 speech initiates a large section of articles analyzing Gandhi’s multiple tor. Query before submitting longer articles. legacies: his family, historical perspectives, analyses from around the world, assessments of Contributions are subject to editing. his spiritual mission, and perspectives about how we may learn to abolish war and usher in Staff: Sara Burke, Sam Diener (Co-Editors) social justice. Lederach’s article describing the value of replacing the term “conflict resolu- Volunteers: Michael Berger, Mark Bramble, tion” with “conflict transformation” speaks to Gandhi’s efforts to redefine conflict itself as Larry Dansinger, John Fuller, Jamie Munro, something we could embrace. We also include critiques of Gandhi’s work and philosophy; Valerie Sperling, Doug Healy, Alyson Lie, essays which challenge us to cleave, not to Gandhi’s name, but to the principles of nonvio- Dave Taber lence, of struggling firmly and gently towards truth, he so successfully championed. Nov. 2006 issue deadline: October 6 — Sam Diener, Co-Editor

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CONTENTS: September 2006

Transforming Personal Grief into Global Healing: India’s Women’s Peace Corps Survivors of Violence Converge to Advocate Peace 4 Embodying Gandhi’s Idea for a Peace Army 18 by David Potorti by Krishna Mallick Each of us has been personally affected by violence yet has rejected In the age of the atom bomb, unadulterated nonviolence is the the idea of retaliating with further violence. only force that can confound all the tricks of violence. September 11th: Commemorating Resistance to Terrorism Gandhi’s Insights Gave People Courage Throughout History 6 to Defy Chile’s Dictatorship 20 by Dave Taber by Roberta Bacic Also remember: “witch” burnings, a massacre by Mormon militia, We suffered twice: first enduring the pain of the dictatorship’s Gandhi’s first campaign, Attica, the coup in Chile, and Biko. violence, and second the anguish of keeping silent out of fear. Peace on Earth, Peace with Earth Day 7 Globalizing Nonviolence in an African Context 21 by Richard Fireman and Kim Carlyle by Matt Meyer The mayor of Asheville, NC declared September 11 a day to Globalizing nonviolence in Africa must mean a sharing of skills, reflect on the meaning of justice, peace, and nonviolent conflict resources, and training techniques. resolution. Gandhi’s Constructive Program — and Ours 22 Looking for Omar 7 by Joanne Sheehan by E. Ethelbert Miller It is easier to protest the things we don’t like than to build the I’m trapped in the middle of one of those Bible stories — things we want. but it ain’t Sunday. An Odyssey with Gandhi 23 People Power as Gandhi’s Enduring Legacy 8 by David Cortright by Jack DuVall My commitment to peace and Gandhian nonviolence began Where commands are no longer obeyed, the means of violence are when I was drafted into the Army. of no use. Gandhi’s Spiritual Revolution Lives 24 Mohandas Gandhi’s Call for Mass Defiance of Anti- Claire Schaeffer-Duffy interviews Arya Bhushan Bhardwaj Immigrant Legislation 9 Was Gandhi a Gandhian? Was Buddha a Buddhist? Was Christ by Mohandas Gandhi a Christian? So long as there is even a handful of us true to our pledge, there can only be one end to the struggle, and that is victory. A Pacifist Critique of Gandhi 25 by Sam Diener Gandhi’s Prisoner: Manilal Gandhi as Son Gandhi was at times sexist, racist, and perhaps not a pacifist. and South African Dissident 10 Goolam Vahed reviews Gandhi’s Prisoner?: Defining Conflict Transformation 26 The Life of Gandhi’s Son Manilal by Uma Dhupelia-Mesthrie by John Paul Lederach Conflict can be understood as the motor of change. Practicing Nonviolence: An Interview with Arun Gandhi 12 Sam Diener interviews Arun Gandhi Four Principles for Organizing in a Post-Katrina World 28 Anger isn’t evil. It’s not something to be ashamed of — be by Bill Quigley ashamed only of abusing anger. Can our hearts stay open to both tragedy and hope? Reclaiming Nonviolence from Gandhian Puritanism 14 A Revolution of Empowerment: by Starhawk Honoring Disability Rights Activist Justin Dart, Jr. 29 We can learn from suffering — if we are truly going to change by Fred Fay and Fred Pelka the world, we probably can’t avoid it — but let’s not venerate it. Dart defined Gandhi’s message as, “Find your own truth, and Einstein, Orwell, and King Comment on Gandhi 16 then live it.” by Albert Einstein, George Orwell, and Martin Luther King Pieces: Events, Gatherings, Opportunities, Gandhi has done more than any other person in history to reveal Resources, Campaigns 30 that social problems can be solved without methods of violence. A Declaration of Peace: Protest to End the War 31 Nonviolent Peaceforce: What to say YES to when we say NO to War 17 Weaving in Traffic 32 by Donna Howard by Craig Swanson We come into conflicts as partners of local peacemakers, hoping to The mantle was passed from 1st century India, to the US in the keep them alive long enough to do their work. 1800s, to early 20th century India, and back again to 1950s US.

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Transforming Personal Grief into Global Healing: Survivors of Violence Converge to Advocate Peace David Potorti is the Director of September Our walk received very little press back the world was the face of President Bush. 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. in November of 2001, but enough so that a The idea that there were other faces — and We all had choices to make after September temporary email address we set up came to other viewpoints — elicited a sigh of relief 11th, 2001. Whether or not you lost fam- the attention of the founder of the Parents’ from many around the world. ily or friends, whether you were overcome Circle, Yitzhak Frankenthal. He had lost When we launched Peaceful Tomorrows by anger, fear, or compassion, whether your his son, Arik, to a Hamas kidnapping and as an organization on Valentine’s Day of view of the world was rearranged or rein- murder. Believing that he had “failed his son 2002, we based our name on Martin Luther forced, how you chose to live your life after because there was no peace,” he decided to King’s observation, “Wars are poor chis- “everything changed” shaped the collective gather together family members of those els for carving out peaceful tomorrows.” future of our nation and our world. It was killed by any side in the cycle of violence The Japanese media took a special interest. truly a “kairos moment,” a time of crisis that between Israelis and Palestinians to seek Thanks to that coverage, we were contacted could be seized in a life-giving way, or rid- together for an end to the cycle. Yitzhak by the Hiroshima Alliance for Nuclear den into a greater crisis. emailed us in December to express common Weapons Abolition, which asked if we, as For those of us who founded September cause with our mission, and I remember his the survivors of those killed on 9/11, might 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, the outreach being another good sign, a blip host a delegation of hibakusha, atomic bomb direction we chose was consistent with our of life and compassion that echoed on our survivors, in a visit to the World Trade values, and grew out of who we were. We radar screen to let us know that we were Center site. met in November of 2001 during a sym- not alone. We hosted the hibakusha in April of 2002, bolic walk linking the Pentagon and the Some of those who would go on to found shortly after my brother’s remains from the site of the World Trade Center organized Peaceful Tomorrows visited their civilian World Trade Center had been positively by Kathy Kelly and the staff of Voices in counterparts in Afghanistan in January, 2002 identified by DNA testing. That morning the Wilderness (now Voices for Creative in a delegation organized by Global Exchange I visited the NY Medical Examiner’s office Nonviolence, www.vcnv.org). We took to and in so doing cemented the value of what where I learned about the size of the bone the streets with our small truth because we might be called person-to-person diplomacy. fragment that had been recovered, and the rejected the idea of bombing Afghanistan as Our delegation learned that while many blunt force trauma that had created it. I a response to the attacks of 9/11. We did not reporters on the ground in Afghanistan had stood under a white tent outside the office, want the losses our families had experienced written articles about civilian casualties of where there were a number of refrigerated — like the loss of my brother, Jim Potorti, at the US bombing campaign, getting them trailers, and paid my respects to the trailer the World Trade Center — to be duplicated printed at that “patriotic” time was another that held his remains. Then I walked to the among the civilians in Afghanistan. story. That task became much easier when World Trade Center site and joined the hiba- And though only a handful of us did the those casualties could be described in the kusha, who almost 60 years earlier had been walking, we were in good company: a poll context of meetings between Afghan fam- targeted so violently by our government taken only days after the September attacks ilies and showed that nearly half of Americans did not US citi- support the bombing if it would mean signif- zens who icant Afghan civilian casualties. Even then, had suf- with fires still burning at the World Trade fered loss Center site, there was a human impulse on 9/11. among Americans to align themselves with Speaking their peers on the other side of the world, engage- those who had suffered for years under the m e n t s Taliban and would continue to suffer under o u t - a new bombing campaign. side our These qualms were a good sign, and one borders reason why I remember the days after 9/11 made us as “the good old days,” a time when anything a w a r e was possible, a moment when the whole that the world could have come together in common face of cause against precisely the kind of brutality America that now has the world in flames. Then as s e e n Delegation of hibakusha, atomic bombing survivors, at the Nuclear Freeze now, it was all about choices. a r o u n d rally of 800,00 people in New York City, June 12, 1982. © Ellen Shub

Page  September 2006 PEACEWORK and had survived the maelstrom, nursing their own, then surely people in the US, lost his entire family — parents, siblings, enduring wounds, only to dedicate the rest many of us surrounded by comfort and rela- nieces and nephews, in-laws — along with of their lives to calling for the elimination of tive security, could find a similar place in our neighbors and friends, to the 1994 massa- all nuclear weapons. It was a powerful leap hearts to conduct peace work. We found our- cre that took the lives of nearly 35,000 Tutsis of solidarity across time. Though we as a selves returning the favor by reaching out to in his village alone. Rurangirwa became nation had hurt them so terribly, it was the those who were suffering as a result of other a Roman Catholic priest ministering to hibakusha who came to us, the 9/11 family terrorist incidents and the backlash to these genocide survivors. He is currently pursu- members, to extend their sympathy and to attacks — family members and survivors ing Master’s degrees in Pastoral Care and stand with us in solidarity. It was another of the Bali nightclub bombing, immigrants Counseling as well as Conflict Resolution at connection, another realization that what we suffering hate crimes, civilians in Iraq who Brandeis, and plans to return to Rwanda. were doing was resonating with others. lost loved ones to the US bombing cam- Naba S. Hamid is a Professor at the As Peaceful Tomorrows grew, other con- paign, those who had lost family members University of Baghdad, who was prohibited, nections followed. Jo Berry, who had lost to the train bombings in Spain and Britain. from pursuing any scientific activities as a her father to an IRA bomb, later arranged In doing so, we learned that we have much result of her refusal to join the Ba’ath party. to meet the man who planted the bomb, in in common. In 2003, Naba founded New Horizons For an effort to understand the sources of vio- The Bush administration makes constant Women, to help women deal with the “mul- lence. Today, Berry runs an organization references to “dangerous people” in “danger- tiple traumas that have robbed them of hope called Building Bridges for Peace. She sent ous parts of the world.” Wouldn’t it be better and skills for their future.” a message of support that touched all of us to focus on brave, visionary people in dan- Olga Takaeva is a member of the Mothers in the early days of our organization. gerous parts of the world, people who have of Beslan, and was present during the 2004 Father Michael Lapsley, who had sup- risen above their own losses and chosen to Beslan school hostage crisis where armed ported the anti-apartheid movement in break the cycle of violence in order to create Chechens killed hundreds of hostages, South Africa and had lost his hands to a a better world? People who share our aspira- including children, after holding them for letter bomb delivered by the government, tions as human beings and as world citizens? three days. As one of the coordinators of the met one of our founders, Colleen Kelly, People who have something to teach us about organization For the Health of the Nation, on a post-9/11 panel in New York City. In creative and life-affirming responses to ter- Olga is engaged in efforts aimed at assisting 2004, another Peaceful Tomorrows mem- rorism, violence, and war? These are the people with disabilities, orphans, and parents ber, Andrew Rice, participated in a “Healing people who are not found on TV screens suffering from the Beslan attack. of Memories” workshop led by Lapsley on across America, or in mainstream newspapers Jesús Abril Escusa lost his son to the Robben Island, marking the tenth anniver- or magazines. Their stories are not heard or March 2004 train bombings in Madrid. He sary of democracy in South Africa. The visit honored. And their wisdom is not shared. became a founding member of Asociación had particular significance for Rice, who lost This fall, Peaceful Tomorrows would like 11-M Afectados por el Terrorismo, which his brother David at the World Trade Center. to change that. We are convening a meeting operates on the principles of truth, justice, David Rice had studied as a Fulbright of more than 30 extraordinary individu- and peace. Scholar in South Africa in 1996. als from around the world who are devoted Afifa Azimrepresents the Afghan Women’s Lapsley grew to become another spiritual to cooperation, healing, and reconciliation. Network, a non-partisan network of wom- advisor to our new group, and in 2005 joined Together we will meet to establish an inter- en’s NGOs working to empower Afghan us in Oklahoma City for commemorations national network that will share ideas and women and ensure their equal participation marking the tenth anniversary of the Murrah information. Each of the men and women in Afghan society. Federal Building bombing. Conversations joining this network has been personally Learn more about our other attendees captured that weekend became the Peaceful affected by violence yet has rejected the idea by visiting our website, www.peacefulto- Tomorrows DVD, Beyond Retribution, in of retaliating with further violence. Instead, morrows.org. which participants who lost loved ones to we have successfully built bridges between We believe that the fifth anniversary of war and terrorism in Oklahoma City, on groups previously in conflict, and have 9/11 is a crucial opportunity for Americans September 11, 2001, and in Iraq talked formed organizations to promote justice, to consider alternatives to war. This confer- about methods for coping with our pain by reconciliation, and genuine peace. ence could be a seed from which a multitude transcending the urge for vengeance. This international gathering will begin of new initiatives to eradicate attacks on The support of others around the world with private sessions at the Garrison Institute, civilians and promote peace might grow has been critical to our ability to continue and will continue with public events at sites worldwide. We hope that these powerful our work. If those who have suffered so throughout New York City in the days lead- exemplars of the moral power of transcend- terribly, and have lived under oppressive ing up to the fifth anniversary of 9/11. ing vengeance and embracing hope can help conditions that put them face to face with Students, 9/11 family groups, and other transform our societies’ cultures of violence injustice and violence for long periods of members of the public will hear stories from into cultures of peace — one person at a time, could remain true to their values and people including: time, one story at a time, and one changed find a way to focus on a struggle bigger than Father Romain Rurangirwa (Rwanda), attitude at a time.

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September 11th: Commemorating Resistance to Terrorism Throughout History Compiled by Peacework intern and freelance (land gift) movement, in which he walked court case in New York State history, New writer, Dave Taber, with special thanks for lists the breadth of India asking people to con- York settled a wrongful death lawsuit with created by Democracy Now! and Working for sider him a son and give him land, which he families of the killed inmates in 1998, and Change columnist Geov Parrish. redistributed to landless peasants. compensated the families of the murdered September 11, 1906: Gandhi began a prison employees in 2004. Every day is historically significant for a nonviolent resistance campaign to secure September 11, 1973: Salvador Allende, multitude of reasons. Peacework offers this civil and political rights for Indians in South the democratically elected socialist presi- list, not to ascribe mystical significance to Africa. Between that time and the campaign’s dent of Chile was murdered in a CIA-backed any given date, and certainly not to dis- victory in 1914, Gandhi and his cohorts coup. Augusto Pinochet seized control of count the pain inflicted by the attacks of were repeatedly beaten and imprisoned, but Chile and, during his 17-year dictatorial September 11, 2001, but instead to widen they maintained the discipline of nonvio- reign, supervised the murder of at least 3,000 our circle of understanding and compas- lent action. The campaign helped initiate Chileans and the torture of thousands more sion by also commemorating, on this day, a wave of mass nonviolent struggle around (see article, p. 20). civilians who were terrorized in other places the world. However, during the campaign, September 11-12, 1977: Steve Biko, and times, and by celebrating our potential Gandhi used the racist argument that the South African anti-apartheid activist, was for transcending pain and injustice through laws unjustly reduced the status of the Indian assassinated in prison by prison guards. One nonviolent action. immigrants to that of the native Africans. of the preeminent voices of the anti-apart- (Please see Gandhi’s 1906 speech on page heid struggle, Steve Biko, leader of the South This Day in History: 9, and a critique on page 25). African Black Consciousness Movement September 11th September 11, 1941: Underground stressing black pride and self-determination, September 11, 1589: Appela Huebmeyer, Norwegian trade union newspapers arranged was beaten unconscious on September 11 Barbara Huebmeyer, and Anna Schnelling for the writing of thousands of letters and shackled, naked, in the back of a van. were burned as “witches” in Waldsee, rejecting Nazification to the government. Instead of taking him to a hospital, the van Germany. According the website of England’s Peace was driven 700 miles from Port Elizabeth to September 11, 1857: Approximately 100 Pledge Union, “When all radios were con- Pretoria. Biko, who had been arrested three Mormon militia members in Utah massa- fiscated, over 300 ‘underground’ newspapers weeks earlier, died from multiple injuries on cred at least 120 members of a wagon train. sprang up, carrying news obtained from September 12. The perpetrators, inflamed by the story that concealed radios and urging non-coopera- September 11, 1988: The Innu Nation a Mormon had been persecuted and killed tion with the Nazi authorities. One person launched direct action protests against low- in Arkansas by some of the members of a would type out several copies (say 20) of each level supersonic jet training flights over their wagon train then heading through Utah, edition, and pass them on for the next 20 traditional hunting grounds around Goose and ordered by the Mormon leadership readers to type more copies, and so on until Bay in Labrador. The Innu claimed that the to exact vengeance as an act of faith, dis- there were enough to go around.” training flights and attendant sonic booms armed the wagon train under a flag of truce September 11, 1941: Construction com- adversely affected wildlife and seriously com- and massacred everyone except the young- menced on the Pentagon building. See James promised their traditional way of life. est of the children. The perpetrators either Carroll’s book, House of War: the Pentagon September 11, 2002: According to peace- included some members of the Pauite tribe, and the Disastrous Rise of American Power buttons.info, “Women In Black (Baltimore) or (more likely, according to historian Sally (Houghton-Mifflin, 2006). started the first Peace Path as a response Denton) disguised themselves as Pauite; the September 9-13, 1971: Approximately to the September 11, 2001 World Trade Mormon leadership later blamed the tribe 1,300 inmates took control of New York Center attacks. The nonviolent action pres- for the crime. See American Massacre (Knopf State’s Attica prison to protest inhumane ents images of peace as opposed to war and 2003), by Sally Denton. treatment. Prisoners held 39 guards hos- militarism. Now in its fourth year, the Path September 11, 1905: Vinoba Bhave, tage. Negotiations lasted until the 13th — a line of supporters along city streets in Indian land reform activist, considered by when Governor Nelson Rockefeller sent in Baltimore — extends for 12 miles. Others many to be one of Mohandas Gandhi’s state troopers and correctional officers. In are beginning to create September 11th Peace primary successors, was born. Bhave par- the attack, gunshots killed 10 hostages and Paths in their own communities.” ticipated in the Quit India movement and 29 inmates, and wounded 4 hostages and 85 For more analyses of and reflections about was chosen by Gandhi in 1940 to be the inmates. The official version claimed that the the events and immediate aftermath of first Individual Satyagrahi, or individual inmates killed hostages during the attack; September 11, 2001, please see our September civil resister, in the revived campaign against however, only the forces sent in by the gov- 2002 commemorative issue, viewable online British rule. Bhave initiated the Bhoodhan ernment had guns. After the longest-running at www.peaceworkmagazine.org.

