Nonviolence education is an essential building block for effective activism and conflict intervention. Many people know about nonviolent leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Cesar Chavez but how often do we take a deep look at the strategy of the movements they were a part of? How much information are we missing? We are missing A LOT! Nonviolence is a powerful tool being used at increasingly high rates and with great success to address conflict and overturn oppressive leaders and policies. Does this seem unbelievable? We are socialized to believe that violence is the most effective way to get what we want, but what if that is not actually true?
The Peace & Justice Center is hosting Session 1 of our two-part Nonviolent Activism 101 Workshop on Tuesday the 22nd of this month. This program explores and defines violence, the cycle of violence, nonviolence, and conflict. During the two days of study and practice the group will explore techniques that can be used to directly address conflict without the use of violence. Participants will look at how nonviolent strategy can be used to address both systems of oppression and interpersonal conflicts – which nearly always involve some aspect of oppression. Click here to register and for more information. If you would like to know more about why and how nonviolence is powerful and useful to us all, register today. If you can’t make this event please keep an eye out for others like it. The PJC’s Peace Education will continue to offer this type of programming to our members and to the public. We are also available to come to you if you would like to host a workshop in your community.
by Kyle Silliman-Smith, Program Manager at the PJC