When: 15 October, 2019, 12 pm - 6 pm Where: South Asia Room, International House Philadelphia
Join us as we discuss the legacy of the Chinese Revolution and the Cuban Revolution as part of our celebration of the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
We will have a movie screening of The Making of the Mahatma, a feature film on Gandhi's time in South Africa.
We will also have panel discussions on the legacy of the Chinese and Cuban revolutions.
This year is the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. We will continue our celebrations of Gandhi and what the world revolutionary movement of those who were behind the shadow of what W.E.B Du Bois called the color line. Even as Mahatma Gandhi was the leader of the Indian freedom struggle, the 20th century saw several different revolutions around the world. This is the 70th anniversary of the Chinese revolution and the 60th anniversary of the Cuban revolution. We seek to learn from these revolutions and celebrate them for they brought new life to countries and civilizations. In celebrating the Cuban revolution, we celebrate the leadership of Fidel Castro, a man who grew to define the latter half of the 20th century as few men have. His unremitting fight against American imperialism, his leadership of the non-aligned movements and his friendship with countries in Africa and Asia were an important part of international revolutions in the 20th century. Cuba’s role in Angola against the racist apartheid regime of South Africa must especially be recognized and appreciated. We celebrate the Chinese revolution for defeating the oppressive Japanese regime and freeing China from its suppression by various different European powers. Today, China has removed urban poverty and is in the process of removing poverty all-together. It seeks to make a civilizational state different from the western model but also seeks peaceful co-existence between different states. We seek to discover from within the threads of these past revolutions, a singularity of purpose that unites us, and allows humanity to be unified in an intercivilizational and complex world. Through our efforts we wish to bring about a harvest of peace and justice for the world.