THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Renowned human rights activist Mary Elizabeth King, who has worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr and Jimmy Carter, will be in the city on Wednesday. King, who co-authored ‘Sex and Caste’, an article considered by historians as tinder for the second wave of feminism, is visiting the capital for the release of ‘Gandhian Nonviolent Struggle and Untouchability in South India: The 1924-25 Vykom Satyagraha and the Mechanisms of Change’, her latest book. Oxford University Press is the publishers of the book, which will be released by Minister K C Joseph on Wednesday at Hassan Marakkar Hall at 5 pm. Historian K N Panickar will introduce the book and M A Baby MLA will preside over the function.
Thomas Jacob, M G Radhakrishnan, Prabha Varma, J Prabhash, Malayinkeezhu Gopalakrishnan and V Karthikeyan will participate in a discussion based on the book.
Vani Kaushal’s ‘The Recession Groom’ will also be released at the event, jointly organised by Prof Joseph Mundassery Foundation, C Bhaskaran Foundation and Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangham (Progressive Arts & Literary Organisation).
Mary Elizabeth King is professor of peace and conflict studies at the UN-affiliated University for Peace and is Scholar-in-Residence in the School of International Service, at the American University in Washington, DC. She is also a Distinguished Fellow of the Rothermere American Institute at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
She is the author of the highly acclaimed ‘A Quiet Revolution: The First Palestinian Intifada and Nonviolent Resistance’, which examines crucial aspects of the 1987 uprising overlooked or misunderstood by the media, government officials, and academicians. In 1988, she won Robert F Kennedy Memorial Book Award for ‘Freedom Song: A Personal Story of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement’ in which she tells of her life-defining experiences working for four years with SNCC.