Help with preparation for course I am teaching summer session on Gandhi and Civil Rights

[Purushottama Bilimoria]

The threads of Gandhian Nonviolence in the African American Civil Rights Movement 1893-1963

Summer 2011; UC Berkeley;

May 23 – July 1; enrol via African American Studies

 

First, I would like people to make note of this announcement; please encourage eligible students and visiting guests who may be able to enrol, to do so as seats are limited.

Second, resources and collections. Since my illustrated (still and moving images) narrative extends back to 1893 or early 1900s at least, I am making an archive of all images and texts relevant to this historiography. Old copies of The Crisis for example will be welcome, or any publications from renoed press or local papers or Church newsletters or workshop leaflets that promoted Gandhi's work in South Africa and instilled the spirit of nonviolence in the community would be most welcome. (Sample attached from flyer of talk given in sister campus UC Davis)

 

Third, a research assistant needs to be duly paid to assist with the work; resources to help defray costs would also be welcome.

 

Look forward to discussion and input from the community.

Purushottama Bilimoria, PhD

 visit my blog http://purushbilimoria.blogspot.com/

[Shara Lili Esbenshade]

Dear Purushottama Bilimoria,

 

Thank you for sharing about this with us. Sounds like a very exciting course this summer. I want to offer a few resources that may be helpful. At the link below you can access a database of documents related to the civil rights movement in the United States. Here, you can search for documents based on keywords, which will allow you to look for documents in which Gandhi or the movement for independence in India is mentioned.

 

A second resource I wanted to share about is Mary King's 1999 book Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.: The Power of Nonviolent Action. In this book, Mary King gives a detailed history of the relations that developed between African American leaders and leaders of the Indian independence movement and the importance of these bridges. She also includes a thorough compilation of excerpts from Gandhi about the potential for a nonviolent movement in the U.S. and from King about Gandhi as well as many other relevant topics. It is a thorough and clearly written book, packed with information. A good starting point for anyone interested in the links between Gandhi and King, nonviolence in India and nonviolence in the U.S.

 

Hope these two sources prove helpful, if you are not already aware of them. Best of luck.

 

Sincerely,

 

Shara

 

Link to the database: http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/kingpapers/article/online_k...

Info about the database from the website: "This version of the OKRA database provides public access to thousands of data records of the most historically important King-authored documents up to 1963 and as well as other King-related material through the year 1968, as published by the Project. Researchers will find valuable information on the types of documents available at a number of archives, the nature of these documents, and their location. OKRA represents decades of accumulated work by the Institute staff, and will be updated periodically with more document records."