"Being the Change"

A workshop that introduces participants to the principles of nonviolence.

*Meditation

*Education   

*Group discussion

Tuesday, November 15 

UR Interfaith Chapel 

5:30-7:30 pm 

Open to the public  

Free pizza!  

Transforming Conflict, Building Community: Restorative Rochester

Join us for our monthly meeting!

Thursday, November 17

7-8:30 pm @ 111 Hillside Avenue

We're a group of volunteers working to create a restorative community* in and around Rochester, NY. We use public education and grassroots organizing to support the growth of restorative systems in courts, schools, and neighborhoods. 

*A restorative community is one that uses restorative processes to promote safety, peace, and equality and to address conflict and harm.

The Power of Nonviolence

Ongoing seminar on  

Gandhi & King

All are welcome

Nov 3-Dec 8

Thursday, 6:00-8:30 pm 

Gandhi Reading Room in the

UR Rush Rhees Library  

Contact: 585-276-4962    

We accept donations!

Instructor: George Payne is a peace and justice educator with the M.K. Gandhi Institute   

Visit your local Occupy Movement! 

http://www.facebook.com/OccupyRochester 

 Tree planting & special film screening to honor the living message of 

Wangari Maathai

* Location and date will be announced shortly on the Gandhi Institute website    

  M.K. Gandhi  

  Fall Intensive

  

November 10-12, 2011

Thursday 4:00-9:00 pm 

Fri & Sat 9:00-5:00 pm

  

UR Interfaith Chapel 

Registration required
Contact: 585-276-4962

gpayne2@ur.rochester.edu 

  

Free to students! 

  

* Encounter the wisdom of

M.K. Gandhi and Dr. King

  

* Learn practical skills in

Nonviolent Communication

  

*Master Dr. King's Six Principles

  

* Transform social and personal conflicts 

  

Howard Thurman

 Dr. Peter Eisenstadt

Independent Scholar, Historian 

 

"From Rochester to Gandhi: Howard Thurman's Pilgrimage to India and the Origins of African-American Nonviolence"

  

Tuesday, December 6  

4:30-5:30 pm 

Brennan Room,
UR Interfaith Chapel
Call: 585-276-4962

Co-sponsored by the Frederick Douglas Institute for African and African- American Studies 
Open to the public 

You can always follow the Gandhi Institute on Facebook and by visiting our website 

 http://gandhiinstitute.org

  

  

Gifts for Peace

This holiday season consider contributing to the Gandhi Institute as a gift for someone you care about! We'll send a holiday card to celebrate them as well as a handmade ornament assembled with love by Gandhi staff members. Any size gift donations are welcome.

 

 Click here to make a donation.    

Enter 'gift donation' into the purpose line--we'll follow up with you to get address details for your friend, colleague or loved one.

 

Or send a check along with the name of the gift recipient and their contact information to:

MK Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence

500 Wilson Blvd Rochester, NY 14627

 

 

 

 

  

Dear friends,

In his last Sunday sermon on March 31, 1968, called "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution," Dr. King said,

Somewhere we must come to see that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability.  It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of dedicated individuals who are willing to be coworkers with God.  Without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the primitive forces of social stagnation.  So we must help time and realize that the time is always ripe to do right.

Have you visited or supported any of the occupation movements sweeping this country?  What most inspires me thus far is the commitment to means rather than a focus on ends. The following are my observations from Occupy Wall St and Occupy Rochester meetings, calls, and email exchanges.

I observe a commitment to include all people, which means at times prioritizing the voices least heard.  In meetings, if the voices of any one gender or race predominate, an explicit request is made to hear from other voices.  It's easy for me to imagine Gandhi rejoicing in this principle because of his tireless advocacy for women and for the "Harijan" (his word for lowest caste Indian people).

Another commitment is to overcome the usual fixed images and dichotomies (activists vs. police, left vs. right). For example, before and after challenges with police, I have heard comments from protesters that police are people trying to do their job.  Again I believe Gandhi would approve.  He cancelled his first national campaign in India after two policemen were killed, calling it a 'Himalayan blunder' on his part to have overestimated the readiness and commitment to nonviolence among the people at that time.   

This movement is being criticized for a lack of clarity regarding goals - and I understand that what's usual is to focus on defined goals and plans. Yet both Gandhi and Dr. King saw and spoke to the interrelations between war, politics, and economic life, similar to the way this movement is trying to link these issues and others. How can this complexity be effectively and simultaneously addressed?

I hope you will help the Occupy movement to remain nonviolent and therefore be far more effective in dealing with the myriad issues we must lovingly face on behalf of our children and their children.

In peace and hope,

Kit Miller

Director

"I found it extremely meaningful to read Thoreau's work which left such an impression on Tolstoy, Gandhi, and Dr. King, among others. Thoreau's logical articulation of the obligation of citizens to challenge their governments' actions by refusing to support unjust laws is resoundingly convicting. Walden is a beautiful companion as Thoreau explains his experiment to connect with himself and nature, practicing simple living."

-- Shannon Richmond, Program Coordinator and Nonviolence Trainer with the M.K. Gandhi Institute

 

   

Mark your calendars for March 7-April 2, 2012

 

Portraits of leaders who have made a difference before they turned 30 years old-individuals like Dorothy Day and Cesar Chavez- will be displayed at the Central Library

in conjunction with the

2012 Season for Nonviolence

 

*Contact us if you or your organization would like to be a sponsor of this nationally acclaimed art exhibit

.

 

 

   

 Meet Two More

Gandhi Service Fellows

 Class of 2011-12

 

Fatima Bawany

 Hometown: Rochester, NY

 College and Academic Pursuits: I'm currently a freshman at the University of Rochester. I plan on studying Religion and eventually pursuing a career in medicine. 

Nature of Gandhi Service Project: As a fellow last year, I organized the Institute's first Interfaith Banquet, with the help of its leadership, exposing attendees to the beauty in other faiths through verses from various spiritual texts, religious artifacts, and interfaith dialogue. I hope to make the banquet into an annual event and look forward to celebrating interfaith work in Rochester again this year.  

 Nadya Spice   

Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland  

College and Academic Pursuits: I am a second year Imaging Science student at RIT. 

Nature of Gandhi Service Project:With my project I hope to inspire the students, faculty, and staff at RIT to embrace the formation of a social activism group on campus.