News & Blog

America Will Be! co-author Vincent Harding is speaking at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on February 26. If you are in the area, check it out! As many of you know, Dr. Harding is a powerful speaker.

The Mennonites are one of the oldest American Christian "peace churches." And it was an encounter with the Mennonites in Chicago in the late 1950s that helped inspire Dr. Harding to pursue nonviolent social change as an active participant in the civil rights movement. In America Will Be!, Harding explains that...

In a 1996 interview with the Center, historian Vincent Harding said: "it's very important to recognize that King was not operating in a vacuum, that he was operating in a situation of ferment. In Montgomery, leadership was being taken by women — ordinary, marvelous African-American women. It was those women who were prepared to respond to Rosa Parks’ personal initiative. When she refused to move to the rear of the bus, women who had been involved in various kinds of political activism were ready. One of those women ran off 35,000 copies of a stencil by herself the night after Mrs. Parks’...

This section presents achievements and milestones from our first 20 years. Broken into four-year periods, the five detailed timelines provide not just a listing of our events but also the names of all the great scholars and visionaries who have contributed to our seminars, conferences, and publications. Highlights include: a series of seminars in the mid-90s on the nature and purpose of dialogue; an extended period of consultation on the development of the Earth Charter; events addressing economic justice, women's leadership, and the environment; the launching of the annual Ikeda Forum,...

In Memory of Nelson Mandela (1918–2013)

By Daisaku Ikeda

I extend my heartfelt condolences upon the passing of former South African President Nelson Mandela. Mr. Mandela was a lion of humanitarian causes and human rights who inspired hope and courage in the hearts of those around the world victimized by conflict, racism, and injustice. His smile was like a refreshing spring breeze. To know that I will never see that smile again fills my heart with grief. I am convinced that his unwavering and passionate stance calling for a world that...