Gandhi Peace Award Medallion - front side

The Gandhi Peace Award is an award and cash prize presented annually since 1960 by

Promoting Enduring Peace Promoting Enduring Peace (PEP or PEPeace) is an American peace advocacy organization based in Connecticut. It is sometimes referred to as ''PeaceNews.org'', the name of its website. PEP was founded in 1952 by Dr. Jerome Davis. Its original purp ...

to individuals for "contributions made in the promotion of international peace and good will." It is named in honor of

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

but has no personal connection to Mohandas Gandhi or any member of his family. Recent Award winners include Rabbis Arik Ascherman and Ehud Bandel of

Rabbis for Human Rights Rabbis for Human Rights is an Israeli human rights organization that describes itself as "the rabbinic voice of conscience in Israel, giving voice to the Jewish tradition of human rights".

(2011),

Amy Goodman Amy Goodman (born April 13, 1957) is an American broadcast journalist, syndicated columnist, investigative reporter, and author. Her investigative journalism career includes coverage of the East Timor independence movement, Morocco's occupation ...

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...

(2012), Bill McKibben of 350.org (2013),

Medea Benjamin Medea Benjamin (born Susan Benjamin; September 10, 1952) is an American political activist who was the co-founder of Code Pink with Jodie Evans and others.

Code Pink Code Pink: Women for Peace (often stylized as CODEPINK) is a left-wing internationally active non-governmental organization that describes itself as a "grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end U.S.-funded wars and occupations, ...

(2014), Tom B.K. Goldtooth (2015),

Kathy Kelly Kathy Kelly (born 1952) is an American peace activist, pacifist and author, one of the founding members of ''Voices in the Wilderness'', and, until the campaign closed in 2020, a co-coordinator of ''Voices for Creative Nonviolence''. As part of p ...

of Voices for Creative Nonviolence (2015),

Omar Barghouti Omar Barghouti ( ar, عمر البرغوثي, born 1964) is a founding committee member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and a co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. ...

(2017),

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the Un ...

(2017), and

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...

(2018). Since 1960, when the first Award was accepted by

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

, the Award has been presented in person to "peace heroes" who have exemplified to the members of Promoting Enduring Peace the courage of nonviolent resistance to abusive power, to armed conflict, to violent oppression, and to environmental negligence. The Award is also intended to recognize individuals for having made significant contributions, through cooperative and non-violent means in the spirit of Gandhi, to the struggle to achieve a sustainable world civilization founded on enduring international peace. In the 21st Century the Award is especially intended by its presenters to honor those whose lives and works exemplify the principle that international peace, universal socioeconomic justice, and planetary environmental harmony are interdependent and inseparable, and all three are essential to the survival of civilization. The Award itself is symbolized by a heavy medallion and a certificate with an inscription summing up the recipient's work. The medallion, forged from Peace Bronze (a metal rendered from decommissioned nuclear missile command systems, evoking "swords into plowshares"), features Gandhi's profile and his words "Love Ever Suffers/Never Revenges Itself" cast in bronze. The Award has been presented at a ceremony held typically once a year in New York or New Haven at which the recipient is invited to present a message of challenge and hope.

History

The Gandhi Peace Award was conceived by the founder of

, Yale Professor Jerome Davis. Davis first proposed the award to the board of Promoting Enduring Peace on 13 March 1959, with the name intended to pay tribute to the modern era's foremost advocate of nonviolent resistance, and partly to help rectify the failure of the Nobel Committee to award its Peace Prize to Gandhi before his death in 1948. The Award has been issued since 1960, when it was first presented to Eleanor Roosevelt, and consists of a certificate, a ceremony, and the presentation of a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

medallion inscribed with a quotation by Gandhi: "Love Ever Suffers / Never Revenges Itself." A prominent New York sculptor, Don Benaron/Katz, was commissioned to create a work of art to serve as the symbol of the Award. He researched Gandhi at the library of the India House in New York City and by 1960 had carved a striking bas-relief portrait in wood of the founder of the century’s international movement for nonviolent change. He wrote of the medallion he also created, “I carved the Gujarati word for peace on one side, and on the other a symbolic plowshare and pruning hook inspired by Isaiah 2:4...″ ::They shall beat their swords into plowshares ::and their spears into pruning hooks; ::nation shall not lift up sword against nation, ::neither shall they learn war any more. Since 2011 the Award has included a cash prize. The presentation ceremony is held in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. At present the laureates are and have been North Americans and British subjects. A book about the Award from its inception through 1997, In Gandhi's Footsteps: The First Half Century of Promoting Enduring Peace, was written and published by James Clement van Pelt. Excerpts are available at http://www.gandhipeaceaward.org.

Notable laureates

The laureate in 2018 was

. He is the first artist to receive the award. In 2017 the laureates were

and

. In 2015 the Award was presented to Tom B.K. Goldtooth and

. Promoting Enduring Peace announced in January 2014 that the Gandhi Peace Award for that year would be received by

Medea Benjamin Medea Benjamin (born Susan Benjamin; September 10, 1952) is an American political activist who was the co-founder of Code Pink with Jodie Evans and others.

. The 2013 Award was presented to Bill McKibben who is one of the most well-known leaders of the environmentalist movement in the United States. His first book was '' The End of Nature'' published in 1989. An activist and journalist, his work has appeared in ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

Mother Jones Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...

,'' and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''. (His acceptance speech may be viewe
here
) In 2012 the Award was presented to

for her contribution to promoting a sustainable peace through the promotion of transparently truthful journalism—one essential part of which is to report the true nature and long-term after-effects of war. Goodman is an internationally known

broadcast journalist Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

syndicated columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short essay ...

investigative reporter Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years res ...

, author, and the anchor and co-founder of ''

'', an independent global news program broadcast daily on radio and television and via the Internet. (Her acceptance speech may be viewe
here
) In 2011 the Award was presented to Rabbi Ehud Bandel and Rabbi

Arik Ascherman Arik Ascherman ( he, אריק אשרמן; born 1959) is an American-born Israeli Reform rabbi, and Executive Director of the Israeli Human Rights organization "Torat Tzedek-Torah of Justice." For 21 years, starting in 1995, he served as Co-Directo ...

for their leadership of

and its nonviolent resistance to the persecution of Palestinians in the occupied territories. (Their acceptance speeches may be viewe
here
) In 1989 the Award was presented to Cesar Chavez, founder of the

United Farm Workers of America The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the Agricultural Workers Organizing ...

, for his use of nonviolent tactics, including a national consumer boycott, to improve the conditions and compensation for migrant farm workers. (His acceptance speech may be viewe
here
)

Gandhi Peace Award Laureates

^ * Martin Luther King Jr. was designated to receive the Award in 1964 and did formally accept it, but shortly thereafter was designated as the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate for that year. Thereafter he was unable to attend a ceremony for the formal presentation of the Award prior to his assassination. ^ ** Daniel Berrigan formally accepted the Award. Shortly thereafter he made remarks critical of Israeli treatment of Palestinians that led to a proposal by a PEP member that the Award to Fr. Berrigan should be rescinded. Although the organization rejected that course, Fr. Berrigan heard about the proposal and resigned the Award. ;Sources *

References

External links

* {{Anti-war Peace awards Memorials to Mahatma Gandhi

History

Notable laureates

Gandhi Peace Award Laureates

See also

References

External links