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Peace on Earth, Peace with Earth Day Looking for Omar Mayoral Proclamation, Asheville, NC, for E. Ethelbert Miller is the author of sev- My momma said it’s like September 11, 2006, originally co-written eral books of poetry, including How We a woman losing both by Richard Fireman, Co-director, Caring Sleep on the Nights We Don’t Make Love breasts to cancer and my daddy for Creation, and Kim Carlyle, of the (Curbstone, 2004), from which this poem was talking at the dinner table Network of Spiritual Progressives. is reprinted. about how senseless violence is and Mrs. Gardner next door lost WHEREAS, September 11, 2006 I’m in the school bathroom two tall boys to drive-bys marks the fifth anniversary of events that washing my hands without have caused this date to be associated with soap but I’m still washing my hands. Bullets flying into fear, terrorism, and war; and both boys’ heads WHEREAS, September 11, 2006 also I turn the water off making them crumble too. marks the 100th anniversary of the birth and look for a paper towel of the nonviolent movement for justice but paper towels have been gone Everybody around here is and peace of Mahatma Gandhi; and since the first day of school filled with fear and craziness WHEREAS, a world that is free from and it’s June now. and now Pinto and the big boys war and violence will be a world in which thinking about doing something bad. the human community may reach its I start to leave the bathroom highest potential, and in which future with my wet hands but then I stare at my wet hands generations may live without the threat or the big boys come in talking dripping water on my shoes fear of physical, psychological, and spiri- loud and cussing like they and wonder if I should run tual harm; and rap stars or have new sneakers. and tell Omar or just run. WHEREAS, decades after the assas- sinations of Gandhi and Martin Luther I hear the one named Pinto I feel like I’m trapped King Jr., we see more polarization within talking about how someone in the middle of one of those our nation and between nations, we recog- should get Omar after school Bible stories but it ain’t nize that nonviolent conflict resolution is since he’s the only Muslim Sunday. largely absent from civil society; and they know. WHEREAS, in the last 100 years we I hear my Momma’s voice have begun to understand the linkages Pinto talks with an accent saying and interconnections among justice, like he’s new in the neighborhood Boy, always remember to wash peace, and environmental integrity, and too. your hands but always remember that all aspirations for human betterment, you can’t wash your hands from including justice and peace, are utterly I don’t have to ask him everything. dependent upon the health of the ecosys- what he’s talking about tems that support and maintain life in all since everybody is talking Nashville, TN, October 12, 2001. its forms; and about the Towers and how they For resources to counter the racist back- WHEREAS, it is clear that cultural ain’t there no more. lash, see www.both-places.afsc.org. transformation of vast societies always begins with an awareness at the local ests; clean streams, rivers and wetlands; Carolina to reflect on the meaning of level of the need for change, and we rec- and an energy economy that is non- justice, peace, and nonviolent conflict ognize that local issues affecting the City polluting, safe, secure, and does not con- resolution, and become living representa- of Asheville, Buncombe County, and the tribute to global warming, will determine tives of the power of love in their duties as region of Western North Carolina are whether we and our descendants live in a householders and responsible citizens of inextricably linked to the wider commu- just, loving, healthy, and peaceful world; our great Democracy, by acting in a com- nities of human life and planetary life; NOW, THEREFORE, I, TERRY passionate, non-harming manner within and BELLAMY, Mayor of the City of Asheville, human society, towards other than human WHEREAS, we understand that how do hereby proclaim, September 11, 2006, life, and to the earth itself. we solve our local problems of poverty; as IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have a living wage; affordable housing; urban PEACE ON EARTH, PEACE WITH hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal sprawl; transportation; a sustainable econ- EARTH DAY in the City of Asheville, of the City of Asheville, North Carolina, omy; of safe and accessible drinking water; North Carolina, and encourage the cit- to be affixed, this 11th day of September preservation of farmland, parks, and for- izens of Asheville and Western North 2006.

September 2006 Page  PEACEWORK People Power as Gandhi’s Enduring Legacy Jack DuVall is the President of the Theatre. The date was September 11. Czechs, East Germans, Mongolians and oth- International Center on Nonviolent Gandhi returned home to India from ers living under Soviet client regimes choked Conflict and the co-author and co-direc- South Africa and launched a great nonviolent the streets of their capitals until their rul- tor of A Force More Powerful. This essay war against British control of his homeland. ers resigned. Black citizens boycotted South is part of a lecture given at Michigan State Millions marched, refused to pay taxes, quit African businesses and made the country University, March 15, 2006. their colonial jobs, spun their own fabric to ungovernable, until a new political order avoid buying English cloth, and began to was established. One hundred years ago, a mass meet- realize that to take control of India, they In every one of these nations, govern- ing was convened in Johannesburg, South first had to refuse the terms of British con- ments based on the people’s consent still Africa by Mohandas Gandhi, an Indian law- trol. The scope of resistance sobered the few rule today. This is not accidental. Civilian- yer outraged by the government’s proposal colonial leaders who understood what was based movements often produce sustainable that Indians carry registration cards. “The happening. “England can hold India only by democracy because ordinary people are the Old Empire Theatre was packed from floor consent,” said Sir Charles Innes, a provincial means of change: When you march, strike to ceiling,” Gandhi wrote. The group’s most governor. “We can’t rule it by the sword.” or sit in, you become a stake-holder in the important action was to pass a resolution say- But that consent evaporated. The great results of what you achieve — you’ve done ing they “solemnly determined not to submit political thinker Hannah Arendt defined the it, not a foreign government or a violent to the Ordinance.” One speaker said that process well: “Where commands are no lon- vanguard. they “must never yield a cowardly submis- ger obeyed, the means of violence are of no Osama bin Laden says that “oppression… sion to such degrading legislation.” use…. The sudden dramatic breakdown of cannot be demolished except in a hail of bul- They never did, during a long campaign power that ushers in revolutions reveals in a lets.” Lenin went further, saying that “real, that Gandhi led, of non-cooperation and flash how civil obedience — to law, to rulers, nationwide terror” was needed to “reinvig- civil disobedience. Defying the state, Indians to institutions — is but the outward mani- orate” a country, suggesting violence not burned their registration cards, marched ille- festation of support and consent.” only as a means of liberation, but also as a gally across borders, and thousands went to Gandhi’s campaigns in India were the first social good. Yet over the last three and a half jail, Gandhi himself three times. They dis- stories of mass civic resistance to be reported decades, of 20 transitions from authoritarian rupted the government’s racial laws and worldwide by broadcast media. Ever since, rule in which violence was used by politi- drove up the cost of enforcement. In the the rate with which people have applied cal oppositions, only four have resulted in eighth year of civic resistance, the govern- this new force has accelerated. The Danes nations where people have political rights ment withdrew the laws. One piece of one obstructed German occupiers in World today. In contrast, in 31 of the 47 transi- empire’s contempt for people’s rights was War II with strikes and work slow-downs. tions where no opposition violence occurred, pulverized, starting that night at the Empire African-Americans defied and dissolved legal political rights are recognized. (See “How segregation. Polish work- Freedom Is Won: From Civic Resistance ers refused to leave their to Durable Democracy,” Freedom House, shipyards until they’d won 2005.) the right to a free trade Those who have amplified Gandhi’s legacy union, from which the by consummating nonviolent struggles for ruling party never recov- democracy and self-rule include Europeans, ered. Asians, Latin Americans, Africans, and A few years later, civil- North Americans. Civic defiance is a global ian Filipinos blocked a phenomenon, even as its strategies develop dictator’s loyal army units in the basements and the barrios of a thou- from attacking officers sand different villages and cities. who had switched sides, People’s passion to be free and inde- the military was immobi- pendent should not ever be in doubt. Nor lized, and the regime was should our willingness to help each other. toppled. Chilean generals It is not for any nation to win another its declined to let President rights. Those rights will be won by people Augusto Pinochet steal who stand up to domination and learn to a plebiscite, enabling his liberate themselves. It is only for us to stand Poster: Center for the Study of Political Graphics people to push him out. with them.

Page  September 2006 PEACEWORK Mohandas Gandhi’s Call for Mass Defiance of Anti-Immigrant Legislation Mohandas Gandhi was the Secretary of the pledge can be bound by it. be reduced to abject poverty tomorrow. We British Indian Association in South Africa and A few words now as to the consequences. might be deported. Suffering from starva- a local barrister when he gave the following Hoping for the best, we may say that, if a tion and similar hardships in jail, some of speech on September 11, 1906 regarding a pro- majority of the Indians pledge themselves to us might fall ill and even die. posal for mass defiance if impending pass-law resistance and if all who take the pledge prove If someone asks me when and how the legislation became law. The passage is available true to themselves, the Ordinance may not struggle may end, I may say that, if the entire in Gandhi’s collected works, www.gandhiserve. even be passed and, if passed, may be soon community manfully (sic) stands the test, org/cwmg/cwmg.html, volume 5. repealed. It may be that we may not be called the end will be near. If many of us fall back upon to suffer at all. under storm and stress, the struggle will be But if on the one hand one who takes prolonged. But I can boldly declare, and Pledge of Resistance a pledge must be a robust optimist, on the with certainty, that so long as there is even “In the event of the Legislative Council, the other hand he (sic) must be prepared for a handful of men (sic) true to their pledge, local Government, and the Imperial Authorities the worst. It is therefore that I would give there can only be one end to the struggle, rejecting the humble prayer of the British Indian you an idea of the worst that might hap- and that is victory. community of the Transvaal in connection with pen to us in the present struggle. It is quite A word about my personal responsibility. the Draft Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance, possible that in spite of the present warning If I am warning you of the risks attendant this mass meeting of British Indians here assem- some or many of those who pledge them- upon the pledge, I am at the same time invit- bled solemnly and regretfully resolves that, rather selves might weaken at the very first trial. ing you to pledge yourselves, and I am fully than submit to the galling, tyrannous, and un- We might have to go to jail, where we might conscious of my responsibility in the matter. British requirements laid down in the above be insulted. We might have to go hungry It is possible that a majority of those present Draft Ordinance, every British Indian in the and suffer extreme heat or cold. Hard labor here might take the pledge in a fit of enthusi- Transvaal shall submit himself to imprisonment might be imposed upon us. We might be asm or indignation but might weaken under and shall continue so to do until it shall please flogged by rude warders. We might be fined the ordeal, and only a handful might be left His Most Gracious Majesty the King-Emperor to heavily and our property might be attached to face the final test. Even then there is only grant relief.” and held up to auction if there are only a one course open to the like of me, to die but few resisters left. Opulent today, we might not to submit to the law. It is quite unlikely Mohandas Gandhi’s Speech but even if every one else flinched leaving We all believe in one and the same God, me alone to face the music, I am confident the differences of nomenclature in Hinduism that I would never violate my pledge. Please and Islam notwithstanding. To pledge our- do not misunderstand me. I am not saying selves or to take an oath in the name of that this out of vanity, but I wish to put you, God or with Him (sic) as witness is not some- especially the leaders upon the platform, on thing to be trifled with. If having taken such your guard. an oath we violate our pledge we are guilty I wish respectfully to suggest it to you before God and man (sic). that, if you have not the will or the ability There is wisdom in taking serious steps to stand firm even when you are perfectly with great caution and hesitation. But cau- isolated, you must not only not take the tion and hesitation have their limits, which pledge yourselves, but you must declare your we have now passed. The Government has opposition before the resolution is put to the taken leave of all sense of decency. We would meeting and before its members begin to take only be betraying our unworthiness and cow- pledges and you must not make yourselves ardice, if we cannot stake our all in the face parties to the resolution. Although we are of the conflagration which envelops us and going to take the pledge in a body, no one sit watching it with folded hands. There is no should imagine that default on the part of doubt, therefore, that the present is a proper one or many can absolve the rest from their occasion for taking pledges. But every one obligation. Every one should fully realize his of us must think out for himself if he has responsibility, then only pledge himself (sic) the will and the ability to pledge himself. independently of others and understand that Resolutions of this nature cannot be passed he himself must be true to his pledge even Protesting INS detention policies, by a majority vote. Only those who take a Boston, January 9, 2003, © Ellen Shub unto death, no matter what others do.

September 2006 Page  PEACEWORK Gandhi’s Prisoner: Manilal Gandhi as Son and South African Dissident Goolam Vahed, of the School of Anthropology, phrase what must be told, how to force the Manilal’s life, even from India, can be con- Gender and Historical Studies, University seals, twist back the locks, burgle the cabi- strued as parental love in the traditional of Kwazulu-Natal, reviews Uma Dhupelia- net of the soul” – she had to “take care to sense, or as extreme, is for the reader to Mesthrie’s book Gandhi’s Prisoner?: The Life consider the feelings of my family” (p. 27). decide. of Gandhi’s Son Manilal. Cape Town: Kwela Although she qualifies this by stating that Responsibility was thrust on Manilal from Books, 2005. 419 pp. Photographs. $27.00 “there has been no censorship,” this raises the a young age. With Gandhi spending long (cloth). Excerpted from a review first published broader historiographical question of objec- periods in prison and elder brother Hiralal by: H-SAfrica, H-Net Reviews, June, 2005. tivity when one is so close to the subject. preoccupied, Manilal was the “man of the Manilal, born in Porbandar in 1891, house.” His tasks, Gandhi reminded him in Mohandas K. Gandhi died almost sixty joined his father in South Africa as a young 1909, included being guardian of younger years ago. The fascination with him contin- child when Gandhi delayed his return brothers Ramdas and Devadas, “looking ues even though he and others have written to India. Gandhi comes across as a harsh after aunt Chanchi, nursing mother, and voluminously about every aspect of his life. patriarch at times, who sought to impose cheerfully bearing her ill temper” (p. 80). Approximately thirty books are published his philosophy of life on his descendents. Gandhi wrote regularly to Manilal from jail, on Gandhi annually. Gandhi’s Prisoner? is En-route to South Africa the boys had to instructing him on what to read, work to do, ostensibly a biography of Gandhi’s second wear shoes and eat with knives and forks. and how to take care of the family. Manilal’s son Manilal (1891-1956). At the core of the Though unhappy, “they learnt to comply. political training began at the age of seven- book, however, is the relationship of Gandhi, This was the first of many lifestyle changes teen. Gandhi involved him in the satyagraha a universal figure, with his sons Manilal, they would encounter; in Africa their father struggle between 1910 and 1913 to give him Harilal (1888-1948), Ramdas (1897-1969), would impose many more” (p. 36). When a “sense of purpose” and “calm his restless and Devdas (1900-1957), and the different Manilal was ten and forgot his glasses at mind” (p. 85). Manilal served four prison ways in which they reacted to being the chil- home, Gandhi exhorted “we can’t afford to sentences ranging from ten days to three dren of a “Mahatma.” forget such things, can we?” and made him months during this period. He was not a The book’s title is taken from a letter that walk back five miles to retrieve them. “passive puppet,” Dhupelia-Mesthrie con- Gandhi wrote to Manilal in 1918, asking Gandhi cast a long shadow over Manilal’s tends. Having helped edit Indian Opinion, him to consider him a “friend” rather than as life as he sought to control every aspect of he understood the issues and participated his “prisoner.” The question mark was added it. Little pleasures were forbidden. Manilal out of conviction (p. 89). because opinions of Gandhi the family man was not allowed to learn to play the piano. Manilal returned to India in 1914 range from those who feel his autocratic con- Gandhi punished himself by fasting for and helped establish Gandhi’s ashram in trol ruined the lives of his sons, to those who seven days when Manilal was caught kiss- Ahmedabad. Phoenix Settlement and the consider him above criticism. This study is ing a teenage girl at Phoenix, the place of printing of Indian Opinion were entrusted to underpinned by a second important objec- Gandhi’s residence, north of Durban. As Albert West, Gandhi’s British devotee. West tive. Existing work on South Africa from penance, Manilal promised not to marry informed Gandhi in 1918 that the paper’s the 1920s to the 1950s, Dhupelia-Mesthrie until Gandhi freed him from this promise future was in jeopardy. Gandhi asked for a asserts, “hardly does justice to Manilal’s (p. 109). Manilal’s actions were always tem- volunteer to help and Manilal returned to role.... As we celebrate our country’s ten years pered by the fact that Gandhi would punish South Africa in 1918 at the age of 26. This of democracy and the heroes and heroines of himself through fasting when displeased with was the making of Manilal. He replaced West the long preceding struggle, Manilal’s name his actions. as editor in 1920, a position he held until his should now also come to the fore” (p. 23). After they returned to India, Manilal gave death in 1956: “he saved the paper and the Dhupelia-Mesthrie has excellent cre- financial assistance to his brother Harilal. paper saved him, for here he found a pur- dentials. She is Manilal’s granddaughter When Gandhi found out, he punished pose in life” (p. 156). As Manilal gained in and Gandhi’s great-granddaughter, and Manilal by sending him to Madras virtually confidence, he began writing his own edito- an Associate Professor of History at the penniless and with instructions to return rials, gave greater coverage to African issues, University of the Western Cape, South only when he had earned back the money covered the anti-imperial struggle in India, Africa. The author seems, at times, to be he had given Harilal. He was warned not to and reported vigilantly on anti-Indianism caught between two stools, being a pro- use Gandhi’s name to secure a job. Manilal in South Africa. fessional historian on the one hand and sobbed years later when he recalled his strug- Gandhi’s influential hand was also evi- granddaughter of Manilal on the other. She gles in Madras (p. 140). Whether Gandhi’s dent in Manilal’s decision to marry. He had states that in addition to the general prob- austere disciplinary measures, strict regula- wanted to marry Fatima Gool, a Muslim lems with writing biography — “how to tions, and continuous attempt to control from the Cape, but Gandhi objected because

