September 11,2007 will be the sixth anniversary of the bombings of the World Trade Towers in NY and the Pentagon. It is also the 101st anniversary of Gandhi's launch of Satyagraha---Truth Force, or strategic nonviolence---in Johannesburg, South Africa. Some see a contrast here---the NY event spells mendacity and death; the Gandhi event spells truth and life. Can the revived courageous event displace the fear-ridden event? You may or may not agree, or find the coincidence irrelevant.

How can the Gandhi event be commemorated? Should it be a day of reminiscence and honoring the man, or might it be a day of resolve to build a movement of nonviolence to bring justice and new society to our world?

The following readings with narration, totaling about 45 minutes before break and discussion, provide stories of key events in the development of strategic nonviolence. We suggest that you consider offering such readings to your activist group, or religious or civic group, for reading and discussion sometime in the anniversary month of Gandhi's launch, or any time. Perhaps 12 people would be ideal, but it can be done by 2 or a circle of 24. We hope you will invite people who are strangers to this kind of thinking. And we hope that you may involve more groups. Please let us know which groups you have contacted.

The passages in italics are narration to introduce and connect the readings. No need to read aloud the source references. You may want to narrate yourself, or offer this role to someone with a trained voice. You may not like all the selections or the narration, and of course you can cut or substitute. The packet will always be a work in progress. We would appreciate feed-back and suggestions for modification---to boston@NewEnglandAlliance.org. OK, to start, click on the title above.