My Time with Ela Gandhi

In 2010, Susan Easterbrooks, Emerita Professor of Education, met Ela Gandhi, granddaughter of the great Mahatma, and an anti-Apartheid South African peace activist. Their 10- year friendship led to conversations surrounding cultural conflict, protests, arson, looting, murder, and epidemics. Not unlike the history and situation in the United States today. This book explores the complex responses to such challenges from the perspective of another generation of the Gandhi archetype. This time, the female perspective of triple oppression is told with humor and gentle grace. Ms. Gandhi survived nine years of house arrest, worked underground, and raised five young and active children in volatile and violent times. Even after unspeakable atrocities, she moved on with peace and grace. Her experiences and the Gandhi perspective can inform us today of effective thought and action. The current age in which we find ourselves brings unparalleled political, educational, technological, and economic upheaval worldwide. The conversations between these two friends suggest guideposts to navigate an uncharted future.