He was thrown off a train after refusing to move from the first class to a third class. They didn’t treat him like others. What became of him? He became a true leader and India’s “Father of the nation. “ His quote is still alive today. Read his quote and the only word I would like to discuss for the Deaf community.
“Truth, purity, self-control, firmness, fearlessness, humility, unity, peace, and renunciaion—These are the inherent qualities of a civil resister”
~Mahatma Gandhi, Indian Spiritual/Political Leader and Humanitarian (1869-1948)
You can recognize the word, unity. He wanted Hindus and Muslims to be kept in unity. Let’s look at the item of the history.
“India was granted independence in 1947, and partitioned into India and Pakistan. Rioting between Hindus and Muslims followed. Gandhi had been an advocate for a united India where Hindus and Muslims lived together in peace. On January 13, 1948, at the age of 78, he began a fast with the purpose of stopping the bloodshed. After 5 days the opposing leaders pledged to stop the fighting and Gandhi broke his fast.”
He only wanted them to be in unity and he did it. I believe that he is the most respected man in a whole wide world! Of course, it's because of the nine qualities he believed in is Truth, purity, self-control, firmness, fearlessness, humility, unity, peace, and renunciaion. But I want to intend on just the word, Unity I chose for my writing.
My wish is to be shared as my writing to be shown. I am not that great in writing, but I just went ahead to post it to reveal the similarity to Gandhi’s belief.
I am Deaf just as you are deaf and as she/he is hard of hearing/ late deafened, and we are on the same surface. We can be in the unity as long as we respect each other ,and will be always in the same core of DEAFNESS no matter how much one can hear or not. Being in the unity as a beauty leads to a better world or if you would call it as a Deaf community by respecting, reaching each other in any way, and educating. Reminding what’s the most important is that ASL is to keep for the generations to come and have all the deaf/Deaf children (Cochlear Implanted, Cued, SEE, Oral) to develop in ASL beautifully. They can be completed!
Join the train and we’ll go on a journey to ASL land! If you struggle with ASL, someone will be your friend and help you to make an effort with digging into ASL. It’ll be fun!
4 comments:
I always enjoy when people write from their heart. Thank you for sharing your heartfelt words with us.
~ LaRonda
thank u for posting about Gandhi
he is one of my all time favorite heros
i hope EVERYONE will watch the film GANDHI - it is amazing
one of the many quotes from him i love is:
some great quotes from Gandhi at:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/mohandas_gandhi.html
Gandhi believed in soulforce
he was successful in leading his nation to independence from England. While he advocated peacefully - England did not always respond so - there were massacres, arrests, beatings, intimidation, discrimination, etc but still the Indians won largely because they had UNITY and a CIVIL and PEACEFUL approach.
sadly after their independence a horrible civil war broke out between muslims and hindus and Gandhi went on several hunger strikes to the point of near death to get the fighting to stop
it is one of the saddest things that often when the colonizer / oppressor finally leaves, the survivors forget their unity and quest for equality and begin to turn against each other
south africa may be the best model of how a country can liberate itself from the oppressor using peaceful means (on the side of the protestors - the dominant group often resorts to violence)
the transition out of the Apartheid system within South Africa was difficult and there still is discrimiination after this long legacy of racial injustice however NELSON MANDELA's leadership was critical in ensuring a peaceful and sound transition
one thing i want to clarify is that being the same is not really what we r after for humanity me think
i think rather we r after being EQUAL
i think this is where some of the hatred and animosity and misunderstanding comes up - when folks try to say "be like me so then we can be the same"
or "my way is better than ur way" if u only joined small 'd' or if u only joined big 'D' or if u only learned ASL etc
we need to learn to advocate for our language and rights peacefully and lovingly without saying u must be the SAME as me
u may be different yet we r still equal - ...we r endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness etc
thanks again for admiring Gandhi
he rocks!
peace
patti
Thanks for bringing up gandhi. I saw the movie long time ago and it made a deep impression on me. I also liked Malcolm X the movie.
Patti brought up Nelson Mandela. Yes he's another great leader of unity and peace and very recent. I remember him being prisoned for a long long time but yet remained a hero to many people. I also remember the other countries incl USA finally helping out by boycotting the white dominant group's government by withdrawing business.it finally broke the unjust power. Its also interesting to see how the white people in South Africa dealing with this transformation.
I agree with you that its time to explore what it means to have true unity in Deaf world.
We do not fully know yet but we have had inklings ready based on our history and personal experience. I've seen first handed small examples of possibilities of Deaf people with very different backgrounds working together towards a common goal.
Can't go on and on cuz I have not yet figured out nor fully understand all details.
But thank you for your post and thoughts.
Let's continue dialogue and don't forget to use DIE! Wink.
Thanks DebAnn,
Gandhi is one of my favorite of all time people. I read his biography. Martin Luther King was inspired by him. :-)
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