Page 10 September 2006 PEACEWORK she was not Hindu: “it will be like putting Patrick Duncan, son of a cabinet minister, two swords in one sheath” (p. 175). This who led resisters into a banned location in seems anomalous considering that Gandhi December 1952. They were arrested and had brought up his children to believe all Manilal, aged 61, served 38 days of a 50- religions equal. However, the boys were day prison sentence. “shaped primarily by Hinduism” even Manilal’s new political circle came to though Gandhi respected all religions (p. include liberals like Alan Paton and Julius 40). Gandhi was concerned about the impact Lewin, a law professor at the University of the marriage would have on Hindu-Muslim Witwatersrand. Manilal, who had resisted relations in India. He warned Manilal that Indo-European Councils and White liberals if he proceeded with the marriage he would in the 1920s, converted to Liberal Party poli- have to stop editing Indian Opinion and tics. This became his new political home and would not be able to return to India. Gandhi he formally became a member of the Liberal advised Manilal to get over the “infatua- Party in 1954. The party’s members were tion” and “delusions” of love: “our love is united by opposition to the NP and com- between brother and sister. Whereas here munism. One of Manilal’s last public acts the main urge is carnal pleasure” (p. 176). Manilal arrested violating anti-apartheid was to attend the Congress of the People in laws, Photo www.mahatma.org Whatever Manilal might have felt, “in the June 1955, where the Freedom Charter was end, though, he could not forget whose son Manilal, unlike Dadoo, was only prepared adopted. He suffered a stroke in November he was. He did not have the courage to face to collaborate where there was “a possibil- 1955 and died on April 5, 1956. the consequences of defiance; there really ity of action” (p. 260). He participated in How are we to judge Manilal politically? was no future without his father’s blessing” the 1946 passive resistance struggle against Unlike Gandhi, he achieved few tangible (p. 176). segregation, spending 23 days in jail. As far results in the struggle against apartheid. Gandhi implored Manilal to remain cel- as India was concerned Manilal, through His name is rarely mentioned when the ibate, but on this issue Manilal disagreed Indian Opinion, supported Gandhi and the pantheons of anti-apartheid activists are with his father and married in 1927, at the Indian National Congress and vehemently discussed, even though he spent close to age of thirty-four. However, his wife was opposed the creation of Pakistan. fourteen years in prisons in South Africa chosen by Gandhi. She was nineteen-year- Manilal seemed to emerge from Gandhi’s and India. Gandhi’s credo of non-violence, old Sushila Mashruwala, also of the bania shadow after his father’s death: “Had Gandhi which Manilal embraced, left him increas- caste and daughter of a wealthy property- been alive, Manilal would have been in the ingly in the political wilderness because he owner and fervent Gandhi supporter (p. background. Now he spread his father’s mes- was unsure how to react as the Congress 183). Gandhi therefore failed to impose his sage about the importance of fast and prayer” Alliance moved towards confrontation with views on sex and marriage on his family. (p. 338). As apartheid gathered momentum the apartheid government. He became side- However, in the book, Gandhi’s views on in South Africa, Manilal advocated satya- lined from the anti-apartheid movement of these matters and his family’s disregard of graha as a means of resistance. Anger should which he should have been an integral part them are not critically explored. We learn not form the basis of resistance, he insisted. because of this and his revulsion for com- little about family debates on sex and mar- Whites should be won over through “love” munism. riage, except that Gandhi was very fond of and “self-suffering.” His weapon of choice Gandhi’s Prisoner? is an absorbing study of his grandchildren. was “spiritual armaments” (p. 344). the personal and political lives of Mahatma Manilal was intimately involved in the Manilal lacked the moral authority of his and Manilal Gandhi, as well as the Phoenix Natal Indian Congress (NIC). From 1920 father and became increasingly isolated. One Settlement and Indian Opinion after Gandhi onward, he was a member of the NIC activist said that Manilal “did not understand left South Africa. It also provides an excellent Committee and attended South African the new Africa. So that when the resistance and detailed outline of political develop- Indian Congress (SAIC) conferences as its movement came, he was genuinely doubt- ments in South Africa and India during these representative. In India in 1930 he partici- ful about the African’s capacity to make a decades. A large number of the splendid pated in salt marches and spent nine months success of that weapon” (p. 349). As the rest eighty-eight black-and-white photographs in prison. This raised his political profile of the country moved towards joint resis- are from private collections and add consid- and he returned to South Africa a hero. The tance, Manilal campaigned individually erable value. This book opens new debates experience radicalized him. Manilal sup- against petty apartheid laws. He had reserva- relevant to post-apartheid South Africa, in ported campaigns by young radicals like Dr. tions about the Defiance Campaign of 1952 particular the relationship between Indians Yusuf Dadoo in the Transvaal and Dr. G. M. because he believed it would turn violent. He and Africans. It is beautifully narrated, and Naicker in Natal. He was close to Dadoo, a did, however, cover the campaign in Indian is obligatory reading for anyone interested in Muslim and communist, but a staunch sup- Opinion and fasted to show solidarity with Gandhi and his family, the story of Indians porter of Nehru, Gandhi, and satyagraha (p. resisters (p. 352). Manilal eventually joined in South Africa, or the history of racial seg- 253). While he supported African resistance, the campaign with a group of liberals under regation in South Africa.

September 2006 Page 11 PEACEWORK Practicing Nonviolence: An Interview with Arun Gandhi Sam Diener, Co-Editor of Peacework, con- these practical, ethical, and spiritual nonvi- ing an anger journal for many years after I ducted a phone interview with Arun Gandhi, olent resources. returned to South Africa. There were times Co-Director of the M. K. Gandhi Institute for SD: How did you get to know your I wanted to explode with rage at racist offi- Nonviolence in Memphis, TN, on July 25, grandfather? cials, but I knew it wouldn’t help anybody 2006. The Institute is planning a conference AG: I grew up in South Africa on Phoenix and would ruin my life. at Georgetown University and a gathering Ashram, an ashram that Mohandas started So I used the anger journal to help me at the Lincoln Memorial on September 11, when he lived here, and which Manilal, figure out how I could help challenge rac- 2006 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Mohandas’s son and my father, sustained ism positively. Gandhian nonviolent action, as well as another along with many others. I traveled to live SD: How did you decide to challenge conference in Memphis in October. with Grandfather in India for 18 months racism? when I was 12-14 years old. He was a loving AG: I got involved with the politi- Sam Diener (SD): What misconception grandfather, spending an hour with me every cal struggle against apartheid as my father about Mohandas Gandhi do you spend the day, helping me with lessons primarily, as he helped bring together the African National most time and/or energy correcting? did with all the kids in the ashram. Congress, the Colored People’s Congress, Arun Gandhi (AG): Many people today SD: Did you ever have disagreements and the Indian Congress in 1952. I worked associate grandfather’s philosophy only with with him? with him. Unfortunately, when they arrested waging political conflicts, because most peo- AG: I wanted my grandfather’s autograph. leaders from different “racial” groups, the ple I talk with in the US associate Gandhi So many people wanted his autograph he had apartheid regime imposed much harsher first with the freedom struggle in India, and decided to charge people for it and donate sentences on the Black ANC leaders, sow- second as an exemplar for Martin Luther the money to the cause. He wouldn’t make ing distrust and disunity. The apartheid King and the political struggle for civil an exception for me. Not only did I have to regime’s strategy of divide and rule was rights in the US. Transforming political pay him, but he told me I needed to work effective. Some of the young activists in the struggles in nonviolent directions is an essen- to earn money for it; I couldn’t obtain the ANC responded to the intense repression tial contribution. Yet what I understand of money from my parents. I kept pestering by wanting to move the ANC away from its Grandfather’s philosophy is that it transcends him, and it became a running joke between commitment to nonviolence, arguing that it the purely political; it’s also about creating us, with me trying to wheedle it out of him, wasn’t violent to blow up bridges, for exam- economic justice and about how individuals and grandfather gently refusing. ple. My father disagreed with this approach, can transform our lives to live in nonvio- SD: Did he help you personally become and I had the opportunity to work with him lent ways. more nonviolent? on these struggles until his death in 1956. Nonviolence isn’t just for activists. We AG: When I traveled to India, I was filled My grandfather faced a similar situation dur- all need to transform ourselves so that we with rage about the discrimination I faced ing the Quit India Campaign in 1942 when embody nonviolence. This is a challenge under apartheid. Yet I was ashamed of my some impatient activists began blowing up because our society surrounds us with vio- anger, and he helped me understand that bridges, arguing this wasn’t violent. When a lence. The culture of violence encourages us anger is a vital resource for us to channel to engage in violent thinking, violent work, rather than suppress. He said, “Anger isn’t violent relationships, and violent media. evil. It’s not something to be ashamed of — So, too often, unless we are trained to con- be ashamed only of abusing anger.” He told sciously strive to unlearn all these habits of me to write an anger journal. When I felt violence, our first response to a crisis is vio- anger, he wanted me not to respond to the lence. We need to practice becoming better situation right away, but to write and express practitioners of nonviolence every day, just my anger in the journal. These days, I’ve as a doctor needs to practice medicine. heard of other people keeping anger jour- Sometimes people who aren’t necessar- nals, but they don’t do anything with what ily trained in nonviolent struggle will try a they write except maybe re-read the mate- particular nonviolent action, will face oppo- rial and get angry all over again. sition, particularly violent opposition, and Mohandas taught me to address each then too quickly conclude that nonviolence incident in the anger journal, talking about can’t work. We need to practice building our and thinking the situation through until I everyday repertoire of nonviolence so that had decided how to constructively approach when we do face crises we can draw upon each one of the conflicts. I continued keep- © Leni Fried, www.titaniumarts.com

Page 12 September 2006 PEACEWORK train derailed after a rail bombing, causing members, but now the projects are better Politicians in India trudge out to official many casualties, instead of generating sym- integrated. There was a real need for self-edu- functions every January 30th (anniversary of pathy for the cause, it caused widespread cation and dialogue about how to make the Gandhi’s assassination in 1948) and October revulsion. Grandfather channeled this revul- projects more inclusive. Caste was banned by 2nd (anniversary of his birth in 1869). Even sion to win a re-commitment to nonviolent law in India, as segregation was banned by President Bush was taken to one of these struggle from the overwhelming majority law in the US, but this doesn’t integrate our events by Indian militarists. They pay hom- of activists. hearts or our organizing efforts. True inte- age through meaningless rituals. It’s like SD: What is Mohandas Gandhi’s legacy gration requires spiritual struggle. people who go to churches, mosques, and in India today? SD: With your experience in working temples to utter meaningless prayers and AG: Sunanda and I lead a tour every year against racism and oppression in so many then return to their lives of participation in to “Gandhi’s India.” (Sunanda and Arun cultures around the world, are there prin- the culture of violence. Instead, we need to share a marriage, and are co-directors of the ciples and/or approaches you believe are strive to live compassion, live respect, live M. K. Gandhi Institute). I’m excited about central to this work? love. That was grandfather’s, and Martin the new impetus the Gandhian sarvodaya AG: I believe we need to learn about Luther King’s, true message, but it’s a chal- (welfare of all) constructive program cam- each other in order to change our hearts. So lenging message. paign has received from young activists. many conflict resolution programs, includ- SD: Do you have ideas about how we Sarvodaya is not just a campaign for rural ing conflict resolution initiatives in schools, can extend the radical legacy of Mohandas land reform, which is how it’s best known just focus on resolving violent conflict, Gandhi into the future? here. For example, in the slums of Mumbai after the conflicts based on various forms AG: It’s a challenge because we don’t (formerly Bombay), young Gandhians began of injustice have already escalated almost want to accept any legacy as dogma, and we organizing homeless day laborers. Many of to the point of violence. We need to teach don’t want to allow just anyone to invoke these workers arrive in Bombay from pov- students to learn about each other and care their legacies in ways which subvert the very erty-stricken rural villages, but don’t have about each other so that we become com- essence of the message. I believe some people places to live, and their employment is spo- mitted, not merely to resolve conflicts, but who call themselves Gandhians are stuck in radic. As we organized with them, part of the to working for justice for all, for sarvodaya. dogma. Every time something happens today requirement was to save one coin from each This then would truly be teaching violence they want to rush out and consult grand- day of work. For people who have nothing, prevention. In the US, there is Black history father’s collected works as if something he this takes an incredible amount of self-dis- month, and Women’s History Month, but said 80 years ago will contain the god-given cipline and commitment. Yet, in this way, they’re separate, instead of integrating anti- answer to today’s dilemmas. Yes, we can learn as a collective they saved the equivalent of racist and anti-sexist education throughout from Grandfather, but everything changes, $11,000 in two years. This was enough to the year into all of our subjects. What could so ideas need to change. buy ten second-hand textile machines to be more important than teaching students The easiest way to kill a philosophy begin a business. At first, this collective how to create positive relationships and work is to write it in a book and worship it. employed the 70 people who had literally for justice? What could be more important Grandfather once said that when he died gone hungry in some cases in order to save than teaching students about the history he wanted all of his books and papers to be the money, working in three shifts around of nonviolent struggles in this country and burned with him so that his ideas would live the clock. It was explicit in the charter of around the world? We could then ask stu- on in nonviolent struggles for justice instead the enterprise that it existed not solely to dents to identify the injustices of today and of fossilizing into dogma. When the Mumbai serve the market, but to provide employ- ask them their ideas for how they might go project bought sewing machines, some of the ment and help each employee help other about transforming the situation. older and more dogmatic Gandhians con- people who live in the slums as well. It’s SD: In theory, in the US, schools do teach demned us for not using spinning wheels and explicitly an enterprise with a nonviolent about the struggles of the civil rights move- not dressing in khadi (homespun cloth pro- spiritual base instead of a corporation based ment, especially around Martin Luther King duced from hand-spun thread). At first, this on the violence of exploitation. Today, this day and during Black History Month, but turned off many young people, and moti- collective has grown into four large factories King’s radical message of principled non- vated them to reject Gandhism. We need to and a micro-credit savings bank for the poor violence, nonviolent direct action, and the understand that Grandfather promoted the which now has seven branch offices through- need to challenge capitalism itself has been spinning wheel at a particular time in order out the city. coopted by politicians and too many educa- to involve millions of people in a program to SD: Does this enterprise cross caste and tors into platitudinous sound-bites. Has the promote economic and political self-deter- communal lines? same thing happened to Gandhi in India? mination and to create a symbol of collective AG: From the beginning it crossed com- AG: Definitely. Politicians have always resistance to British colonialism. I’m excited munal lines, with Hindu, Muslim, and exploited grandfather’s name and memory, that a new generation of Gandhian activ- Christian members. These divisions haven’t even before he was killed. A martyred hero ists in India understand this, and won’t let been an issue. Crossing caste has been more is safer than a cantankerous critic calling some of the old guard scare them away from difficult. At first, there were few low-caste us to transform our lives and our societies. extending Grandfather’s living legacy.

