PuLSE Institute Announces Gandhi Award for Global Justice

DETROIT, August 26, 2019 (Newswire.com) - The PuLSE Institute (Institute for Public Leadership and Social Equity), Detroit’s anti-poverty think tank has announced the Arun Gandhi Award for Global Justice named after Dr. Arun Gandhi, 85, an international advocate for nonviolence and an anti-poverty champion. The award will be given annually to individuals working to fight economic inequality in Detroit and the nation. Arun Gandhi is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and a member of The PuLSE Institute National Advisory Panel (https://thepulseinstitute.org/national-advisory-panel).

He is a board member of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital in South Africa, the Parliament of the World’s Religions and founder and former director of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence as well as founding president of the Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute. 

When he joined The PuLSE Institute National Advisory Panel in August of 2018, Arun Gandhi said, “My grandfather, M. K. Gandhi, said, ‘Poverty is the worst form of violence.’ Hence, I am honored to serve as an advisor in this attempt to eradicate poverty. Gandhi also said those who suffer oppression of any kind lose their self- respect and self-confidence. They begin to feel they are incapable of doing anything and have to depend on society for survival.”

He added, “The work to eradicate poverty must not be motivated by pity but by compassion. When we act out of compassion, we invest our time and energy to do something constructive to give the poor economic stability and build their self-respect and self-confidence so they take care of themselves.”

The PuLSE Institute was inspired by the writings of prominent journalist and author Bankole Thompson, whose work has elevated the discourse around poverty and inequality in Detroit and Michigan and represents an urgent call for difference-making action. Thompson is the editor-in-chief of the Institute and a twice-a-week opinion columnist at The Detroit News.

Tina M. Patterson, president of the Institute hailed the award as an important initiative to spotlight what is being done to combat inequality.

“The Gandhi legacy remains ubiquitous and evermore relevant today amid continually expanding global poverty, and a thirst for courageous leadership to expose and challenge the iniquity of this human catastrophe known as poverty,” Patterson said. “We are humbled to be the vanguard of this esteemed legacy and to bestow this award upon individuals whose body of work reflects the Gandhi philosophy of peace and prosperity for all.”

C. Paschal Eze, the chairman of the Institute board, noted, “These awards in honor of the towering Gandhi legacy are more than just public kudos to men and women of deep conscience and demonstrated compassion; they are an instructive call to greater and wider action on social justice and inclusive generosity.”

Arun Gandhi’s life commitment as a Peace Farmer is to pass on in a contemporary and relevant way the message, principles, philosophy, values and wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi.

Contact

Tina M. Patterson
​President
The PuLSE Institute 
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 313 800 0143

Source: The PuLSE Institute