Language is one of the most powerful tools for resistance. Some dismiss language alone as incapable of effecting change. However, history reveals that the ability to understand and communicate a language in a way that connects, empowers, and galvanizes the disenfranchised can itself be revolutionary
biography
William Proxmire
Wisconsin’s Class I senate seat has been filled with history in the last century… Yet between McCarthy and Herb Kohl, the man who lends his namesake to the Kohl Center here at UW, the seat was held by William Proxmire, a man who played a leading role in the anti-genocide movement in America.
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou is revered today for her work as a poet, writer, actress, dancer, and activist. She was a woman of many talents and her wisdom lives on through her many works of art, most notably, her autobiographies. Angelou was born in 1928 in St. Louis, MO and had a traumatic childhood.
The OG Leader of Nonviolence: Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi is an Indian lawyer, politician, social activist, and writer who became the leader of the nationalist movement against British rule in India. His doctrine of nonviolent protest (satyagraha) and use of the religion principle of ahimsa as a tool of peaceful protest became the model for future social movements around the world.
Practicing What He Preaches – Pietro Ameglio’s Nonviolent Pursuit of “Peace with Justice”
Since his death in 1948, Mahatma Gandhi’s employment of civil disobedience has famously inspired some of history’s most prominent freedom fighters, including Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, and Martin Luther King Jr. Gandhi’s name has even become the root of an adjective used for the principles by which he lived.
Relentless Prudence – How Prudencia Ayala Challenged Salvadoran Gender Roles Decades Before Women Could Vote
To be prudent does not mean to be timid. While prudence is often regarded as synonymous with caution, it also signifies wisdom, thriftiness, and foresight. Prudencia Ayala possessed all three, and she was anything but timid.
Para Los Mártires (For the Martyrs) – A Lenca Woman’s Fatal Fight for Environmental Justice
From the start, she spoke with passion and a sense of urgency. She was accepting the largest award for grassroots environmental activists in the world, and yet she seemed apathetic toward the esteem. Zeroed in on her cause, she admonished the audience – “¡Despertemos! Despertemos, humanidad. Ya no hay tiempo” (Let us wake up! Let us wake up, humankind. We are out of time).
Peacemaking in the Face of Genocide – The Story of Rigoberta Menchú
On January 9, 1959, in Laj Chimel – a small indigenous community surrounded by unpaved Guatemalan mountain range — a Quiché Mayan child and future luminary for indigent natives across the Western Hemisphere was born.