Introduced to Mohandas Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence as a Methodist missionary in India, the Rev. James Lawson brought those strategies with him when he joined Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the historic desegregation of the American South. Lawson settled in Nashville and attended Vanderbilt's Divinity School while serving as a mentor to the Nashville Student Movement and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

During the 1960s, Lawson and his students were on the front lines of the civil rights movement and Vietnam War protests. Now retired in Los Angeles, Lawson remains active in various civil rights campaigns.

This event is part of Gandhi's Legacy: Houston Perspectives, an initiative of the Menil Collection that examines the resonance of Mohandas Gandhi's life by Houston cultural, educational and social justice organizations.