When we are grounded in who we are, when we are grounded in what we believe, when we are grounded in what we stand for, then we can truly resist. When we act, not out of opposition, but out of love, then we can most effect change. Gandhi spoke of this when he talked of how our actions of nonviolent resistance are at base a form of love for the other, even for the oppressor. Rather it is a love that is strength and empowerment, a love that may at times be expressed in anger, a love that leads to true resistance - and change. I came across an African saying recently that expresses this another way.
Hatred is like rain in the desert.
It is of no use to anybody. Nor is it of any real, abiding use in the work to bring about a world in which there is peace and justice for all. I must confess, here, that I am only a new convert to nonviolence. The first group that I worked for in Latin America was a group based on principles of nonviolence. But I only committed myself for that time that I would be working with them.