A Campaign for a Way of Life

If it sounds like wild imaginings, wishful thinking, somebody’s lovely dream--it is.

Those involved in “A Season for Nonviolence, a Reverence for Life” encourage such excursions from reality. Abandoning reality is the only way, they say, to change it.

“We’re seeking to excite the imagination of the American people,” said the Rev. Michael Beckwith of West Los Angeles’ Agape Church of Religious Science. “It’s about really building a society--Dr. King called it the beloved community--where the dignity of every human being is honored and fostered.”

Across the country, religious leaders, community activists and others will embark today on a 64-day campaign to promote nonviolence, not only as a political strategy or as a means of resolving conflicts, but as a way of life and a precursor to action.

Locally, the opening ceremony will be held Saturday at Culver City’s Veteran’s Auditorium, with a program of dance, speeches and music.

The campaign honors the legacy of two of the world’s best known proponents of nonviolence: Mohandas K. Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Today marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Gandhi. King was assassinated 30 years ago on April 4. The campaign stretches over the 64 days between the anniversaries.

“We realized that what we can do is inspire people to do something during this period to break down the barriers that we’ve created between ethnic, religious, racial, cultural and socioeconomic groups and build bridges,” said Gandhi’s grandson Arun of the Memphis-based M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, one of the major sponsors of the event.

“It culminates April 4, but we hope that this season will never end,” Gandhi said. “It will continue to inspire people to work for peace and harmony.”

So far, 98 U.S. cities have joined the effort and 35 governors, including California’s Pete Wilson, have issued proclamations recognizing the campaign. Ireland, South Africa and Croatia are among the nations that are participating, he said.

“We’re just overwhelmed by the response,” Gandhi said. “It’s an indication that people are fed up with the situation as it exists.”

The campaign will kick off today at the United Nations in New York, but the campaign is largely a grass-roots effort and a personal call to action, organizers say.

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Local organizations will participate by holding events during the 64 days, or incorporating already existing activities into the campaign.

Every two weeks East Los Angeles residents hold an evening caminata, or walk, through neighborhood housing projects.

“We have these walks through the housing projects to encourage especially the young people to keep the peace that is always very tenuous here,” said Father Greg Boyle of Dolores Mission.

The next caminata will be dedicated to the campaign. The effort complements the work that has long existed in the community, Boyle said.

“It’s nice to have our local effort joined to a global sense of urgency and the need to return to such a season of nonviolence,” Boyle said.

Linking the efforts of local organizations with efforts nationwide has been an added benefit of the campaign.

“There are many people around the nation who are practicing nonviolence, but they feel alone,” Beckwith said. “What we’re discovering with this campaign is that they’re beginning to meet and network with each other.

“Whatever consciousness- raising that can occur during the season of nonviolence will certainly contribute to the work that we’re trying to do,” said Ibrahim Naeem, executive director of Pasadena’s Coalition for a Nonviolent City.

The coalition was formed in 1993 after four boys were killed on Halloween.

Since then the organization has sponsored several programs to encourage nonviolence, particularly in youth.

Activities during the campaign will vary from a potluck in Pasadena, where a film on Mohandas Gandhi’s life will be shown and discussed, to a leadership conference between the New Leaders, an African American organization, and young Jewish leaders.

“It’s an incredible movement,” said Sharon Evans, who sits on the New Leaders board of directors. “We are tired of seeing the news consist of nothing but murder and violence.”

There was a time when Eisha Mason, the campaign’s Los Angeles project manager, did not believe “the good guys could win.”

“I just am absolutely convinced people don’t act because they don’t feel like it matters,” Mason said. “They don’t feel powerful. We are powerful. All we have to do is remember it and act. I really believe that this is what can work. When people stand together, and when they’re willing to act, we can move the world.”