From students attending the 2002 SNV Opening Ceremony
By Juan Alvarez
On Wednesday, January 30th, 2002, I went to Culver City to see the opening ceremonies for the Season for Nonviolence. These ceremonies were held at the Agape Center of Truth. I heard how Martin Luther King struggled in America to give African Americans a better life. Mahatma Gandhi worked in India to free over 300 million Indians from British domination. Both men together freed over 380 million people in the world without ever picking up a gun or firing one bullet. They used the power of nonviolence and love to overcome their enemies.
I used to be disobedient but after I heard the speeches on this night it made me realize that I should use nonviolence and love to solve my problems. I would like to thank these two great heroes who have changed my life in a positive way.
By Taylor Williams
On Wednesday January 30th, 2002 five other students and I went to Agape Center of Truth in Los Angeles to witness the opening ceremonies for the Season for Nonviolence. While there we heard Yolanda King speak. When she spoke she inspired me to try to make the world a better place without violence. She inspired me to try to be a better person. The other speakers that evening were also very inspiring. I hope that at some point in your life you will experience what I experienced that evening. If somebody asked me today if I’d rather live with violence or nonviolence, I would say nonviolence. I hope you will make the same decision at some point in your life.
By Tia Lucero
The Season for Nonviolence was a new experience for me. It taught me a lot about what was happening in the world today, and what is was like for people forty years ago. Mahatma Gandhi and Jesus Christ inspired Martin Luther King Jr. and he took what he believed and changed the world.
But now it’s time for the world to be changed again. We have so much violence going on in the world right now, but to everyone here it seems normal. We all know it’s wrong but obviously we haven’t tried hard enough to stop it.
One day it will stop, the terrorist attacks, fighting, arguing with each other-even at school. The name-calling can be just as hurtful as anything else. We don't need one person to change the world; we can all change it together.
By Erica Capelli
This is the Season for Nonviolence. Martin Luther King has taught me to follow my dreams and become the best person I can be. His death was a tragedy across the world. Martin Luther King had a daughter named Yolanda King and she is also inspired by her father’s dream. She believes that the dream is alive and will be guiding every step she takes. Her Father’s death changed her life and turned it around. Martin Luther King was a very powerful person in the world who fought against racism and prejudice using nonviolent means to create change. During the 1960’s the African American people were killed because of their race.
There is a lot of violence in our world today that affects everybody. I believe that everybody is equal and that we should all be treated alike, with dignity and respect. We should love and cherish one another, and be friends with people of all different races and cultures.
By Felix Vo
On Wednesday, January 30th I had the chance to experience something that might have just changed my life. Five other students and myself were given the opportunity to attend the worldwide King and Gandhi: Season for Nonviolence, cosponsored by the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence and the Association for Global New Thought. The opening ceremonies were held at the Agape Center of Truth in Los Angeles. The Season for Nonviolence is a 64-day period that celebrates the lives and accomplishments of the beloved Dr. Martin Luther King and Mahatma K. Gandhi. This period will promote nonviolence across our nation and eventually the entire globe.
One by one, I heard the intelligent worlds of many inspirational speakers such as Yolanda King, first daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She spoke of what she wanted to see in the world but that was not all she said. She also told us what she did in order to achieve her dream. Ms. King also spoke of a certain people that she didn’t like. She didn’t like people who just stood around and did nothing. I have to admit that I was one of those people until I heard her speak on that unforgettable night. I wanted to see a change in the world but I did nothing about it. Now, because of Ms. Yolanda King, I am different. Ms. King also told us of how we needed to transform a dream into a reality like her father and Gandhi were able to accomplish.
King and Gandhi had a tough time and were both brutally assassinated because of their dream that one day our world could put an end to violence. In the religion of Christianity, Jesus Christ risked his life in order to bring salvation to his people. King and Gandhi did the exact same thing. If it weren’t for them our world would literally be in a state of turmoil. You could probably say that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma K. Gandhi delivered us.
So as I stand before you today, I am telling you that if you have a dream for the world, you must make it happen. However, I am not telling you that you have to believe in the dream. You may not care about what I say or you may even leave today forgetting everything I have just said. But if you really wanted to see a change in the world you would hear my words. That choice is up to you and there is nothing I can do to make it for you. I will however, leave you today with the wise words of Mahatma K. Gandhi. He said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”