Thurman traveled to India integrating the first African-American delegation to India, at the time of the struggle against the British Empire, it was called the Eastern Friendship Pilgrimage, organized by the student Christian movement in the United States and the Christian student organizations in India. The Ralla leader of the Asian movement thought that a black and Christian delegation would be more accepted than the white missionaries decided that the two delegations should be united to have representatives of another oppressed group. Thurman saw very bad segregation of the Christian church in the United States and in search of peace came to India where he established relations with Tagore and Gandhi.
