Martin Luther King & non violence

I saw twice the documentary about Martin Luther King. I was stained how much love this person carried and spread in his life. Even now, I believe, he is a inspiration for many other people.

Black Americans were treated as second class citizens and even more, I would say, as slaves. Black Americans couldn't live on or walk certain streets. They were not welcome in public transport and their basic rights as a human were violated.

So what would you do to defend your rights if you were black and in America? Or how would you treat blacks, if you were white American at that time?

Sure, one could take guns and kill others, but that was not what Martin Luther King did. He started non-violence movement for getting the rights, he knew all people black or white deserved. Activists were beaten, killed and abused by government and some of white people, but yet King didn't think of violence or even about separation. He didn't dream for any piece of land for himself, but for brotherhood and equal rights for all Americans white or black.

My heart stood still, when he was saying in documentary, that he may no longer be there, but his dream would come true. How passionate he was and how much he loved his country and it's people.

This documentary film about him is very good to discuss racism, discrimination, human rights and non-violence issues. It would be great if you could organize and watch the film with a group of people. Education can bring a lot in our regions. Thinking can change a lot. It's worth to take afford.

First you can give your audience short information about the events occurring in America in the 60es. Before starting movie, the group can discuss what they know about Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement. After the film try to answer the following questions:

• Who was Martin Luther King?
• What he wanted to archive, how and why?
• How government and people reacted to his actions?
• What was Martin Luther Kings answer to violence from government side?
• How his cause ended?
• Do you think Martin Luther King achieved what he wanted?
• What do you think about discrimination? What do you think about rights of other ethnic groups in your country?
• What do you think about non-violence movement?

And at the end please try to make comparison between this story and our own in Abkhazia and south Ossetia. What was the problem? How people wanted to solve this problem? What has happened? How people in our countries treat other ethnic groups? Is there racism? Discrimination? ...Make some comparisons to conflicts between Georgian, Abkhazian and Ossetian people? Do you see some similarities or differences between these events in Georgia and the US?

We will be more then glad if you tell us about results of your event. How it went. Share peoples thought with us.

Documentation about Martin Luther King >>