SOCIAL JUSTICE AND MY EVENING AT GANDHI LECTURE AT UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON

I have been dedicated to issues of social justice from a young age. In 1992, while working on a political campaign, I transported Martin Luther King III to an event at Bethune Cookman College and was able to spend the remainder of the day with him on a campaign bus. This evening, I had the privilege of encountering Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. The concept of ahimsa remains important today, particularly in light of recent conflicts and demonstrations within North Africa and the Middle East. It is necessary for us to approach conflicts with honesty. I have often said that we all have our prejudices and biases, and if we deny them, we are just as bad as if we acted upon them. For peace and equality to arise, we must acknowledge where our biases lies and seek to confront them through experience and understanding.

-Dan L. Edmunds, Ed.D.