September 2006 Page 13 PEACEWORK Reclaiming Nonviolence from Gandhian Puritanism Starhawk is a permaculture activist, mem- tributions of women. But for that very campaign of 1963, the very first pledge ber of the RANT nonviolence training reason, we need to examine their legends required of activists was to meditate on the collective, and author of Truth or Dare and legacies. life of Jesus every day and to pray. Three and The Fifth Sacred Thing. This essay is For Gandhi nonviolence was not of the ten pledges involved Christ. excerpted from her book, Webs of Power: just strategic, it was deeply moral, and But King was also a fallible mortal Notes From the Global Uprising, © 2002, it went far beyond eschewing violence. being who, we now know, carried on a New Society Publishers. Satyagraha, truth force or soul force, long-standing secret extramarital affair. was an energetic force that could only We can’t begrudge him the comfort and be marshaled by long and deep prepara- solace he must have needed to sustain the Does Gandhi’s Sex Life tion, much as certain yogis employ special tensions and dangers of his work. But we Matter? techniques and diets in order to command can point out that he follows the pattern Gandhi and King were not the only special powers. It was part of a way of of male spiritual and political leaders from influences on the development of move- life that required forms of self-discipline New Age gurus to Jim Baker to Clinton, ments grounded in nonviolence. In the few of today’s activists are interested in who publicly preach a strict sexual moral- United States and in England, Quakers undertaking: most notably, giving up sex ity while privately indulging their own have long been in the forefront of strug- altogether. needs and desires. gles for social justice. Their religious While no one I know of is proposing Does Gandhi’s sex life matter? Does pacifism influenced the course of liber- abstinence as a requirement for joining a King’s? On the one hand, no, their flaws ation movements from the antislavery direct action campaign, for Gandhi it was shouldn’t undercut our respect for their campaigns of the 1800s to the antinu- indispensable. Satyagraha could not be philosophy, their courage, their real clear campaigns of the 1980s. mobilized without brahmacharya, a com- contributions to human liberation and Women pioneered many of the tac- prehensive self-discipline that included political struggle. tics used by Gandhi and King. Alice Paul sexual abstinence. And not just abstinence But from a woman’s point of view, from revitalized the suffrage movement in the outside of marriage. Gandhi actually went an anarchist viewpoint, and from the per- US when she brought back from England beyond the Pope in viewing even mari- spective of earth-based spirituality, yes, the tactics of direct action. In England, tal sex as a sign of lack of self-control. A it does. Gandhi’s rejection of sexuality, suffragists demanding women’s right to man’s progeny were living proof of his of the body, leaves us firmly in the world vote chained themselves to lamp posts inability to control his lusts. view of patriarchy, split between body and and broke shop windows in an earlier ver- Satyagraha, for Gandhi, was also not spirit, venerating Gods that transcend the sion of the property-damage controversy. about low-risk cross-the-line actions. flesh, and suffering the inevitable deg- They filled the jails and went on hunger He waged satyagraha campaigns infre- radation of those of us who bring that strikes, withstanding enormous suffering quently, and each campaign required a flesh into the world. That world view when they were forcibly fed. In the US, pledge from his followers to be willing to is a comfortable fit with Christianity women marched, chained themselves to die before giving up. Gandhi used all his as well (although certainly within both the White House fence, and challenged moral authority and the weapons of guilt Christianity and Hinduism, strands can President Wilson over the hypocrisy of and shame on his followers to get them be found that do value nature, the erotic, fighting for democracy abroad while deny- to live up to his ideals. and women). ing it to women at home. Nevertheless, And Gandhi was no anti-authoritarian. The revolution we need to make it is Gandhi and King who again and He was a Mahatma, a religious leader in includes a profound change in relation- again are cited as the authors of the non- an authoritarian religious tradition that ship to our experience of being a body. violent philosophy, whose pictures are included a level of veneration and obe- One of the insights of eco-feminism, the carried in demonstrations, whose works dience unlikely to appeal to most of us convergence of the feminist and ecology are quoted. Many pacifists call themselves today. His near deification by many pac- movements, is that our destruction of the Gandhians; I know of no one, not even ifists lies firmly within that tradition. environment is allowable because of the any woman, who calls herself a Paulian King was also a religious leader, a min- deep devaluation of nature and the body or Pankhurstian or Ella Bakerian or Rosa ister, functioning in a milieu in which in the underlying religious and philosoph- Parksian. It may be a measure of the inter- ministers were venerated and strong lead- ical systems that shape our worldviews. nalized sexism even among people in ership was expected. King held a deeply And the devaluation of women — the vio- the movement that we still look to men religious, Christian moral commitment lence, rape, and destruction perpetrated as moral authorities and erase the con- to nonviolence. In the Birmingham on female bodies around the globe — is

Page 14 September 2006 PEACEWORK

somewhat problematic relationship to our use our fear to control us. But often the body. The body is the source of pleasure way this principle plays out is that the — it is life itself. But it is also the source focus becomes the arrest rather than the of pain, need, discomfort, and depriva- action. tion, and ultimately it suffers death. A There’s something to be said for doing liberated world, a world that could come a strong action and getting away with it. into balance with the natural systems that There’s even more to be said for conceiv- sustain life, a world that values women, ing of an action that does not derive its must also value life, embodiment, physi- impact from an arrest, but from what it cality, flesh, sex. actually is and does. And if we do choose an arrest strategy, let’s do it for a purpose Nonviolence And Suffering we’ve thought about and clearly defined, Both King and Gandhi believed in the not just by default. transcendent value of suffering. Now, a certain asceticism is helpful if you are Authority And Virtue asking people to risk physical discomfort, The underlying moralism in Gandhi’s injury, imprisonment, or even death. A formulation of nonviolence is a subtle belief in the value of suffering is a useful thread, but it encourages other moral- thing to have when you are voluntarily isms that contribute to the worthy/sexy putting yourself in a position in which dichotomy. If we hold a punitive rela- Courtesy CSPG, politicalgraphics.org. you are likely to suffer. tionship to the body’s needs, we assume But embracing suffering is problem- a posture of internal violence toward the also supported by the same philosophical atic for women, who have always been self that extends to other strong emotions and religious systems that identify women taught to suffer and sacrifice for others. and passions. And we become judgmen- with nature and the body, and assign them Conditioned to swallow our anger, to tal toward others, rigid in our thinking both low value. not strike back, we have not had a choice and viewpoints. Any behavior that does That essential mind/body split is the about accepting blows without retalia- not fit our model is seen as “violent,” and basis of all systems of domination, which tion. Nonviolence puts a high moral value violent people are seen as deserving of function by splitting us off from a con- on those behaviors, encourages men to punishment. So our very “nonviolence” fidence in our inherent worth and by practice them, and develops them as a puts us into an authoritarian, dominating making integral parts of ourselves —our political strategy. Yet women’s empower- mode. Gandhi and King both exempli- emotions, our sexuality, our desires — ment involves acknowledging our anger, fied religious authority and top-down bad and wrong. owning our rage, allowing ourselves to be styles of leadership. They were good, When we are bad, we deserve to be powerful and dangerous as well as accom- benevolent father figures (although how punished and controlled. Punishment sys- modating and understanding. good they were to their own children is tems lie at the root of violence. Marshall And from the perspective of an earth- another issue), but dependence on any Rosenberg, a teacher of nonviolent com- based spirituality, which values pleasure, sort of father figure is not a route to munication, describes how violence is the erotic, the beauty and joy of this life, empowerment for women, nor for any- justified by the split between the deserv- suffering is sometimes inevitable but one who wants to function as a liberated, ing and undeserving: “You have to make never desirable. We can learn from it; if full human being. Anti-authoritarians violence enjoyable for domination sys- we are truly going to change the world, rightly criticize that model of leadership tems to work ... You can get young people we probably can’t avoid it — but we don’t as keeping us all childlike, released from to enjoy cutting off the arms of other seek it or venerate it. Instead, we share true responsibility for our lives. young people in Sierra Leone because of it as much as possible through solidarity Nonviolence does not have to be the thinking that you are giving people with each other. practiced in an authoritarian manner. what they deserve.... When you can really One of Gandhi’s strong principles was The Quaker tradition of consensus and justify why people are bad, you can enjoy that we accept the suffering and the con- non-hierarchical organization is a counter- their suffering.” And so we see people who sequences of our actions, that we don’t balancing force in nonviolent movements. deplore the violence of the attacks on the try to avoid or evade punishment but The Quaker-influenced Movement for a World Trade Towers, who empathize and welcome it. That position creates a pow- New Society, which introduced affinity suffer with the victims, gleefully demand- erful sense of freedom and fearlessness. groups, consensus, and horizontal power ing that we bomb Afghanistan back to the If we accept the inevitability of punish- structures to the antinuclear movement stone age because the Afghanis have been ment, if part of the power of our action is in the seventies and eighties, pioneer defined as deserving of punishment. to voluntarily go to jail, we move beyond As human beings, we always have a fear and beyond the system’s ability to continued on page 25

September 2006 Page 15 PEACEWORK

Orwell’s Reflections Martin Luther King’s Einstein on Gandhi on Gandhi Tribute to Gandhi Compiled by the Gandhiserve Foundation, Rathausstrasse 51a, 12105 Berlin, Germany, The following is the conclusion to “Reflections This tribute, marking the tenth anniversary www.gandhiserve.org, which operates a com- on Gandhi” by George Orwell, published in of the assassination of Mohandas Gandhi, pendious online archive of Gandhi material Partisan Review in 1949, reprinted from appeared jointly in the Hindustan Times and a Gandhi-related News Digest list- www.readprint.com. The famous first phrase and Peace News on January 30, 1958. It is serve. of the essay is, “Saints should always be judged excerpted from the Papers of Martin Luther guilty until they are proved innocent....” King website, www.stanford.edu/group/King, “I believe that Gandhi’s views were the © The Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr. most enlightened of all the political men I have never been able to feel much liking (sic) in our time. We should strive to do for Gandhi, but I do not feel sure that as a Mahatma Gandhi has done more than things in his spirit: not to use violence in political thinker he was wrong in the main, any other person in history to reveal that fighting for our cause, but by non-partici- nor do I believe that his life was a failure. social problems can be solved without pation in anything you believe is evil.” It is curious that when he was assassinated, resorting to primitive methods of violence. - Albert Einstein many of his warmest admirers exclaimed sor- In this sense he is more than a saint of India. rowfully that he had lived just long enough He belongs — as they said of Abraham Einstein’s Letter to Gandhi to see his life work in ruins, because India Lincoln — to the ages. In our struggle September 27, 1931 was engaged in a civil war which had always against racial segregation in Montgomery, Respected Mr. Gandhi! been foreseen as one of the byproducts of the Alabama, I came to see, at a very early stage, I use the presence of your friend in our transfer of power. But it was not in trying that a synthesis of Gandhi’s method of non- home to send you these lines. You have to smooth down Hindu-Moslem rivalry that violence and the Christian ethic of love is shown, through your works, that it is pos- Gandhi had spent his life. His main politi- the best weapon available to Negroes for sible to succeed without violence even with cal objective, the peaceful ending of British this struggle for freedom and human dig- those who have not discarded the method rule, had after all been attained.... nity. It may well be that the Gandhian of violence. We may hope that your exam- The British did get out of India without approach will bring about a solution to ple will spread beyond the borders of your fighting, an event which very few observers the race problem in America. His spirit is country and will help to establish an inter- indeed would have predicted until about a a continual reminder to oppressed people national authority, respected by all, that year before it happened. On the other hand, that it is possible to resist evil and yet not will take decisions and replace war con- this was done by a Labour government, and resort to violence. flicts. it is certain that a Conservative govern- The Gandhian influence in some way With sincere admiration, ment... would have acted differently. But still speaks to the conscience of the world Yours A. Einstein. if... there had grown up in Britain a large as nations grapple with international I hope that I will be able to meet you body of opinion sympathetic to Indian inde- problems. If we fail, on an international face to face some day. pendence, how far was this due to Gandhi’s scale, to follow the Gandhian principle of personal influence? nonviolence, we may end up by destroy- An Excerpt From And if, as may happen, India and Britain ing ourselves through the misuse of our Einstein’s Notes finally settle down into a decent and friendly own instruments. The choice is no longer (translated from the German): relationship, will this be partly because between violence and nonviolence. It is now Mahatma Gandhi’s life achievement Gandhi, by keeping up his struggle obsti- either nonviolence or non-existence. stands unique in political history. He nately and without hatred, disinfected the I myself gained this insight from Gandhi. has invented a completely new and political air? That one even thinks of asking When I was in theological school, I thought humane means for the liberation war of such questions indicates his stature. the only way we could solve our problem an oppressed country, and practiced it with One may feel, as I do, a sort of aesthetic of segregation was an armed revolt. I felt greatest energy and devotion. The moral distaste for Gandhi, one may reject the that the Christian ethic of love was con- influence he had on the consciously think- claims of sainthood made on his behalf (he fined to individual relationships. I could ing human being of the entire civilized never made any such claim himself...), one not see how it could work in social con- world will probably be much more lasting may also reject sainthood as an ideal and flict. Then I read Gandhi’s ethic of love as than it seems in our time with its overesti- therefore feel that Gandhi’s basic aims were revealed in Jesus but raised to a social strat- mation of brutal violent forces.... anti-human and reactionary: but regarded egy for social transformation. This lifts love We may all be happy and grateful that simply as a politician, and compared with from individual relationships to the place of destiny gifted us with such an enlightened the other leading political figures of our social transformation. This Gandhi helped contemporary, a role model for the gener- time, how clean a smell he has managed to us to understand, and for this we are grate- ations to come. leave behind! ful a decade after his death.

Page 16 September 2006 PEACEWORK Nonviolent Peaceforce: What to say YES to when we say NO to War Donna Howard helped establish the vent death and destruction and protect to do their work. Nonviolent Peaceforce and currently serves on human rights, thus creating the space for Our field team members are paid in order its International Governance Council, 425 local groups to struggle nonviolently, enter to increase the legitimacy and professional- Oak Grove Street, Minneapolis, MN, 55403, into dialogue, and seek peaceful resolution. ism of nonviolent conflict intervention and 612/871-0005, www.nonviolentpeaceforce. NP currently has a team of 30 in Sri Lanka to assure that the role is equally accessible to org, [email protected]. providing accompaniment as unarmed body- peacekeepers from richer and poorer coun- guards for civil society activists, offering a tries (though the cash they have available to “Of course we will win. All they have is guns.” protective presence in villages and at pub- them on-site is calibrated to local prices so – Aung San Suu Kyi lic events, monitoring volatile situations, as to reduce their disruptive effect on local War gets the headlines and militarism gets consulting with local people on options for economies and to help focus attention on the budget. It is a tragic knee-jerk reaction to what to do in crisis situations, providing safe their peacemaking role). conflict that will continue until we demon- places to meet, and much more. Our team We consciously rooted ourselves in the strate an alternative so strong and effective there has seen the beginnings of a re-emer- Gandhian idea of Shanti Sena. During our that it gets both headlines and the resources gence of civil society in communities where convening event in Delhi we gathered in the it deserves. That has not happened yet, fear of violence had driven it underground. garden where Gandhi was shot, praying and though third party nonviolent intervention Local and regional dialogues between dif- singing in many languages and spiritualities. (TPNI) has a long and demonstrated his- ferent groups caught up in the conflict have The Mahatma’s granddaughter, Ela Gandhi, tory of success in Gandhi’s implementation begun to replace communal violence in par- spoke gently then, assuring us, “My grandfa- of and vision for a shanti sena (Peace Army), ticular places. Mothers have been able to ther would be very happy today.” and in the work of nonviolent intervention reclaim children who were abducted as child All combatants are trained to do is fight. teams from Peace Brigades International, soldiers. Yet Sri Lanka remains on the brink We must be there to protect those who Christian Peacemaker Teams, Fellowship of of return to war. It is far from possible that have the creativity and strength to choose a Reconciliation, the International Solidarity only 30 people can prevent war even when future not filled with retaliation and death. Movement, and so on. These groups do not they are dedicated, highly trained, and com- I work with the Nonviolent Peaceforce to answer to any political authority and share petitively selected from around the world. stand with the civilians caught in the cross- the common vision of getting enough peo- One way to expand and increase the visi- fire, with elders who remember a time when ple involved so peacekeeping “armies” can be bility of TPNI is to align with global entities neighbors weren’t enemies, with parents who deployed at a moments notice to anywhere such as the United Nations. The Global want to create a peaceful life for their chil- in the world. It is this combined growth Action Agenda presented by the Secretary dren, with young people who want to create and viability that will eventually become General advocates a high priority for civil- a peaceful world, and with nonviolent activ- the alternative to war that can no longer be ian unarmed peacekeeping and highlights ists worldwide. ignored. NP along with 10 other organizations. NP Each year since September 11, 2001, Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) is a trained, and UNICEF partnered in Sri Lanka for NP has encouraged people to work that day international civilian nonviolent peace force. protection of children from abduction as annually for peace and donate their wages We send teams into areas of conflict to pre- child-soldiers. (or some other amount) for our conflict NP is creating a global model intervention work. This year the centennial of third party nonviolent inter- celebration of satyagraha is very empower- vention. Our staff, field team ing for us. “Peaceforce” is our translation of members, and Governing Council Gandhi’s satyagraha, and we hope our work members come from all the world’s manifests his vision. We are asking everyone regions and religions, are balanced to sign a statement resolving to break the in gender and diverse in age. We cycle of violence: “I choose to break the cycle therefore come into the conflict as of violence. I will seek to resolve my own interveners without a shared bias conflicts without violence; and I will encour- except toward nonviolence. We age nonviolent responses to conflict by my come as partners of local peace- neighbors, governments, and civilians world- makers who alone know how to wide.” For a kit designed to help you hold a

resolve the discord and create a September 11th “break the cycle” gathering, Impact of war on Sri Lanka. Image courtesy lasting peace. And we come hop- please see www.nvpf.org/np/english/worka- Nonviolent Peaceforce, © Donna Howard. ing to keep them alive long enough dayforpeace/toolkit.asp.html.

