India: Ghandi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar in Gujarat. When he went to college, he decided to study law in England. In South Africa, he learned how racist the government, officials, and people were. He decided that non-violent protests were the best way to go. For twenty years in South Africa; while building a peace force of protesters and boycotters, Gandhi faced violence, persecution, and evil people; all of whom he never violently fought back.

In India, he led a series of fasting strikes, each which would test his willpower. He soon became the leader of the movement to civil rights in India.

Influence on Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King quotes about Gandhi- "Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity. In a real sense, Mahatma Gandhi embodied in his life certain universal principles that are inherent in the moral structure of the universe, and these principles are as inescapable as the law of gravitation."


Often Gandhi asked his listeners to remove the foreign clothing they wore. With spiritualistic passion they took off the garments and piled them at Gandhi's feet. Gandhi would light a match to the mound and, as they burned, tell the people not to buy new foreign clothes but rather to spin and weave and make their own, as he did. By September, 1921, he had adopted as his permanent costume the simple loincloth worn by most of India's peasants.

If you want to hear more on the story, please visit this link to find out about a very powerful man, who knew that violence was never the answer. He knew that peace and self control was the best weapon in fighting tyranny.

Have you ever been in a situation where you wanted to physically fight back? Sometimes it is good just to be peaceful about conflicts in your life, even if it is hard to do so.