Tuesday, April 22, 2008

PROF. CLAYBORNE CARSON IN CHICAGO


A two day conference on Gandhi and King was organized by Oakton Community College, Skokie IL on April 17 & 18. Prof. Clayborne Carson, Director of Martin Luther King Institute in Stanford delivered the Keynote address on 17th evening. A dinner followed and several friends from Gandhian organizations met Prof. Carson. Dr. Sriram Sonty who was instrumental in setting up a Gandhi Statue in Skokie by Gandhi Memorial Trust Fund, Dr. Surapaneni from Kitchener ON Canada who is planning to establish a Gandhi Center donating 20 acres of land, Ram Koduri from Chicago discussed on the networking of Gandhian organizations in the US and Canada.

The significance of the year, 2008 - 60th anniversary of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was discussed and to use this occasion to spread the message of peace and justice through truth and nonviolence.

On 18th morning we had a meeting with Prof. Carson in which Revati who organized Gandhi programs in Naperville IL in 2007 and also set up an excellent philately exhibition, Pratap Sampat who coordinated programs for Gandhi Memorial Trust Fund in Skokie IL, Dr. Surapanenii of Canada participated. All these participants are informed of the efforts of Sarvodaya at Stanford.

Prof. Carson felt that there is a need to disseminate peace message to the world through using the information and communication technology available now. MLK Institute in Stanford will make all efforts to making this a reality using the resources in the University and by raising additional technology and financial resources. Sarvodaya at Stanford can play a significant role in this regard.