In a webinar on Sept. 2, Fresno State presented three renowned civil rights scholars as panelists for “Gandhi, the Civil Rights Movement and the Continuing Struggle for Justice and Peace,” — the Rev. James M. Lawson Jr., Vinay Lal and Dianne Dillon-Ridgley. The webinar was hosted by the Office of the President.
Watch the full replay:
- The Rev. James M. Lawson Jr. is widely recognized as a pioneer of nonviolence in the American Civil Liberties Movement. He is an activist, minister, and a scholar of the Bible, as well as a living icon embodying the power of nonviolence in securing justice and peace. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. described Lawson as “the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world.”
- Vinay Lal, a professor of history and Asian American studies at UCLA, has written over a dozen books on a broad range of intellectual, political and research interests, which include South Asian history, comparative colonial histories, the Indian diaspora, public and popular culture in India, cinema, cultures of sexuality, the global histories of nonviolence and the thought of Mahatma Gandhi.
- Dianne Dillon-Ridgley, a member of the board of trustees of the Parliament of the World’s Religions, is a lifelong advocate for human rights, female empowerment and sustainability. She is currently the executive director of the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future. Originally from Dallas, Dillon-Ridgley has advised and served on over 23 U.S. delegations at the United Nations and international forums spanning the tenure of three U.S. presidents.
The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State 