September 2006 Page 17 PEACEWORK India’s Women’s Peace Corps: Embodying Gandhi’s Idea for a Peace Army Krishna Mallick is Chair of the Philosophy the truth as we understand it, and to appreci- refusing to cooperate with any invader. Department, Salem State University, and ate the truth in others. The following are the Disarmament — Follow unilateral/bilat- author of An Anthology of Nonviolence: some of the means to pursue Truth: eral/multilateral approaches in stopping the Historical and Contemporary Voices. Nonviolent Communication — express- production and deployment of all kinds of ing oneself directly and listening intently to weapons. It also means abolishing the exist- One of Mohandas Gandhi’s lasting lega- what others have to say. Engaging in com- ing conventional, nuclear, and other kind cies is the idea that we could replace militaries passionate dialogue to build constructive of lethal weapons. Gandhi said, “Peace will with shanti senas, unarmed peace brigades. In relationships, even with opponents. never come until the great powers coura- 1938, he wrote, “Some time ago I suggested Transparency — Being open to oneself as geously decide to disarm themselves.” the formation of Peace Brigades whose mem- well as to others. bers would risk their lives in dealings with Pluralism — Respect of religions and III. Removing Structural Violence riots, especially communal. The idea was that beliefs other than one’s own. this brigade should substitute [for] the police Conscientization — This is the pro- At present, one of the crucial problems is and even the military.” During his lifetime, cess of learning to understand oneself and structural violence, the prevalence of inequal- he was only able to implement the shanti sena one’s relationships with nature, culture, and ity, injustice, and exploitation. This has to concept on a limited scale, though the results power. Both the use of the spinning wheel be challenged and new structures have to in stopping the Hindu-Moslem violence in to produce homespun cloth (and boycott be built. For that, the following means are Calcutta in 1947, for example, were nothing British goods) and the salt satyagraha were required: short of astounding. It is worth explaining campaigns designed, among other things, Nonviolent Direct Action (satya- Gandhi’s conception of shanti sena in detail to conscientize millions about the power graha)—This involves non-cooperation and before exploring a contemporary implemen- Indians had to declare independence from self-suffering for the issues of justice and tation of the idea, the Mahila Shanti Sena Great Britain by practicing self-determi- freedom. It becomes satyagraha when it is (Women’s Peace Corps). nation. associated with truth, love, and spirituality. Gandhi believed that peace should also Transformation — This refers to a Nonviolent direct action needs planning, be waged like war is waged. Gandhi said, willingness to change when we come to strategy, training and leadership to coun- “A soldier of peace, unlike the one of the appreciate new perspectives or more com- ter violence. sword, has to give all his (sic) spare time to plicated truths. Constructive Work (also called construc- the promotion of peace alike in war time as tive program) — a long–term strategy to in peace time. His work in peace time is… II. Stopping and preventing build parallel and alternative peace struc- direct violence [the] prevention of, [and] also that of prep- tures in all spheres of life. aration for, war time.” By this, Gandhi means the peaceful reso- Nonviolent Organization and Managerial In his article in Gandhi Marg, Jan – March lution of conflict and responding to violence Skills — developing institutions based on the 2002, “Mahatma Gandhi’s Peace Army: A with determined nonviolent resistance. principles of the democratic participation of Paradigm,” M. William Baskaran explains in Gandhi said, “In the age of the atom bomb, everyone involved, care for others, and the great detail the five major integrally related unadulterated nonviolence is the only force avoidance of exploitation. guiding principles of an ideal shanti sainik that can confound all the tricks of violence (member of a peace army). For each of the put together.” IV. Nonviolent Ethics and Values guiding principles, Baskaran explains the The following are the means: means shanti sainiks could use to pursue Skills for Peace-Making and the Peaceful Shanti sainiks must repudiate all kinds of these principles (utilizing language and con- Resolution of Conflict — Adopting a win- lethal force — individual killing, the mass cepts which, at times, post-date Mohandas win approach to counseling, dialogue, killing of war, and instead nourish the val- Gandhi). To summarize Baskaran’s ideas: negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and legal ues of love, compassion, reconciliation, and and judicial proceedings. service towards others. To practice these val- I. Search for Truth Crisis Intervention — Putting oneself in ues, the following is recommended: Gandhi pursued Truth throughout his between parties in conflict, undertaking dis- Relief, Rehabilitation, and Humanitarian life. He made a distinction between absolute pute management. Assistance — when natural and/or human- Truth (which only God could know) and rel- Alternative Defense — Deter and defeat caused disasters happen, shanti sainiks should ative truth. As it is impossible for us to know internal and external attacks by developing be available to help. the absolute Truth, he suggested that we need a human wall against any invading army and Alternative Lifestyles — Gandhi proposed to make conscious, constant, efforts to seek organizing nonviolent civilian defense by giving up materialistic consumer culture and

Page 18 September 2006 PEACEWORK the cultivation of a self-sufficient nonvio- run primary schools, health camps, women’s by following the guiding principles of shanti lent lifestyle. peace training, small-scale industrial work- sena — compassionate communication, dia- Interpersonal and Intergroup Relationships shops and other programs. logue, respecting all religions and castes, — Cultivation of positive inter-group and One of the main reasons behind starting developing skills for peacemaking, nonvi- interpersonal relationships across commu- the Mahila Shanti Sena was the amend- olent ethics and values and others. Mahila nal, caste, and other lines. ment of the Indian Constitution in 1992 Shanti Sena has now spread to other parts of Eco-friendliness — Reverence for all liv- giving rural villages autonomy in gover- India including Assam, Manipur, Arunachal ing beings is expected. No harm should be nance as well as the reservation of 30% of Pradesh, and others. done to the environment. seats in all elected bodies for women. The Mahila Shanti Sena as a rural women’s latter amendment has led to the election of development project is likely to be more suc- V. Inner Peace thousands of rural women to village coun- cessful due to the following reasons: A shanti sainik must have inner peace, as cils (Panchayats). First, it is a grassroots movement with without inner peace it cannot be transmit- As most of these women are illiterate, a lit- assistance from the Gandhian organization, ted outside. tle training in the area of peace, democracy, Shramabharati Khadigram, that has spent The following training is required: and development has been very helpful. This more than fifty years focusing on the needs Training for Peace and Nonviolence — raises mass awareness among women to real- of the rural people in Bihar, one of the poor- Gandhi said, “just as one must learn the art ize their strength and power, which in turn, est and most illiterate states in India. of killing in the training for violence, so one can influence policy priorities at the local Second, it does not have any political must learn the art of dying in the training level in a way that meets the needs of women, agendas and refuses funding from political for nonviolence.” children, families, and neighborhoods. With parties. It is funded by the financial contri- Peace Games — Instead of competitive this training they develop courage and dare butions of women participants themselves games, cooperative games should be played to ask questions in their village council. and other private institutions. Most of the to build a peaceful society. Mahila Shanti Sena consists of at least 5 women involved in the movement are volun- Transformative Practices — Practices such or 10 women from each village. The mem- teers and are committed to making positive as yoga, meditation, prayer, and self-intro- bership is voluntary and involves training changes in their communities. spection should be practiced. ranging from three to five days in peace Third, it is a movement that includes men building, the practices of democracy, and and women from any caste and all socio-eco- The Women’s Peace Corps economic development. Initially, through nomic strata. Gandhi insisted that the power of orga- lectures, discussions, and role-playing Fourth, it is non-hierarchical and is based nized nonviolence is stronger and longer around issues like the status and rights on a collaborative partnership method. Like lasting than the power of might. The Mahila of women in India, barriers to women’s Gandhi’s own life, it is experimental and is Shanti Sena (Women’s Peace Corps) was advancement, such as dowry, child marriage, subject to self-assessment, with the flexibil- founded in 2002 at Vaishali Sabha (Vaishali alcoholism among men, domestic violence, ity to make changes when necessary. Assembly) in the northeast Indian state of economic dependence and others, women Lastly, its focus is on peace building, con- Bihar in order to embody these principles. learn conflict resolution techniques and work flict resolution, and problem solving skills. The co-sponsoring organization is to identify possible solutions to local issues. Village women in India are faced with vio- Shramabharati, founded in 1952, which has Village council governance is also discussed. lence at different levels. With these simple Then, these women take an oath to remain tools, women are able to deal with violence non-partisan and work across party lines to in a more constructive way. create peace in the village. Other organizations modeled on shanti On October 31, 2000, the United sena are better known in the West, includ- Subscribe to Nations Security Council unanimously ing Peace Brigades International (PBI) and Peacework! adopted resolution 1325 on women, peace, Witness for Peace, which have advanced the Now on-line at and security. This resolution reaffirms “the concept of nonviolent intervention and have important role of women in the prevention achieved success in Central America. The www.afscstore.org and resolution of conflicts and in peace- Nonviolent Peaceforce (see page 17) was building, and [stresses] the importance of founded in India in 2002 by seventy mem- Order a subscription for your- their equal participation and full involve- ber organizations in Africa, Asia, Europe, self and add gift subscriptions ment in all efforts for the maintenance and Latin America, the Middle East and North for peace-loving friends! We’ll promotion of peace and security and the America. It is coordinating its first field proj- send a card. need to increase their role in decision mak- ect in Sri Lanka. All of these organizations Also available: books, cards, ing with regard to conflict prevention and and many more have been inspired, to a large caps, fair trade products, t-shirts, resolution.” Mahila Shanti Sena stands as a extent, by Gandhi’s concept of shanti sena: tote bags, and more! proof of this central role of women in creat- responding to violence through transforma- ing and maintaining peaceful communities tive nonviolent action.

September 2006 Page 19 PEACEWORK Gandhi’s Insights Gave People Courage to Defy Chile’s Dictatorship Roberta Bacic is a Chilean human rights painted on the walls at night at great risk The movement denounced torture. It researcher and activist who now lives in to safety. Underlying these actions was left to other entities the task of investi- Northern Ireland. She has worked with the principle of active nonviolence: since gating and making declarations. It had War Resisters International’s Dealing with there is injustice, the first requirement is no meeting place, no secretariat, no the Past Program. to report it, otherwise we are accomplices. infrastructure. It met in the streets and The clandestine actions helped spread the plazas when it was time to act. It had On September 11, 1973, the Chilean principle of telling the truth and acting no membership list. Participants came junta, backed by the CIA and the Nixon on it. Yet, despite the risks, we needed by personal invitation, as the movement Administration, overthrew the demo- to move beyond clandestine protests: we had to avoid infiltration from the secret cratically elected government of Socialist needed to move the protests against the police and other repressive institutions. President Salvador Allende. Priscilla Chilean junta into the public arena. Instructions were passed from person to Hayner, in her book Unspeakable Truths, person. Participants were mainly trained Confronting State Terror and Atrocity Activating the Public during the actions themselves, where we Movement against Torture (2001) outlines the devastating impact: evaluated each action on the spot. “The regime espoused a virulent anti- José Aldunate, a Jesuit priest who Participants faced legal and illegal communism to justify its repressive became the leader of the Sebastian sanctions when detained and prosecuted tactics, which included mass arrests, tor- Acevedo Movement Against Torture in as they often were. Tear gas, beatings, ture (estimates of the number of people Chile, says in his memoirs, “A comrade detention, and prosecution were com- tortured range from 50,000 to 200,000), came to us and brought up the fact (of mon practices used in retaliation against killings, and disappearances.” The dicta- torture). We educated ourselves about demonstrators. Torture was also a possible torship assassinated, tortured, and exiled torture and about the dynamics of non- consequence of being arrested. Not only thousands of political opponents and violence. We watched a film on Mahatma Sebastian Acevedo movement participants visionaries. Gandhi. I was more motivated [to protest faced these sanctions, also reporters and Under these conditions, a foreboding against] poverty, but I responded to the journalists willing to report on the actions silence, the result of threats and terror, discipline of the group. We deliberated and the issues that were exposed. hung over Chile. Some of us wondered, and decided to undertake a nonviolent At some of the actions, there were “could Gandhian insights about the demonstration to denounce torture... to as many as 300 participants. Some 500 power of nonviolence help the struggle break the barriers of silence and hiding people participated in total. There were to defy the terror?” with regards to torture, we had an obliga- Christians and non-Christians, priests, Nonviolence refers to a philosophy tion to denounce it in public. We needed monks, slum dwellers, students, aged and strategy of conflict resolution, a to shake the population’s conscience.” persons, homemakers, and members of means of fighting injustice, and — in a On September 14, 1983, ten years various human rights movements; people broader sense — a way of life, developed after the regime took power, the anti-tor- of every class, ideology, and walk of life. and employed by Gandhi and by follow- ture movement was born in an action in The main goal was to get rid of torture ers all around the world. Nonviolence, front of the headquarters of the National in Chile. The means chosen was to shake then, is action that does not do or allow Investigation Center, 1470 Borgoño St., up national awareness (consciousness injustice. in Santiago. Around 70 persons inter- raising) and rouse the conscience of the rupted traffic, unfurling a banner which nation until the regime would get rid of Crying Out the Truth read “Torturing Done Here.” They torture or the country would get rid of the A few of us decided to try to inspire shouted their denunciation and sang a regime. In 1988, after a widespread anti- others to speak up against the dictator- hymn to liberty. The group returned to intimidation campaign, the nonviolent ship by “crying out the truth.” We faced this scene to denounce the regime’s crimes “Chile Sí, Pinochet No” campaign helped, a double suffering: the pain involved in against humanity at least once a month to Pinochet’s shock, to defeat a plebiscite enduring the dictatorship’s violence, and until 1990. designed to ratify Pinochet’s rule. the suffering caused by keeping silent out In order to act, we needed to openly Efforts to end the culture of impunity of fear. To not cry out while those we love defy the State of Emergency provisions that arose during the Pinochet years, and were killed, tortured, and disappeared decreed by the junta in order to terror- to engage in national reconciliation, con- was unendurable. Clandestine pamphlets ize the population. We needed to break tinue, but nonviolent protest provided and leaflets were printed. Slogans that through our own sense of powerlessness, an important means, amongst others, to denounced human rights violations were isolation, and fear. overthrow the dictatorship.

Page 20 September 2006 PEACEWORK

Globalizing Nonviolence in an African Context Matt Meyer is a co-convener of the War (where she currently resides), Moudoumbou skills, resources, and training techniques.” Resisters International (WRI) Africa Working emphasized the importance of ongoing work Light Wilson Agwana shared stories of Group, and author of Time is Tight: Urgent throughout Africa and amongst Africans liv- the Sudanese Organization for Nonviolence Tasks for Educational Transformation - ing in Europe in support of United Nations and Development (SONAD), for which he Eritrea, South Africa, and the USA (Africa Security Council Resolution 1325. The res- serves as executive director. SONAD was World Press, 2006) and Guns and Gandhi olution, adopted in 2000, marked the first founded in 1994 as a response to the mar- in Africa. Meyer interviewed several mem- time the Security Council addressed the dis- ginalization of youth in the decision making bers of the WRI working group at the WRI proportionate and unique impact of armed process of the country. Adhering to the belief triennial Conference in Germany, July 2006, conflict on women. and conviction that just, peaceful, and dem- which focused on Globalizing Nonviolence. Recognizing the undervalued and under- ocratic societies can be achieved by people Among other tasks, the working group is gear- utilized contributions women make to who are conscious and aware of their political ing up to promote nonviolent perspectives at conflict prevention, peacekeeping, conflict and civil rights, SONAD believes that nonvi- the 2007 World Social Forum, to be held in resolution, and peace-building, the reso- olence is the best way to resolve conflict and Nairobi, Kenya. lution stressed the importance of women’s achieve a just and lasting peace. “SONAD is equal and full participation as active agents an organization with nonviolence at its cen- Marianne Ballé Moudoumbou, an in peace and security. “We have the power to ter,” stated Light. “For SONAD, this means activist from Cameroon who represents the protect our own people!,” Marianne asserted. a commitment to justice without force that Association of African Women for Research “We’ve been taught to be Anglophone destroys or causes injuries to one’s enemies. and Development (AAWORD), reminded against Francophone – but we are finding We believe that the nonviolent movement us that globalization is not a recent phenom- ways of working together. We must unite to should analyze injustice from a critical per- enon, but began with slavery. “Today,” she make a better world.” spective, working to overcome injustices in stated, “we still face crucial issues regarding Chesterfield Samba, the operations man- ways that liberate both the oppressed and the connection between militarization and ager of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe the oppressor.” globalization. Refugees are the most obvious (GALZ), helped organize a recent GALZ Their work is mainly done through symbol and result of institutionalized rac- conference, attended by twenty-seven groups five-day workshops on the themes of non- ism and capitalism. So refugee emancipation throughout Africa. Despite this achievement, violence and conflict transformation; civic has been a major priority for AAWORD, differences that emerged during the con- and human rights education; women’s along with our work for the closing of all ference underlined how clashing cultures, empowerment; HIV/AIDS education; and French military bases on the African conti- beliefs, and religious perspectives on the con- capacity/institution building at the grass- nent.” Noting that the Western powers don’t tinent have made organizing together quite roots level. The violence in the Darfur want African people, or even the African difficult. Chester also warned, “donor depen- region is of special concern to the people of Union, to have the power to help them- dency has caused some groups to lose focus.” SONAD and all of us working for an end to selves, Moudoumbou suggested that Africans There are many examples of African groups war and genocide. explore ways to empower themselves accord- adopting Western terms; even the terms gay WRI’s Triennial concluded with remarks ing to their own cultures and traditions. or lesbian sometimes create difficulties where from European Parliament member Tobias As the sole African woman on the unity might have been possible. Pfluger, an expert on EU/NATO milita- Women’s Security Council in Germany Western corporate media coverage por- rization. I was honored to moderate that tray the whole of the African plenary, as Pfluger, who is also a member of continent as a horrible place, the WRI Council, discussed the questionable when — in fact — there are motives of the large “peacekeeping force” many positive things going on in the Congo. “The EU is a neocolonial in the continent. It is true, he party,” Pfluger stated at a special session on added, that constitutions are the Congo, “and they have an African plan. sometimes just for the rich, If they can’t accomplish their goals through and groups sometimes are economic means, they’ll do so through mil- working so hard just to survive itary means.” that other organizing needs The WRI is united in its opposition to all get lost. “But we now have an war and militarism, from the production and excellent opportunity to glo- trading of small arms to the waging of large balize our skills,” he concluded. scale wars and “ethnic cleansing.” For WRI’s “Globalizing nonviolence in African associates, globalizing nonviolence is Chileans defy the dictatorship and denounce torture. Image: Roberta Bacic archive. Africa must mean a sharing of not just a goal — it’s a necessity.

