Civil Disobedience By Gandhi And Martin Luther King Jr.

Advocates of civil disobedience use their morals to support their actions for the sake of bringing awareness to their plight. Historically, many faced beatings, imprisonment, and even death for pursuing a change and a revolution. In the mid-19th century, a man named Henry David Thoreau had developed the thought of civil disobedience in response to his disagreement with the use of war. He refused to pay taxes that funded the war and was jailed. This was the start of nonviolent and peaceful protest. Within the next century, two historical figures, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., founded the art of nonviolent resistance. The act of civil disobedience in the past has changed history, while in the present, conflicts are being fought with

For example, the Unitarian Universalist Association in their article, “The Power of Peace Thoreau, Gandhi, and King,” explained that Gandhi used civil disobedience because he knew that it was the only way that the Indian people could fight Great Britain. Peaceful rebellion through boycott proved to be the best way to meet their nationalist goals: independence. As a result of this, Martin Luther King Jr. was inspired by Gandhi. Nirupama Rao, an Indian Foreign Service officer, wrote in his Politico article “Gandhi’s ‘Light’ guided MLK,” that King saw Gandhi’s teachings as “the guiding light of our technique of nonviolent social change.” King believed that the only way to inspire the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. was by taking action through non-violent protests. Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., through peaceful methods, brought down barriers and paved the way for a more tolerant and understanding society. It is through these examples of change that many societies have protests in order to

In this regard, the day after the inauguration of President Trump, women gathered for a peaceful march in Washington D.C. for the Women’s March. According to Emily Kalah Gade’s article in The Washington Post, “Why the Women's March May Be The Start Of A Serious Social Movement,” a nonviolent movement would have a twice a likely chance for success than a violent one. This was not just a protest against Trump but to promote equality between women, transgender, immigrants, people of color, and those with disabilities. Most recently, President Trump signed an executive order that barred refugees from Syria and citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. As Liam Stack stated in The New York Times article, “Trump’s Executive Order on Immigration: What We Know and What We Don’t,” visitors and green-card holders from the seven countries--Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen--and refugees were “stopped at airports in the United States and abroad,” while “some were blocked from entering the United States and were sent back overseas.” In response to this, protesters swarmed airports nationwide to attack Trump’s order and advocate for the captive refugees and citizens to pass through the gates of the airport and be reunited with family. When those in power, with laws and