To start a movement, look to Gandhi: Obama
21 Sep 2017 5:07 PM GMT
NEW YORK: When Barack Obama was asked once whom he would most like to have dinner with, he picked Mahatma Gandhi. The former US president, who has often spoken of being inspired by Gandhi, did it again at Goalkeepers 17, an event held in New York on Tuesday to talk about the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
Obama referenced India and Gandhi when he called for people to listen to stories around them to develop empathy. "Mobilizing movements starts with a story," he said, adding that it was Gandhi's understanding of India's stories and traditions, his attention to the marginalised voices in Africa, that helped him gather a movement that drove out the world's most successful empire.
A lineup of politicians, entertainers and social activists, such as Justin Trudeau, Bill and Melinda Gates, Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, Nobel Peace Prize winners Leymah Gbowee and Malala Yousafzai, Stephen Fry and Google X's Astro Teller gathered at Jazz at Lincoln Center in Manhattan to applaud the progress made in reducing global poverty and improving women's rights and access to health and education, and to signal new innovations in the field. With subtlety equalling his successor's lumbering gaucherie, Barack Obama skillfully skewered the Donald Trump government for planning to scrap Obamacare. "For eight years, thousands of Americans pushed for better healthcare. The legislation we passed wasn't perfect...but it was better. So when I see people trying to undo that hard-won progress for the 50th or 60th time with bills that would raise costs or reduce coverage...it is aggravating. Reject cynicism and pessimism and push forward with relentless optimism," he advocated.
Next Story