September 2006 Page 21 PEACEWORK

Gandhi’s Constructive Program — and Ours

Joanne Sheehan is on the staff of War Resisters of crops, the creation of other village indus- ecological resilience.” League/New England. She is a member of tries, and the development of labor unions. a study group on constructive program in Environmental efforts focused on the whole Challenges In Creating Our Own Constructive Program Southeastern Connecticut and facilitates work- community getting involved in creating vil- shops on the topic. lage sanitation systems, which meant, for Gandhi’s constructive program was Hindus, overtly flouting caste norms. rooted in the reality of the extreme poverty “Nonviolence for Gandhi was more than The process of working on construc- of India. While we certainly have poverty in just a technique of struggle or a strategy for tive program has fundamental benefits, the US, and a growing gap between the rich resisting military aggression; it was inti- the first of which is to provide immediate and the poor, most of us need to reduce our mately related to the wider struggle for social assistance to those in greatest need. As peo- consumption. Our challenge is to develop a justice, economic self-reliance, and ecological ple come together (constructive programs society that does not consume more than its harmony as well as the quest for self-realiza- are community, not individual, action), fair share of the earth’s resources, reducing tion.” (The Strategy of Nonviolent Defense, they build constituencies for social change. our consumption of non-renewable energy Robert Burrowes, SUNY Press) Constructive work provides opportunities within a framework of self-reliance. The nonviolence movement in the West for us to develop the skills we need to build Who should create such a vision for our has, for the most part, ignored what Gandhi a new society. society? What should the process be? Can a believed was key to social change: construc- As Burrowes describes it, “For the individ- document such as the Earth Charter, a syn- tive program. ual, [constructive program] meant increased thesis of values, principles, and aspirations Gandhi stated that there were three ele- power-from-within through the develop- created through an international consulta- ments needed for social transformation: ment of personal identity, self-reliance, and tion, serve as a framework for a present day personal transformation, political action, and fearlessness. For the community, it meant the constructive program, with communities constructive program. In the US we mostly creation of a new set of political, social, and working on the projects they feel are most focus on political action, in particular on economic relations.” In cases where polit- needed? It is essential that there be a common protest and civil disobedience. ical revolutions have taken place but the vision and principles that link us together. Constructive program is “building the population is not organized to exercise self- There are examples of projects in the US new society in the shell of the old.” In his determination, the creation of a new society which are potential components of a com- introduction to the booklet, Constructive has been extremely difficult. In some cases, prehensive constructive program: the growth Programme: Its Meaning and Place, Gandhi the usurpation of power by a new dictator- of community land trusts, the development said that constructive program is the con- ship has been the result; in others there has of cooperatives, the creation of battered struction of “complete Independence by been political regime change without funda- women’s shelters and rape crisis centers, the truthful and nonviolent means.” As people mental social or economic transformation. proliferation of mediation centers, the ampli- who are struggling for independence from The society we presently live in is very fied interest in alternative public schools, an empire that is trying to rule us and the different from India in the first half of the the blossoming of sustainable agriculture, world, we need to develop our own truthful 20th century. But as we look at the social, the exponential spread of free software, and nonviolent means. economic and environmental problems we and the increased interest in community- The core elements of the constructive face today, the similarities as well as the dif- controlled economic development all con- program that Gandhi believed would be ferences are striking. Can the problems of tain the seeds for building an alternative necessary for the transformation and libera- militarism, racism, poverty, sexism, classism, society. tion of India involved programs to embody heterosexism, lack of access to affordable While developing a constructive program equality, liberate education, promote eco- health care, housing, and decent education, can be the answer to the often asked ques- nomic self-reliance, and create a clean and the need for immigrant rights and sus- tions “but what are you for?” and “how can environment. Equality meant creating ash- tainable agriculture be transformed through a we be proactive rather than reactive?,” is there rams, political campaigns, and cooperative constructive program? While there are many enough of a perceived need to mobilize peo- enterprises across communal lines (Hindu/ projects that address these issues, a construc- ple? It is easier to protest the things we don’t Muslim/Sikh, etc.), embodying gender tive program is a holistic approach to what like than to build the things we want. It takes equality, and transcending caste distinc- needs to be changed, a vision based on non- a sustained level of organizing to create a new tions, especially “untouchability.” Gandhi violent principles. Burrows explains, “At the society. But what if we don’t? saw a need for mind-opening education for community level, then, the constructive pro- For a copy of Gandhi’s pamphlet, children and adults. The economic self-reli- gram is that part of the strategy designed Constructive Programme: Its Meaning ance campaigns involved, most famously, to facilitate the development of new social and Place, contact WRL-NE, POB 1093, spinning homemade cloth and the salt saty- structures that foster political participation, Norwich, CT 06360, 860/887-6869, wrlne@ agraha, but also included the diversification cultural diversity, economic self-reliance, and peoplepc.com.

Page 22 September 2006 PEACEWORK An Odyssey with Gandhi David Cortright is the author, most recently, policy that the Vietnam War was part of Gandhi practiced celibacy, I knew, of Gandhi and Beyond: Nonviolence for a larger system of militarism and nuclear but he seemed to want everyone else to an Age of Terrorism (Paradigm, 2006), and insanity that I also had to oppose. do the same. The students in my class of the recently reissued Soldiers in Revolt: Thus began a lifelong commitment asked pointed and skeptical questions GI Resistance During the Vietnam War to peace that has led most recently to about Gandhi’s practice in his later years (Haymarket, 2005). my current position as professor of of sleeping naked next to young women peace studies at the Kroc Institute at the in order to test his commitment to cel- My commitment to peace and University of Notre Dame. ibacy. All of these challenges forced me Gandhian nonviolence began when I My decision to write Gandhi and to address Gandhi’s limitations on gen- was drafted into the Army during the Beyond was a response to the persistent der issues. The chapter on these issues in Vietnam War. As I learned about war and and often difficult questions of students. the book, “Gender Matters,” attempts to militarism firsthand, I experienced what Nonviolence is nice in theory, but is it incorporate the insights of pacifist fem- theologian John Howard Yoder later told really practical? Are the beliefs and prin- inists. me was a crisis of conscience. ciples of Gandhi and King still relevant in The most important insights I take I came to see the war as unjust and a world gripped by the fear of terrorism? from Gandhi are the commitment to immoral and began to speak out for Will nonviolence work against adversar- action and the practicality of the method peace as part of the GI movement, openly ies who are seemingly without conscience of nonviolent mass action. He developed opposing the war while on active duty. I and who ruthlessly attack civilians, as core principles to guide this method: 1) a recognized after discussions with antiwar the Nazis did? As I grappled with these commitment to truth and the meticulous colleagues and reading more about US questions, I found a deeper meaning collection of facts, 2) persuasion and dia- in nonviolence. I recognized logue with the adversary, 3) a willingness that the Gandhian method at to sacrifice and suffer, and 4) the use of its core is a search for truth. direct action and mass non-cooperation. Nonviolence is much more Dr. King developed a similar typology of than a method of social action. the four steps in every nonviolent cam- It is a philosophy of life, a radi- paign in his incomparable Letter from a cally different way of being and Birmingham Jail. doing. An inquiry into nonvio- Through the creative application of lent social change became for me these principles, Gandhi’s successors have a quest for truth and the mean- achieved great advances for justice in ing of life. numerous settings around the world. As I found it difficult to study I learned these core concepts, I realized Gandhi. My attempts to com- that they apply to some of my own expe- prehend his message were riences in the GI movement, especially impeded by the man himself. the willingness to sacrifice. When fellow Every time I tried to approach soldiers and I made the decision to speak Gandhi I found myself intimi- out against the war, we knew there would dated and overwhelmed not only be a price to pay. We were willing to take by the scale of his accomplish- that risk, however, because we were so ments but also by his austerity outraged by the war and simply could not and eccentricities. I was turned continue business as usual. off by his extreme asceticism We were prepared to make sacrifices, and his bizarre and offensive but we were also committed to continu- views toward women and sex- ing the struggle and standing up for truth, uality. When I attempted to regardless of the consequences. There is read his autobiography, My no better formula for achieving social jus- Experiments in Truth, I recoiled tice and peace. It is the ideal to which I at his puritanical preachments have tried to remain committed through and guilt-ridden battles against the years, in my writing and activist com- Activists Paul Watson and Rob Hunter risk their lives to protect baby harp seals in Canada from sexual “temptation.” mitments. I’m trying to follow in the hunters, 1976. The campaign still continues, www. footsteps of Gandhi, to take the long harpseals.org. © 1976 Patrick Moore/Greenpeace. march with him to the sea.

September 2006 Page 23 PEACEWORK Gandhi’s Spiritual Revolution Lives Indian activist and author Arya Bhushan beings. Gandhi tried to use all three faculties internet, and globalization, geo-politi- Bhardwaj is the founder of Gandhi-in-Action, that were God’s gift to him.... Only when cal boundaries have become meaningless. an organization that promotes Gandhian non- one uses all three faculties can one under- It is only the political mis-leadership that violence internationally. Mr. Bhardwaj, who stand an integral approach to life and the unfortunately has been promoting this dead has a masters in sociology, formerly worked concept of God. concept. for the Rajghat School of Nonviolence, the CS: In your writings and talks, you refer The problems of the common person Gandhi Peace Foundation, and the Indian frequently to the Gandhian concept of around the globe are the same: poverty, hun- Ministry of Human Resource Development. swaraj (self-rule). What is swaraj and why ger, socio-economic injustice, mental slavery His father and grandfather were impris- do you think it is so essential to construct- and fear of death. These can be fought – in a oned during India’s struggle for independence ing a nonviolent society? united way rather than through fragmented from Great Britain. Gandhi-in-Action, B- AB: The Sanskrit word swaraj comes clashes. The only sane way is to use all three 29 Mangal Pandey Marg, Bhajanpura, New from Swa + Raj. ‘Swa’ means mine and faculties (physical, mental, and spiritual) Delhi-110053. Phone: 0091 11 22562448,+ ‘Raj’ means Rule. The main conflict that has that have been gifted to human beings. We 91 9811443566. Claire Schaeffer-Duffy is a been persisting all over the world is over the have to “think positively, act locally, and frequent contributor to the National Catholic meaning of “Swa.” live globally.” Reporter and a member of the Francis & Most people think it is merely the phys- CS. Are you pessimistic or optimistic Thérèse Catholic Worker Community in ical (individual) ‘I’ which matters. The real about the relevance of Gandhi’s teachings Worcester, MA. They talked on July 6, 2006. meaning of ‘I’ can be truly understood only for India of the 21st century? through an integral approach towards life AB: I do not think in isolation. I have Claire Schaeffer-Duffy (CS): For many where the physical ‘I’ remains marginal and been humbly trying to promote Gandhi‘s people, Gandhi’s significance is his applica- the individual becomes one with others. It ideas at the global level for the last 22 years. tion of nonviolence to a political struggle. In is only this real ‘I’ which remains ever last- It does not matter much that Gandhi was your book Living Nonviolence you describe ing and universal. To reach a stage in life born in India. Gandhi’s relevance is the same him as a “spiritual revolutionary,” whose where one realizes that there is none other for India as well as for the whole globe. [His lifelong goal was “to see God face to face.” than that real ‘I’ — this was Gandhi’s real message] is as important today as it was Can you explain? goal in life. when he was alive 58 years ago. Arya Bhardwaj (AB): There is no doubt CS: You have said that “identifying one- The mistake ‘Gandhians’ in India have Gandhi applied the principle of nonviolence self and feeling one with others is the way been making is to identify themselves as a to the socio-political issues facing humanity that leads to God;” yet today the world special people. They foolishly tried to make during his life time, through his symbolic seems more divided than ever. Political themselves a superior class, holier than thou. political actions in South Africa (1894– leaders speak of “a clash of civilizations” It has resulted in their reduction in numbers 1915) and later in India (1916-1948). He and religious fundamentalism is on the day by day. By contrast, Gandhi said, “I am did succeed up to certain extent. His ulti- rise. What is a Gandhian response to these humbler than a particle of dust.” mate goal was something more. He wanted divisions? Specifically, how are Gandhians Was Gandhi a Gandhian? Was Buddha a humanity to change from the traditional in India responding to Hindu fundamen- Buddhist? Was Christ a Christian? Buddha, ways of solving problems through physical- talism? Christ, and Gandhi were people who conflict . . . to adopt new ways of nonviolent AB: I do not think that this is a “clash of thought in an integral way and reached the social-change. He did not fully succeed in civilizations.” True civilizations never clash position of “real human beings.” People his effort. actually speaking; it is a clash of narrow may call them God. I have no objection. To change minds is difficult. From time minded ‘Swa’ and the true ‘Swa’ as I have But how they reached that level is a mat- immemorial society has relied on violent tried to explain earlier. It is the result of so- ter of practice. ways which have dominated the human called democracy that the present clashes In democracy, people’s headcount mat- mind. Gandhi had full faith in the human exist, whether it is in the name of Hindu ters. What is inside the head does not matter. heart’s ability to change. He was optimis- fundamentalism (in Kashmir) or Muslim This is the main limitation of the system and tic and continued his ceaseless effort in this fundamentalism (the Middle East, Iraq, this is the root cause of the violence that we direction, throughout his life. Therefore, I both inter-religion and intra-religion) or are helplessly witnessing today. It has to be say, Gandhi was a spiritual revolutionary. Christian fundamentalism (in Northern changed, and it will be changed. I have full The human being has been gifted with Ireland, intra-religion) or Buddhist funda- faith in a three dimensional approach of three-dimensional-growth: physical, men- mentalism (in Sri Lanka) or for any other human beings. It is a matter of time. It may tal and spiritual. But the human psyche illogical reasons. not be achieved in my life time. It does not seldom applies all three faculties. This is We have to understand that in the age matter. My simple goal is to go on striving the biggest limitation with ordinary human of mega-computers, supersonic jets, the until my last breath.

