Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. are among the most venerated figures of the twentieth century. Though worlds apart–South Africa, India and the United States–their fight for social justice and human rights are integral to how the world  has come to view the fight against oppression, discrimination and injustice. Through an unshakable faith in  a universal truth, a transcendental love—ahimsa for Gandhi, agape for King—the two leaders have transformed the lives  of millions. With nothing more than conviction and unbreakable courage, they fearlessly battled injustice with nothing but nonviolent resistance–satyagraha and civil disobedience campaigns. As a result they’ve restored hope, dignity and self-respect to millions of oppressed peoples around the world.

Public Transportation, Indignity, and Seeds of Protest

South Africa,  1893

In  April 1893 Mohandas Gandhi, a young lawyer from the northwestern  Indian state of Gujarat, sailed to South Africa to work for an Indian firm [1]. His first  foray into the law profession in his native country had been a dismal failure, and he jumped at the chance to practice his profession abroad for a year.  About a week after arriving in the coastal city of Durban, in what was then the colony of Natal, he boarded a train  for the 333-mile trip northwest  to Pretoria, in the  republic of the Transvaal.  Though holding a first-class ticket he was unceremoniously told to leave the compartment for an inferior one [2]. He refused and was kicked off the train. Indian contacts arranged a berth for him on a train the following day. To complete his journey  he was required to transfer to a stagecoach. There, he was denied  seating in the compartment, and was forced to  sit outside next to the driver. The coachman took his seat with the other passengers in the compartment.   Later, the coachman decided to smoke and climbed out, sat next to the driver, and instructed Gandhi to sit inside, on the floor.  Gandhi refused, and a commotion ensued.

After reaching his destination, Gandhi discussed his hardships with his hosts, and found that the indignities he suffered were not unusual. He  convened a meeting among prominent Indians in Pretoria (Transvaal).  In his first public address he discussed the condition of Indians in that region.  He also suggested the formation of an association  that  would  be responsible for representing the hardships encountered by the Indian population to the authorities. The seeds of protest in South Africa and later, India,  were planted.

Montgomery, AL, 1955

On the evening of Thursday, December 1^st, 1955,  Mrs. Rosa Parks was riding in the colored section at the back of a municipal bus, on her way home from her job as a seamstress at a  local department store. The White section, up-front, was full. A White man entered. Black riders were compelled to give up their seats to a White passenger when the White section was full [3]. Three Black passengers near Mrs. Parks  stood so the White man could sit. Mrs. Parks, a volunteer for the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), refused.  The police were called. She was taken off the bus and arrested. In response, Black residents of the city agreed to boycott the Montgomery bus lines the following Monday. A group  was formed, and elected to extend the boycott until  a list of conditions, designed to mitigate the humiliation and indignities suffered by Black commuters, were met. They chose a twenty-six-year-old  pastor recently arrived from Atlanta, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., to  lead the protest. The seeds of the modern Civil Rights Movement in the United States were planted.

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