Photo: uzvards

Gandhi turned 143 Tuesday. Here’s to celebrating the life of a man that today still lights a flame within our hearts. Mahatma Gandhi was a leader of Indian nationalism in British ruled India, employing nonviolent civil demonstrations. He was the son of a senior government official and was trained as a lawyer in London.

Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty and expanding women’s rights as a leader of the Indian National Congress in 1921. He was imprisoned numerous times throughout the years in an effort to advocate for peaceful protests. He saw the villages as the core of the true India and promoted self-sufficiency; he did not support the industrialization programs. This leader of nonviolence and love was assassinated on January 30, 1948 by a Hindu nationalist who thought Gandhi was too sympathetic to India’s Muslims.

Watch MC Yogi in his video on Gandhi: Be the Change You Want to See.