Page 24 September 2006 PEACEWORK

Reclaiming Nonviolence Continued from page 15 A Pacifist Critique of Gandhi an empowering model of organizing. Sam Diener is Co-Editor of Peacework. “Ours is one continued struggle against deg- But at times the Quaker influence in radation sought to be inflicted upon us by the nonviolence movement also contrib- To make a hero out of someone dehu- the European, who desire to degrade us to uted to the drift toward morality plays. manizes them almost as much as demonizing the level of the raw kaffir, whose occupation Quaker pacifism involves a process of them does. It serves no one to turn Mohandas is hunting and whose sole ambition is to col- deep discernment, of constant self-ques- Gandhi into a plaster saint (or a stone lect a certain number of cattle to buy a wife tioning, of asking, “Are my actions in ganesh). with, and then pass his life in indolence and alignment with my values? Does my con- Many of Gandhi’s statements and actions nakedness.” (Collected Works, Volume II, page science allow me to participate in this act were reprehensible, some of which are men- 74). The word kaffir (or keffir) is a deroga- or comply with this procedure?” This pro- tioned elsewhere in this issue (such as the tory term used in South Africa for native cess of deep self-examination imparts a treatment of his children, see page 10). There Africans. Gandhi never, as far as I’ve read, clarity and purity to actions, and can serve isn’t space for a full critique, but a few themes publicly opposed the racist oppression of as an important inner compass. are important to mention. One of Gandhi’s black Africans in South Africa. But if the main measure of an action’s contributions to nonviolent thought is the success becomes how closely it allows us idea that a true dedication to nonviolence Pacifism? to conform to our personal moral values, requires striving for the complicated truth. Gandhi was, at best, an inconsistent pac- we can lose sight of whether or not it is As we appreciate Mohandas Gandhi’s many ifist, in the sense of opposing all wars, a fact actually effective. When our actions again contributions to the development of nonvio- pointed out by pacifists such as Bart de Ligt and again are ignored or seem to have lit- lent struggle, we can’t, if we are to appraise his in the 1930s. Gandhi supported the British tle immediate impact on the wrongs we legacy honestly, ignore his faults as well. war effort in several wars, including the Boer protest, we can unconsciously give up War, the Zulu Rebellion (though he later hope of actually winning. Misogyny came to believe the British were wrong in There are many different modes of a Gandhi campaigned vigorously to include that struggle), and World War I. His role was politics of despair. We usually associate women in every non-cooperation campaign, mainly to organize and participate in ambu- that phrase with the secret, militant cells and organized against purdah. Yet, Gandhi, lance corps, but his personal participation of the seventies that carried out political in his old age, regularly slept naked next to earned him the British Empire’s War Medal. bombings and robberies in a last desper- young girls, including his nieces, in order, he Even after he proclaimed “war is wrong, is an ate hope that the extremity of their acts said, to test his commitment to brahmach- unmitigated evil,” he defended his participa- would spark a revolution. But it could arya, or celibacy. No matter how some try tion based on his perceived “duty as a citizen equally be applied to those who act sim- to contextualize these actions, from my per- of the British Empire.” He acknowledged ply to be virtuous in the face of doom and spective, he was abusing these girls. that he was “guilty of the crime of war,” and lose sight of the possibility of victory. His views about rape were misogynist. eventually repudiated the Empire, but didn’t Such actions may be admirable and Gandhi wrote in Harijan, for example, that repudiate his actions. (See Gandhi on War inspirational. But our time and atten- women “must develop courage enough to and Peace, by Rashmi-Sudha Puri). tion can become focused on the minutia die rather than yield to the brute in man.” of moral choices in an action: Should I Gandhi claimed, if women are fearless, Caste-Based Worldview stand up or sit down when the police “However beastly the man, he will bow While Gandhi undeniably campaigned come? Should I walk with them or go in shame before the flame of her dazzling vigorously against untouchability, Dalit limp? Should I voluntarily place my hand purity.” leaders such as Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar on the pad to be fingerprinted or make Gandhi opposed contraception (he had opposed the use of Gandhi’s term for them pick it up and place it there? It’s not a famous debate with Margaret Sanger on “untouchables” (“harijan,” or “children of that those questions shouldn’t be asked, the subject). His “idealization” of women god”) as condescending, and claimed Gandhi they can be valuable in helping us define as being superior at self-sacrifice, a quality never fully renounced a caste-based world- our goals and limits. he saw as being required of satyagrahis, is view. But when we don’t go beyond them to another form of stereotyping. Contemporary peace and social justice ask, “What is the objective of this action? movements are still struggling to overcome How does each of my choices further that Racism misogyny, racism, the call of nationalist duty, objective?” then we undercut our chances Gandhi often utilized racist arguments to and oppression based on caste and class. of being effective. And they reinforce the advance the cause of Indians in South Africa. Applying the best of Gandhian principles system’s focus on individuals as isolated For example, addressing a public meeting in of nonviolence helps us compassionately cri- actors instead of encouraging us to ask, Bombay on September 26, 1896, following tique the actions of Mohandas Gandhi the “How do we collectively take power?” his return from South Africa, Gandhi said, person, and ourselves.

September 2006 Page 25 PEACEWORK Defining Conflict Transformation John Paul Lederach is a conflict transforma- A transformational approach recognizes and can have monumental purpose. tion practitioner who provided consultation and that conflict is a normal and continu- direct mediation in a range of situations from ous dynamic within human relationships. Heart the Miskito/Sandinista conflict in Nicaragua Moreover, conflict brings with it the poten- The heart is the center of life in the human to Somalia, Northern Ireland, the Basque tial for constructive change. Positive change body. Physically, it generates the pulse that Country, and the Philippines. Lederach is a does not always happen, of course. As we all sustains life. Figuratively, it is the center of scholar with the Joan Kroc Institute of Conflict know too well, many times conflict results in our emotions, intuitions, and spiritual life. Studies at the University of Notre Dame and long-standing cycles of hurt and destruction. This is the place from which we go out and a Distinguished Scholar with the Conflict But the key to transformation is a proactive to which we return for guidance, sustenance, Transformation Program at Eastern Mennonite bias toward seeing conflict as a potential cat- and direction. The heart provides a starting University. Lederach is the author of Building alyst for growth. and a returning point. Two ideas form such Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Respond suggests that vision must result in a center for conflict transformation. Societies. This selection is excerpted from The action, engaging the opportunity. The tilt is Human relationships: Biologists and phys- Little Book of Conflict Transformation (May toward involvement. Respond recognizes that icists tell us that life itself is found less in 2003; $4.95, © Good Books) used by permis- the deepest understanding comes from the the physical substance of things than in the sion. All rights reserved. learning process of real-life experience. less visible connections and relationships Both foundations – envision and respond between them. Similarly, in conflict trans- I propose the following definition: – imply a certain level of “head” work. They formation relationships are central. Like the Conflict transformation is to envision represent the ways we think and orient our- heart in the body, conflicts flow from and and respond to the ebb and flow of social selves as we approach the conflicts in our return to relationships. conflict as life-giving opportunities for cre- lives, relationships, and communities. Relationships have visible dimensions, ating constructive change processes that Ebb and flow: We often see conflict but they also have dimensions that are less reduce violence, increase justice in direct primarily in terms of its rise and fall, its esca- visible. To encourage the positive potential interaction and social structures, and lation and de-escalation, its peaks and valleys. inherent in conflict, we must concentrate respond to real-life problems in human rela- In fact, we often focus on a singular peak or on the less visible dimensions of relation- tionships. valley, a particular iteration or repetition of a ships, rather than concentrating exclusively The meaning and implications of this conflict episode. A transformational perspec- on the content and substance of the fighting definition will be easier to understand if we tive, rather than looking at a single peak or that is often much more visible. The issues analyze the italicized components. Imagine valley, views the entire mountain range. over which people fight are important and conflict transformation as a person on a Perhaps it is helpful here to change our require creative response. However, relation- journey, comprised of a head, heart, hands, metaphor to one that is less static. Rather ships represent a web of connections that and legs. than narrowly focusing on the single wave form the larger context, the human eco-sys- rising and crashing on the shore, conflict tem from which particular issues arise and Head transformation starts with an understand- are given life. The head refers to the conceptual view ing of the greater patterns, the ebb and flow To return for a moment to our sea image, of conflict – how we think about and there- of energies, times, and even whole seasons, if an individual wave represents the peak of fore prepare to approach conflict. In the in the great sea of relationships. issues visibly seen in the escalation of social head we find the attitudes, perceptions, and The sea as a metaphor suggests that there conflict, relationships are the ebb and flow orientations that we bring to creative con- is a rhythm and pattern to the movements of the sea itself. Relationships -- visible and flict transformation. Our definition uses the in our relational lives. At times the sea move- invisible, immediate and long-term -- are the terms envision and respond. ments are predictable, calm, even soothing. heart of transformational processes. Envision is active, a verb. It requires an Periodically, events, seasons, and climates Life-giving opportunities: The word life- intentional perspective and attitude, a will- combine to create great sea changes that giving applied to a conflict situation reminds ingness to create and nurture a goal that affect everything around them. us of several things. On one hand, the lan- provides direction and purpose. A transformational approach seeks to guage suggests that life gives us conflict, that A transformational perspective is built understand the particular episode of con- conflict is a natural part of human experi- upon two foundations: flict not in isolation, but as embedded in the ence. On the other, it assumes that conflict a capacity to envision conflict positively, as greater pattern. Change is understood both creates life like the pulsating heart of the a natural phenomenon that creates potential at the level of immediate presenting issues body creates rhythmic blood flow. for constructive growth, and and that of broader patterns and issues. The Conflict flows from life. As I have empha- a willingness to respond in ways that maxi- sea is constantly moving, fluid, and dynamic. sized above, rather than seeing conflict as mize this potential for positive change. Yet at the same time it has shape and form a threat, we can understand it as provid-

Page 26 September 2006 PEACEWORK ing opportunities to grow and to increase process is key to conflict transformation. To reduce violence requires that we understanding of ourselves, of others, of Conflict transformation focuses on the address the presenting issues and content of our social structures. Conflicts in relation- dynamic aspects of social conflict. At the an episode of conflict, and also its underly- ships at all levels are the way life helps us hub of the transformational approach is a ing patterns and causes. This requires us to to stop, assess, and take notice. One way to convergence of the relational context, a view address justice issues. While we do that, we truly know our humanness is to recognize of conflict-as-opportunity, and the encour- must proceed in an equitable way toward the gift of conflict in our lives. Without it, agement of creative change processes. This substantive change. People must have access life would be a monotonously flat topogra- approach includes, but is not driven by, an and voice in decisions that affect their lives. phy of sameness and our relationships would episodic view of conflict. Conflict is viewed In addition, the patterns that create injustice be woefully superficial. within the flow and the web of relationships. must be addressed and changed at both rela- Conflict also creates life: through con- As we shall see, a transformational lens sees tional and structural levels. flict we respond, innovate, and change. the generation of creative “platforms” as the Direct interaction and social structures: Conflict can be understood as the motor of mechanism to address specific issues, while As suggested above, we need to develop change, that which keeps relationships and also working to change social structures and capacities to envision and engage in change social structures honest, alive, and dynami- patterns. processes at all levels of relationships: inter- cally responsive to human needs, aspirations, personal, inter-group, and social-structural. and growth. Legs and Feet One set of capacities points toward direct, Legs and feet represent the place where face-to-face interaction. The other set under- Hands we touch the ground, where all our jour- scores the need to see, pursue, and create We refer to our hands as that part of the neys hit the road. Like the hands, this is a change in our ways of organizing social body capable of building things, able to point of action, where thought and heart- structures, from families to complex bureau- touch, feel and affect the shape that things beat translate into response, direction, and cracies, from the local to the global. take. Hands bring us close to practice. When momentum. Conflict transformation will be Conflict transformation suggests that we say “hands-on,” we mean that we are close only utopian if it is unable to be responsive to a fundamental way to promote construc- to where the work takes place. Two terms of real-life challenges, needs, and realities. tive change on all these levels is dialogue. our definition stand out in this regard. A transformational view engages two Dialogue is essential to justice and peace on Constructive: Constructive can have paradoxes as the place where action is pur- both an interpersonal and a structural level. two meanings. First, at its root it is a sued and raises these questions: How do we It is not the only mechanism, but it is an verb: to build, shape, and form. Second, address conflict in ways that reduce violence essential one. it is an adjective: to be a positive force. and increase justice in human relationships? We typically think of dialogue as direct Transformation contains both these ideas. And how do we develop a capacity for con- interaction between people or groups. It seeks to understand, not negate or avoid, structive, direct, face-to-face interaction and, Conflict transformation shares this view. the reality that social conflict often develops at the same time, address systemic and struc- Many of the skill-based mechanisms that violent and destructive patterns. Conflict tural changes? are called upon to reduce violence are rooted transformation pursues the development of Reduce violence and increase justice: in the communicative abilities to exchange change processes which explicitly focus on Conflict transformation views peace as ideas, find common definitions to issues, and creating positives from the difficult or neg- centered and rooted in the quality of rela- seek ways forward toward solutions. ative. It encourages greater understanding tionships. These relationships have two However, a transformational view believes of underlying relational and structural pat- dimensions: our face-to-face interactions that dialogue is necessary for both creating terns while building creative solutions that and the ways we structure our social, politi- and addressing social and public spheres improve relationships. Its bias is that this is cal, economic, and cultural relationships. In where human institutions, structures, and possible, that conflict is opportunity. this sense, peace is what the New Sciences patterns of relationships are constructed. Change processes: Central to this approach call a “process-structure”: a phenomenon Processes and spaces must be created so that are change processes, the transformational that is simultaneously dynamic, adaptive, people can engage and shape the structures component and the foundation of how con- and changing, and yet has a form, purpose, that order their community life, broadly flict can move from being destructive toward and direction that gives it shape. Rather than defined. Dialogue is needed to provide access being constructive. This movement can only seeing peace as a static “end-state,” conflict to, a voice in, and constructive interaction be done by cultivating the capacity to see, transformation views peace as a continuously with, the ways we formalize our relationships understand, and respond to the presenting evolving and developing quality of relation- and in the ways our organizations and struc- issues in the context of relationships and ships. Peace work, therefore, is characterized tures are built, respond, and behave. ongoing change processes. What are the pro- by intentional efforts to address the natural At its heart, conflict transformation cesses that the conflict itself has generated? ebb and flow of human conflict through non- focuses on creating adaptive responses to How can these processes be altered, or other violent approaches, which address issues and human conflict through change processes processes initiated, that will move the con- increase understanding, equality, and respect which increase justice and reduce violence. flict in a constructive direction? A focus on in relationships.

September 2006 Page 27 PEACEWORK Four Principles for Organizing in Our Post-Katrina World Bill Quigley is a human rights lawyer and law continue to happen. The other is to look only white. Now we have an additional group professor at Loyola University New Orleans. for the good in order to keep our spirits up at the table. We are having trouble making You can reach him at [email protected] and our optimism for the future well-fed. room. Our justice ideas have to expand. Either one of these approaches without It is impossible to overstate the continu- Katrina turned our world upside down. the other will rob us of the ability to stay bal- ing need for clear racial and economic justice Our social justice communities have had to anced in the long-term struggle for justice. analysis in order to avoid re-creating the start over in many ways. Many of our usual Pain and devastation are very real. Over problems of the past. friends and organizations are literally gone – 1000 people died directly, thousands more over 200,000 from the City of New Orleans have died since. Homes and neighborhoods Growing Importance of Human Rights alone are still displaced. remain destroyed. The Gulf Coast is in a “self-help” mode. But, despite the odds, neighborhoods Our community is starting to see some If you have the resources to help yourself, go are showing signs of life as formerly isolated connections between the displacement of right at it. If you need help from the com- neighbors are introducing themselves to one over 200,000 people from their homes and munity, especially from the government, you another and working together to build their the displacement of other peoples across are out of luck. communities. Volunteers from across the the globe. Everyone saw who was left behind when country have generously come to help out We are surprised to find that the United Katrina hit: the elderly, the children, the dis- and to provide some of the basics we need. Nations Principles on Internally Displaced abled, the prisoners, those in hospitals and The hardest thing in the world is to have a Persons apply to us. nursing homes, those without cars, the work- heart that is totally open to both tragedy and We feel in our bones we have a right to ing poor. Guess who is being shut out of the hope. But that is exactly what we need. return. But there is little in our traditional rebuilding of New Orleans? The same people civil rights law that creates a right to return – left behind again for the same reasons. Race and Poverty Over and home. A human rights analysis is helping Over and Over We have had to start over. Here are some us create a framework for our struggle to reflections on four of the many organizing What neighborhoods are going to be return. principles we are learning as we start over. rebuilt? Where are people going to go to school? Who is going to get assistance and Solidarity Tragedy and Hope when? No decision is made in our commu- Several local organizations have adopted We fight two tendencies as we struggle for nity without the dimensions of race and the slogan “Solidarity not charity.” justice. One is to focus only on the terrible poverty being part of the discussion – usu- People are coming to help us from all things that have happened and those that ally the unstated part. over. We appreciate it. But there is something Plus, all of a sudden, unsettling in being the object of charity. half the workforce in We know there are neighborhoods in our city is Latino. This every city in this country where people have is very new for us. We been left behind. Places where the schools never had day labor cor- don’t work, where people do not have jobs. ners before. Politicians Every city has a little Katrina in it. It is more are blaming the new- concentrated in New Orleans right now. It est brown workers for is easier to see here. the problems of black Use your time with us to develop rela- workers. Everyone con- tionships with us, but also use it to help veniently overlooks the people see the Katrinas in your own com- fact that black work- munity as well. ers were treated poorly Then we will all understand why Australian before the hurricanes. aboriginal activist Lila Watson challenged us: All of a sudden it is “If you have come to help me, you are wast- the fault of those new ing your time. But if you have come because A volunteer and a resident construct a shelter for a tent city, Survivors Village, outside a New Orleans public housing guys. your liberation is bound up with mine, then complex slated for demolition. HUD plans to demolish over Most of our civil let us struggle together.” 2/3 of its pre-Katrina units. The United Front for Affordable rights issues have usu- We need your solidarity. Let us Housing protests. Photo: June, 2006 © Diane Greene Lent. ally been black and struggle together.

