Carry on legacy of Gandhi, King for Nonviolence Week

One hundred forty-six years ago this weekend, a towering icon of the international campaign for nonviolence, justice and human rights was born in India. Mahatma (“Great Soul”) Gandhi, the revered leader of the independence movement in India in the early 20th century, would mature to exert a profound influence on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and other civil-rights stalwarts with his compelling and world-changing teachings.

Consider just a sampling of Gandhi’s mesmerizing moral intellect: “An eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind,” he once said. “I object to violence, because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent,” he wrote. Gandhi’s words and teachings still resonate powerfully across continents.

And so it is that 146 years after his birth, the world united for the Gandhi-inspired International Day of Nonviolence on Friday. On its heels, a distinguished group of Youngstown City Schools students has gone the extra mile to preserve, reinforce and renew the legacy of justice and peaceful change of Gandhi and his disciples.

Beginning Sunday and continuing through Saturday, all residents of Ohio officially will mark Nonviolence Week. In Youngstown, the Mahoning Valley and throughout Ohio, organized events will promote violence prevention and awareness of the rewards of nonviolent behaviors.

The seeds for the weeklong observance were planted proudly in Youngstown two years ago by students involved with the Sojourn to the Past program in the city schools. We commend the students and their mentors who have worked so tirelessly to plan, promote and even lobby the Ohio General Assembly to make their dream of seven days of thoughtful reflection and constructive action – pillars of the nonviolence movement – a permanent reality throughout the Buckeye State.

SOJOURN SETS EXAMPLE

Participants in the YCS’ Sojourn to the Past program under the direction of the indomitable Penny Wells make a temporary weeklong stay in some of the battlegrounds of the modern American civil-rights movement in the South. In Selma, in Montgomery, in Birmingham, in Jackson and elsewhere, they learn the historic details of some of this nation’s most horrific displays of violence and hatred. They also learn how principles of peace and nonviolence articulated by Gandhi, King and others have succeeded in overpowering such violent atrocities.

When the students return to Youngstown, they use those lessons to effect visible change locally. Nonviolence Week represents the crowning achievement of that campaign to underscore the value of peace, tolerance and understanding.

This year, the group has mustered up a formidable army of allies in its spirited weeklong public-awareness campaign. Among those taking part or assisting are the Youngstown City Schools, the city of Youngstown, the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation, the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence, the Youngstown State University Office of Student Diversity Activities and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Planning Committee.

MULTITUDE OF EVENTS

A story on Page A3 of today’s Vindicator outlines the myriad and impressive activities and events that will play out over the next seven days. Among them is Sunday’s Fifth Annual Nonviolence Parade, which begins at Wick Avenue and West Wood Street and ends with a rally at the Covelli Centre downtown.

Throughout the week, several luminaries of historic civil-rights sagas in America will be featured. They include Minnijean Brown Trickey, one of the Little Rock Nine who desegregated Little Rock High School; Jimmy Webb, a participant and survivor in the “Bloody Sunday” march in Selma, Ala., 50 years ago; and Simeon Wright, cousin of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old African American murdered by white racists in 1955 for having the audacity to whistle at a white woman.

Clearly, the breadth and depth of events over the coming week should inspire all people of all faiths and all races to unite to capitalize upon the students’ praiseworthy achievements.

Take the first step toward making the 2015 Nonviolence Week a stunning success by marching proudly and peacefully through the streets of downtown Youngstown tomorrow afternoon.