Did you know that in the 20th Century non-violent direct action was used successfully in two huge liberation movements? The people of India overthrow their British captors using non-violence and led by Gandhi. And American blacks were able to overcome segregation and get equal treatment under the law for the first time in 350 years by using non-violence.
Non-violent direct action works. More countries, movements, and individuals should use it.
Tonight in Nashville, Tennessee there is a panel discussion at Fisk University featuring many of the Freedom Riders from 1961. Tomorrow 4 buses will leave Nashville to retrace the route of this heroic, but mostly forgotten history.
The Freedom Riders were mainly young college students, both black and white, who rode desegregated buses across the deep South to challenge the states that refused to honor federal law that desegregated interstate buses. These courageous young people were cussed at, mocked, and beaten by racists mobs. Yet they practiced heroic non-violence and persisted in their cause and changed America for the good!
Remember the Freedom Riders! They were real heroes!
"The pulpits, with rare exceptions, are filled with men careful to consult with the popular will, as though there were no Higher Law." --William Lloyd Garrison in his newspaper "The Liberator" during the American Anti-Slavery Movement
"War leaves the country with three armies -- an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army of thieves." --German proverb
"War is the greatest plague that can affect humanity; it destroys religion, it destroys states, it destroys families. Any scourge is preferable to it." --Martin Luther
"All war is an atrocity." --Horatio Herbert
"Before the war is ended, the war party assumes the divine right to denounce and silence all opposition to war as unpatriotic and cowardly." --Senator Robert M. La Follett
"Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon itself." --Lao Tzu
Monday is a national holiday! Merry Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to all. It is a day to celebrate the non-violent changes that overcame legal forced segregation in America. It is a day to remember The Dream and rededicate ourselves to liberty and justice for all. It is a time to be inspired by Dr. King and the thousands of heroes who marched and protested and demanded their rights in a spirit of brotherly love and non-violence.
Many Blogstream members are there
already! Quotes from members: "It's like blog lite!" -- "I like the instant
gratification!" -- "Stop spectating, get in the game!"
If you have not joined in, you are really missing out!
