January 12, 2009

I just returned from a ‘teaching tour’ in Georgia and Alabama. While there I met several amazing people including a 90 year old man in Birmingham who during the Civil Rights Movement removed a bomb with his own hands and saved a church filled with children from being blown up. He like so many others sacrificed his life in the service of freedom, showing profound courage in the face of racial and economic violence. The freedom we take for granted, such as the right to vote, as 97-year-old Alabama civil rights veteran Amelia Boynton Robinson said, “were not handed down on a silver platter.” Instead, they were successfully fought for in the Civil Rights Movement by nonviolent means. The veterans of that movement are now moving on. It was an honor to personally meet with these inspiring people, to hear their story and realize that  their courageous actions, taken  just a few decades ago, have forever shifted the trajectory of this nation and my life!

For more information on this report, review the following article:

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE50B4H720090112?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=10112

 

Arthur Romano is a Rotary International Scholar and an active Peace Representative of The World Peace Prayer Society. Arthur embraces the Universal Message, May Peace Prevail On Earth in his personal and professional life. The essence of the Message is incorporated in his work as a certified nonviolence trainer and educator in countries around the world.