University of Maryland Eastern Shore students got the opportunity to see history come to life when relatives of Mohandas Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visited a history class on campus in January.
Dr. Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of the Indian social activist; Dr. Joel King, first cousin of Martin Luther King; and Gregory Foster, cousin of Coretta Scott King, spoke with students in UMES professor Dr. Kathryn Barrett-Gaines’ history class.
“We are in the presence of historic people standing on a stage full of history, recent history,” Barrett-Gaines said when addressing her students. “This isn’t ancient history.”
Mohandas Gandhi’s teachings had a major effect on Martin Luther King. During a visit to Gandhi’s home in India in 1959, King was directly influenced by Gandhi’s nonviolent resistance in the fight for Indian independence from Britain and used Gandhi’s teachings in the American Civil Rights movement.
“Dr. King wrote about his experience visiting the museum that was my great-grandfather’s house and where he stayed for three days,” said Dr. Tushar Gandhi. “In his memoir, Dr. King writes, ‘I visited many countries in the world as a tourist, but to India I go as a pilgrim.’.”
The visit to campus by Tushar Gandhi, Joel King, and Gregory Foster was part of the Gandhi-King Institute’s recognition of what they call the Season of Nonviolence, which is from Jan. 30, the anniversary of Mohandas Gandhi’s death, to April 4, the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s death.
In addition to speaking with students, Joel King, who grew up with Martin Luther King, had the opportunity to stand at the site of the old Kiah Gymnasium where his cousin, then a 30-year-old Baptist minister, addressed the 1959 graduating class of Maryland State College.
In giving the tour of where Martin Luther King spoke, Barrett-Gaines emphasized the importance of finding historical value on the UMES campus.
“History is everywhere and really close by, especially at an HBCU,” she said.
While the commencement address 65 years ago was the only time the slain Civil Rights leader came to Princess Anne, it wasn’t the last time a King would set foot on campus.
In 1978, King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, visited UMES where she addressed students at the Ella Fitzgerald Performing Arts Center, on the very same stage where Tushar Gandhi, Joel King, and Foster sat with students.
Tushar Gandhi closed the panel discussion saying that while his great-grandfather and Dr. King have made strides, the legacy of justice and reconciliation should not be forgotten.
“I think we have to keep reminding ourselves about the importance they achieved and what they did,” he said. “We have to keep it alive in our hearts. If it lives in our hearts, nothing can trounce it and nothing can weaken it.”
