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a r t in
2003st
E
i I t
’ T h H e E r
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Civil rights leader learns about the ways of Mahatma Gandhi
man named Vinoba Bhave who for years had been
walking back and forth across India asking rich
In the late 1950's, an excited group of traveling
landowners to contribute one fifth of their holdings to
companions packed for a trip to India. Among them
landless peasants. Vinoba was called “The Walking
were Coretta Scott and her husband Dr.
Saint," and was India’s most revered Gandhian.
Martin Luther King Jr.
King continued traveling through
Only a short distance from Iran
out the country, speaking and
and Afghanistan, India was
listening. He was absorbing
bordered by China, Nepal
as much as he could of the
and Pakistan. Though
Gandhian ways to bring
King and his entourage
back to the United
embarrassingly ar
States. Wherever fie
rived two days late
went, he was an ob
due to travel prob
ject of extreme cu
lems, a large crowd
riosity to the Indian
met them at Delhi's
people. Then King
Airport.
asked an extremely
Indian Prime Min
controversial ques
ister Nehm, who had
tion. It was a thought
planned a dinner in
that had been tugging
King's honor two days
at him for some time.
earlier at his sandstone
Being that India was so
castle, gladly rescheduled
committed to the peaceful
the celebration. Dr. King was
ways of Gandhi, King felt they
now known throughout the world
should set an example for the rest
for his efforts at bringing all races to
of the world by disarming themselves.
gether peacefully.
His question became one of absurdity in the minds of
India’s leaders were extremely honored that King
many Indians, who feared total disarmament would
had come all this way to learn more about the ways
make them an easy target for enemies like nearby
of Mahatma Gandhi, the late leader of peaceful
Pakistan. With no weapons or military, they could be
resolutions to conflict. It was also a magnificent
easily overrun. The press glossed over the idea,
opportunity for them
------------------------------------- paying it little atten-
to share Gandhian
Being that India was so committed to tion as to not cause
styles of love and
a nationwide panic.
peace with the the peaceful ways o f Gandhi, King felt
On M arch 9,
western world.
1959, Dr. King
show ing great
should set an example fo r the rest o f gave a farew ell
address to a huge
generosity and re- ple
fyV disarming themselves.
spec,, the prime inin-
°
______________________
audience at India’s
ister sat with Dr.
larg e st a irp o rt,
King for nearly four hours discussing race, colonial thanking them for their hospitality and all he had
ism, Gandhi, communism and non-violence. Coretta
learned about the Gandhian way of life. Nine days
and the others sat quietly and listened, cherishing the
later, after going through Egypt and Greece on the
moment. King went on to talk to Gandhians of all
way home, Dr. King stood at the pulpit of the
walks of life, Muslims, mystics, rich industrialists,
Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery,
communists and cynical bureaucrats.
Ala. Sharing his travels to a packed church, he
He also met many African students who were
referred to Gandhi as a saint and vowed to pursue
very committed to the ways of nonviolence. One of
his non-violence ways of bringing about much-
Dr. King’s favorite visits was with a gentle, bearded
needed change in America.
'
LEGACY
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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L if e * llld TlITICS
- 1959 Feb. 2-March 10: Martin and Coretta King spent several weeks in India as
guests of Prime Minister Nehru, studying Gandhi's techniques of nonviolence.
- 1960: King became co-pastor with his father at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in
Atlanta, Georgia. Lunch counter sit-ins began in Greensboro, N. C. In Atlanta, King
was arrested during a sit-in waiting to be served at a restaurant. He was sentenced
to four months in jail, but after intervention by John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy,
he was released.
- 1961: In November, the Interstate Commerce
Commission banned segregation in interstate travel
due to the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the
Freedom Riders. Congress on Racial Equality be
gan the first ‘Freedom Ride’ through the South, in
a Greyhound bus, after the U.S. Supreme Court
outlawed segregation in interstate transportation.
1962 July 27: During the unsuccessful movement in Albany, Ga., King was arrested
and jailed.
— 1963 April 12: On Good Friday King was arrested with Ralph Abernathy by Police
Commissioner Eugene “Bull" Connor for demonstrating without a permit.
■ 1963 April 13: The Birmingham campaign was launched. This would prove to be
the turning point in the war to end desegregation in the South. During the eleven days
he spent in jail, MLK wrote his famous ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail.’
1963 May 10: The Birmingham agreement was announced. The stores, restaurants
and schools are promised to be desegregated, hiring of blacks implemented and
charges dropped.
‘
\
— 1963 June 23: MLK lead 125,000 people on a Freedom Walk in Detroit.
I
-1963 August 28: The March on Washington is held. To this day it is the largest civil
rights demonstration in history with nearly 250,000 people in attendance. At the
march. King makes his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.
• 1963 Nov. 22: President Kennedy was assassinated.
1964 Jan. 3: King appeared on the cover of Time magazine as its Man of the Year.
1964 July 2: King attended the signing ceremony of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at
the White House. During the summer. King experienced his first hurtful rejection by
black people when he was stoned by Black Muslims in Harlem.
1964 Dec. 10: King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. At age 35, Dr. King is
the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1965 Feb. 2: King was arrested in Selma, Ala., during a voting rights demonstration.
After President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, Martin Luther King Jr. turned
to socioeconomic problems.
1966 Jan. 22: King moved into a Chicago slum tenement to attract attention to the
living conditions of the poor.
continued
on page B!4
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January IS, 2003
c o n t i n u e d ^ from BIO
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MEMORY
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c i a f e o t / 1 o
King Visits India In Search o f Gandhi
b \ R on W eber
T he P ortland O bserver
K l ijng
K
N « J
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