Page 28 September 2006 PEACEWORK A Revolution of Empowerment: Honoring Disability Rights Activist Justin Dart, Jr. Fred Fay and Fred Pelka (author of The the love and support of specific individ- reality of evil, and that I was a part of ABC Clio Companion to the Disability uals who reached out to empower me... that reality.” Rights Movement) are activists for the There is nothing I have accomplished The Darts moved to Texas in 1974, civil rights of people with disabilities. without reaching out to empower others.” and immersed themselves in local disabil- This belated but still timely obituary is Dart protested the fact that he and only ity activism. His work in Texas became a excerpted from a longer piece available at three other disability activists were on the pattern for what was to follow: extensive the American Association for People with podium when President Bush signed the meetings with the grassroots, followed by Disabilities website, www.aapd.org. Americans with Disabilities Act, believ- a call for the radical empowerment of peo- ing that “hundreds of others should have ple with disabilities, followed by tireless “Beloved colleagues in struggle… Our been there as well.” After receiving the advocacy until victory was won. lives, our children’s lives, the quality of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Dart Dart is best known for his work in lives of billions in future generations hangs sent out replicas to hundreds of disability passing the Americans with Disabilities in the balance. I cry out to you from the rights activists across the country, writing Act. In 1988, the Darts toured the coun- depths of my being. Humanity needs you! “this award belongs to you.” try, visiting every state, Puerto Rico, Lead! Lead! Lead the revolution of empow- A turning point was Dart’s discovery Guam, and the District of Columbia, erment!” in 1949 of the philosophy of Mohandas holding public forums attended by more – Justin Dart, Jr. K. Gandhi. Dart defined Gandhi’s mes- than 30,000 people. Everywhere he went, Justin Dart, Jr., a leader of the inter- sage as, “Find your own truth, and then Dart touted the ADA as “the civil rights national disability rights movement and a live it.” This theme too would stay with act of the future.” renowned human rights activist, died on him for the rest of his life. Dart attended While taking pride in passage of the June 21, 2002 at his home in Washington the University of Houston from 1951 to ADA, Dart was always quick to list all the DC. He is survived by his wife Yoshiko 1954. He wanted to be a teacher, but the others who shared in the struggle: Robert Saji, their extended family of foster chil- university withheld his teaching certif- Silverstein and Robert Burgdorf, Patrisha dren, his many friends and colleagues, and icate because he was a wheelchair user. Wright and Tony Coelho, Fred Fay, and millions of disability and human rights During his time in college, Dart orga- Judith Heumann, among many others. activists all over the world. nized his first human rights group — a And Dart never wavered in his commit- Dart was a leader in the disability pro-integration student group at what was ment to disability solidarity, insisting that rights movement for three decades, and an then a whites-only institution. all people with disabilities be protected advocate for the rights of women, people Dart went into business in 1956, by the law and included in the coali- of color, and gays and lesbians. The recip- building several successful companies in tion to pass it — including mentally ill ient of five presidential appointments and Mexico and Japan. He used his businesses “psychiatric survivors” and people with numerous honors, Dart was also a highly to provide work for women and for peo- HIV/AIDS. Dart called this his “politics successful entrepreneur, using his per- ple with disabilities. It was during this of inclusion,” a companion to his “politics sonal wealth to further his human rights time he met his wife, Yoshiko. of principle, solidarity, and love.” agenda by generously contributing to The final turning point organizations, candidates, and individu- in Dart’s life came dur- als, becoming what he called “a little PAC ing a visit to Vietnam in for empowerment.” 1966, to investigate the sta- Until the end, Dart remained ded- tus of rehabilitation in that icated to his vision of a “revolution of war-torn country. Visiting empowerment.” a “rehabilitation center” Dart never hesitated to emphasize the for children with polio, assistance he received from those working Dart instead found squalid with him, most especially his wife of more conditions where disabled than thirty years, Yoshiko Saji. Time and children were left on con- again Dart stressed that his achievements crete floors to starve. “That were only possible with the help of hun- scene,” he would later write, dreds of activists, colleagues, and friends. “is burned forever in my “There is nothing I have achieved, and soul. For the first time in The Disabled Peoples Liberation Front blockades an no addiction I have overcome, without my life I understood the inaccessible Boston movie theater, 1987. © Ellen Shub.

September 2006 Page 29 PEACEWORK

Home from Iraq Now Ballot Question; On 11/7, 139 MA towns will vote whether to approve a referendum calling for the US to end the war in Iraq and bring the troops home; To pieces help with the AFSC/UFJP campaign, contact Paul Events Campaigns Shannon: 617/497-5273, [email protected] IWW Solidarity Night, 9/9, 8-11 pm; September 11th Is a Choice: Choosing Democracy Center, 45 Mt. Auburn St, the Path of Nonviolence, 9/11-21; Cambridge MA; suggested donation $10; an September 11, 5th anniversary of the terrible Opportunities evening of musical entertainment to benefit attacks in the US & 100th anniversary of Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights the Starbucks Workers Union, with performers Gandhi’s historic speech calling for nonviolent Under the Law of the Boston Bar Evan Greer (Riot Folk Collective), Jake & resistance to injustice, is symbolic of a basic Association seeks Office Manager; letter & the Infernal Machine, Clara Hendricks, & Bill choice that we all must face: Do we respond résumé to LCCR, 294 Washington St #443, Bumpus; IWW Starbucks Workers Union, 347 to deep hurt with a practice of revenge, or Boston MA 02108; www.lawyerscom.org (no Maujer St #C, Brooklyn NY 11206; do we choose a practice of nonviolence & phone calls please) www.iww.org determination not to give up our inherent humanity? The Seattle Center for Peace PeaceWriting Annual International Salem State Peace Institute, 9/11, 7-9 offers many resources & ideas for ways to Writing Awards; seeking book-length pm; Forten Hall (4th Floor of library), Salem choose & promote practical alternatives to manuscripts about the causes, consequences, & State University, Salem, MA; watch a film about violence: nonviolence pledge cards, wristbands solutions to violence & war, & about the ideas Gandhi & participate in a discussion led by commemorating the pledge, events listings, & practices of nonviolent peacemaking & the Krishna Mallick (professor of Peace Studies) & educational materials, & more; for more lives of nonviolent peacemakers; cash prizes James Hoover (professor of History of India) information contact Sandy Fox, 206/322-9899; for non-fiction, fiction/poetry/play, & children’s [email protected]; www. literature; deadline 12/1; for guidelines & more The Punishment of Virtue: Inside seattlecenterforpeace.org information, contact PeaceWriting, 2582 Jimmie Afghanistan after the Taliban, 9/11, Ave, Fayetteville, AR 72703-3420; 501/442-4600; 6:30 pm; Old South Meeting House, 310 Support Nonviolent Peaceforce: Work [email protected] Washington St (at Milk St), Boston MA; with a Day for Peace, 9/11; NP, whose civilian Sarah Chayes, former NPR correspondent in unarmed peacekeeping teams are working World Peace Tour to Bhutan, 2/1326/07; Afghanistan & later staff in Kandahar of Afghanis Sri Lanka & other areas of conflict, offers a Sacred Himalaya Travel in collaboration with for a Civil Society; presentation followed by program for any group to gather & reflect the International Institute for Peace Through Q&A moderated by Robin Young of WBUR; on September 11 & act positively for change; Tourism is hosting a trip focused on peace wheelchair accessible; sponsored by Ford Hall suggested activities & discussion questions for a in a culture where kindness & compassion Forum, 716 Columbus Ave #565; Boston MA 1- to 2-hour gathering are provided, along with are practiced as a way of life. With a flexible 02120; 617/373-5800; www.fordhallforum.org a pledge of nonviolence & ways to support NP’s schedule, meet Bhutan’s warm-hearted people, work in the US & abroad; NP, 425 Oak Grove, offer blessings for peace, attend a rural festival. The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Minneapolis MN 55403; www.nvpf.org For details visit www.iipt.org/worldpeacetravel/ Account of Wrongful Execution, 9/12, 6:30 index.htm pm; Old South Meeting House, 310 Washington Software Freedom Day, 9/16; organize St (at Milk St), Boston MA; with Sister Helen your own event to participate in a worldwide Prejean; wheelchair accessible; sponsored by celebration of Free & Open Source Software; Ford Hall Forum, 716 Columbus Ave #565; for ideas & more information, www. Boston MA 02120; 617/373-5800; www. softwarefreedomday.org Gatherings fordhallforum.org Keep Space for Peace Week, 10/1-8; ¡La Lucha Continua! Centro Presente invites You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train international week of protest to stop the you to participate in a week of national action, (film & discussion), 9/21, 7 pm; New Art Center, militarization of space; for information on 9/7; Washington, DC; tell Congress to stop the 61 Washington Park, Newtonville MA; $15; events or to get involved, contact the Global separation of families & the deportations; for This acclaimed film, directed by Deb Ellis & Network Against Nuclear Weapons & Power in information or to reserve a seat on the Centro Denis Mueller, looks at the amazing life of the Space, 207/729-0517; POB 652, Brunswick ME Presente bus from Boston, contact CP, 54 Essex renowned historian, activist, & author Howard 04011; www.space4peace.org St #2, Cambridge MA 02139; 617/497-9080 Zinn. Following the screening there will be a Question & Answer session with Howard Zinn; Peace & Justice for Guam: The US plans A Retreat for the Isolated Activist, 9/21-28; tickets available at the door or in advance by to station 8000 more troops on the island of Ferdinand, IN; A retreat for peace & justice calling 617/964-3424. Guam in the weeks after September 11, 2006, activists within the Christian community who as part of its increasing direction of military have felt separated from the mainstream in Pat Farren Memorial Lecture with resources toward Asia; US military bases these past few years of national division & Marge Piercy, 11/8, 7 pm (6 pm reception); occupy more than one-third of this nation’s 35 conflict; with Margaret Silf (Sacred Spaces & Cambridge Friends Meetinghouse, Cambridge square miles; to support a campaign of protest Inner Compass); participants may come for MA; $10-50; to reserve seats, make checks to by leaders of the Chamorro people of Guam, either or both three-day sessions, 9/21-24, Peacework/AFSC with “Marge Piercy” in the sign an on-line petition at: www.PetitionOnline. “Companions of Christ: The Art of Detachment memo line & send to Peacework, AFSC, 2161 com/haleta/petition.html; to learn more, contact & Ways of Living True” or, 9/24-28, “Coming Mass. Ave., Cambridge MA 02140; 617/661- The Chamorro Nation, POB 6132, Merizo, Home to Our True Selves: The Search for 6130; www.peaceworkmagazine.org Guam 96916 Security, the Power of Fear, & the Possibility

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honors daily rebels, radicals, & revolutionaries of different times & contexts; each day features a brief biographical sketch & image of a historic A Declaration of Peace woman change agent such as Lillian Madeira Nagoya, South African apartheid resister; The Declaration of Peace is a nationwide campaign to establish by September 21, Anna Louise Strong, radical pacifist American 2006 a concrete and rapid plan for peace in Iraq, including: journalist; Yamada Wake, Japanese journalist & activist, & hundreds more; proceeds benefit • A prompt timetable for withdrawal of troops and closure of bases the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of • A peace process for security, reconstruction, and reconciliation Bigotry & Human Rights; make checks payable to “Myers Center/Simmons” & send to Myers • A shift of funding from war to meeting human needs Center, Simmons College, 300 The Fenway, If this plan for peace is not created and activated by Congress by September 21, Boston MA 02115-5898; 617/521-2171; Declaration signers across the US will engage in nonviolent action in Washington, www.sheroescalendar.org DC and in communities throughout the nation. Fellowship of Reconciliation seeks to From September 21-28, just before Congress adjourns for the fall elections, replace violence, war, racism, & economic Declaration signers will take action — and support a comprehensive peace process injustice with nonviolence, peace, & justice; — by taking part in nonviolent action, marches, rallies, demonstrations, interfaith ser- FOR’s Task Force on Latin America & the vices, candlelight vigils, and other creative ways to declare peace at the US Capitol Caribbean works for the demilitarization of and in cities and towns across the country. US policy in Latin America & maintains a team of human rights international observers in More than 180 organizations are participating in the Declaration of Peace move- Colombia who have increased the security of ment. Sign The Declaration of Peace (available at www.declaration of peace.org) courageous Colombian communities engaged — and take tangible, nonviolent action to end this war and to declare a new era of in nonviolent resistance. FOR, POB 271, Nyack peace and justice. NY 10960; 845/358-4601; www.forusa.org

For information, contact Declaration of Peace, 2501 Harrison St, Oakland CA 94612; New England No Nukes Resources; t-shirts 773/777-7858; www.declarationofpeace.org. with beautiful sunflower design, Stop Vermont Yankee buttons, bumper stickers, nuclear impact maps of the region: Citizens Awareness Network, POB 83, Shelburne Falls, MA 01370; of Authentic Freedom.” For more information Promoting & Practicing Peace in Perilous 802/787-4276; www.nukebusters.org visit www.broadwayumc.org/publications/ Times: A Gandhian Conference on retreatbrochure3.pdf Nonviolence, 10/13-14; Memphis TN; with Exile: Conversations with Pramoedya keynotes by Arun Gandhi, Helen Prejean, Frida Ananta Toer – Interviews with André Vitchek Common Ground Country Fair, 9/22-24; Berrigan, Victor La Cerva, & Roz Nichols; M. K. & Rossie Indira, edited by Nagesh Rao; $16 pb; Maine Organic Farmers & Growers Association Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, 139 Oakdale 180 pp; The first ever book-length interview Fairgrounds, Unity ME; a celebration of rural & St, Memphis TN 38112; 301/452-2824; with an artist who gave expression to a healthy living; sponsored by MOFGA, www.gandhiconference.org revolutionary vision of Indonesian cultural 207/568-4142; www.mofga.org identity & was exiled for 10 years in the Second International Conference on Buru island internment camp; also new from Protest the Christening of the USS Islamic Feminism, 11/3-5; Barcelona, Spain; Haymarket Books, Independent Politics: The Green Samson Aegis Destroyer, 9/16, 9 am; Bath with Ziba Mir Hosseini, Ayesha Imam, Shaheen Party Strategy Debate, edited by Howie Hawkins; Iron Works, Washington St, Bath ME; contact Sardar Ali, & many other presenters; to learn Haymarket Books, POB 180165, Chicago IL Jack Bussell, Veterans for Peace, 207/772-1442; more or to register (deadline 10/20) visit www. 60618; 773/583-7884 [email protected] feminismeislamic.org The Engaged Spiritual Life: A Buddhist Declaration of Peace March, 9/30, 1 pm; Creating Change 2006, 11/8-12; Kansas City, Approach to Transforming Ourselves & Concord, NH; New Hampshire’s peace & faith MO; an organizing conference for the lesbian/ the World, by Donald Rothberg; $16 pb; 272 communities will join together to protest gay/bisexual/transgender community; with Matt pp; for anyone who has wondered how to the war in Iraq & demand action to bring Forman, Oscar De La O, Marjorie Hill, Rinku manage a meaningful balance between spiritual peace, demonstrating locally as other activists Sen., & Olga Vives; workshops, seminars, & a practice & social justice; Beacon Press, 25 converge in Washington, DC & around the National Religious Leadership Roundtable; Beacon St, Boston MA 02108-2892; country; contact New Hampshire Peace Action, sponsored by the National Gay & Lesbian Task 617/742-2110; www.beacon.org 603/746-4235; www.nhpeaceaction.org Force, 1325 Massachusetts Ave NW #600, Washington DC 20005; 202/393-5177; After the Guns Have Stopped: Searching Not In Our Town National Gathering, www.thetaskforce.org for Reconciliation in Burundi, by Theoneste 10/6-8; Bloomington IL; NIOT is a media & Bizimana & Anna Sandidge; A report from the grassroots organizing project that encourages African Great Lakes Initiative of the Friends community response to hate violence; NIOT, Peace Teams; Hear from 18 individuals & their c/o The Working Group, POB 70232, Oakland response to the violence — not the cries of CA 94612-0232; 510/268-9675; www. Resources those in the midst of conflict, but the mature theworkinggroup.org/gathering thoughts of people who, more than a decade Revolutionary Heroes Women Warriors after the violence began, are healing; FPT, African 2007 Wall Calendar; $15 +$3 she (bulk Great Lakes Initiative, 1001 Park Ave, St. Louis discounts available); a unique 13-month calendar MO 63104; www.aglionline.org

September 2006 Page 31 Weaving in Traffic Craig Swanson is a political cartoonist and disobedience by reading Thoreau’s essay. a speech by Dr. Mordecai Johnson, the essayist whose work, emblazoned on t-shirts Gandhi’s brilliance was his ability to cre- president of Howard University, describ- and other paraphernalia, can be found at ate techniques for applying Thoreau’s ing Gandhi’s life and teachings. King was http://store.perspicuity.com. This piece is theory; Gandhian nonviolent resistance so impressed that he immediately read excerpted from a longer essay available on took shape as strikes, boycotts, and pro- as much as he could about Gandhi and Swanson’s site. test marches. through him discovered the tools that he Twenty years after Gandhi’s death, would use in helping to lead the US Civil Henry David Thoreau was a poet, Martin Luther King, Jr. was listening to Rights Movement. essayist, and naturalist. He And so the mantle was passed spent a night in jail for not from 1st century India, to mid- paying his poll-tax, but 19th century United States, to made the act a medium for early 20th century India, and protesting both the United back again to mid-20th century States’ war in Mexico and United States. slavery. Mr. Thoreau is I think of this as my first credited for inventing the detailed cartoon. I had read concept of civil disobe- about Gandhi’s life, so I was dience (which he writes bound to weasel him into about in his essay of the one of my cartoons sooner or same name). As for Mr. later. Thoreau’s influences, one Gandhi’s image is from a of the sources of his ideas fairly well-known photograph is the Hindu classic, the by Margaret Bourke-White. Bhagavadgita, (Sanskrit The scenery is inspired by for “Song of the Lord”). George Herriman (author of In the beginning of Krazy Kat). The cops came the 20th century, we find from a picture book on Los Mohandas K. Gandhi Angeles that my Grandmother exploring ways of bring- gave me (a book I would never ing about social change have imagined ever using). So through nonviolent resis- many of my cartoons are mon- tance. Gandhi claimed tages of images from all over that he first got the idea the place. That might be most for organizing mass civil of the fun.

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