Take Back Gandhi's 9/11

Satyagraha - Truth Force was born when people gathered together, in their struggle against empire and racism in South Africa. On September 11, 1906, at a public meeting attended by 3000 people where Gandhi spoke, Sheth haji Habib, an old Muslim resident of South Africa, was inspired to consciously speak out and state his decision to act in defiance of an unjust law, that targeted the Indian population of South Africa. Habib declared his willingness to suffer the consequences in a spiritually-endowed fight for justice in the name of God. The theory of satyagraha sees means and ends as inseparable. The means used to obtain an end are wrapped up in and attached to that end. Therefore, it is contradictory to try to use unjust means to obtain justice or to try to use violence to obtain peace. Satyagraha is a synthesis of the Sanskrit words satya (meaning "truth") and Agraha ("pursuit of"). Gandhi believed that life itself is a the pursuit of truth. For Gandhi, satyagraha became strength in practicing non-violent methods, or in his words "the Force which is born of Truth and Love or non-violence."

On September 11, 2006, there were efforts to rekindle the strength of Gandhi's vision for peace. The award winning film, Gandhi was rereleased and shown in 64 venues, and a short film Satyagraha - 100 Years of Nonviolence debuted, followed a year later by a Choose Peace campaign.

On September 11, 2010 in San Francisco, the poet/activist/writer Arnie Passman began the Take Back Gandhi's 9/11 as a worldwide celebration of Peace and Love recognizing Gandhi's adherence to satyagraha. Arnie noted that his favorite definition of satyagraha was Martin Luther King Jr.'s description of it as "Love in Action."

Arnie Passman has been a peace activist for over 50 years. For the past ten years, he has been organizing poetry readings at the San Francisco Gandhi statue on the mahatma's birthday (october 2).