Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past kicks off “Ohio Nonviolence Week” today with a 3 p.m. parade and rally in downtown Youngstown.
The parade begins at the corner of Wick Avenue and Wood Street and proceeds through the downtown for the rally at Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre. Events are intended to encourage the community to pause and think about the need to work for nonviolence in the community.
Ohio Nonviolence Week in the Mahoning Valley is set for Oct. 5-11. The 15th annual observance includes readings, panel discussions, an awards ceremony and special guests from the national civil rights movement. A schedule of events appears here.
On Tuesday, Sojourn to the Past will award its 2025 Simeon Booker Award for Courage to civil rights activist JoAnne Bland during a reception and ceremony at the Tyler History Center. Bland is a lifelong activist co-founder of the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute in Selma, Ala.
Nonviolence Week has been observed in Youngstown since 2010 when, at the request of Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past students, Nonviolence Week resolutions were passed by the Youngstown City Council, the Youngstown City School Board, Youngstown State University trustees, and Mahoning County commissioners.
The first nonviolence parade and rally occurred in 2011 and was the idea of Sojourn student Janae Ward. Ohio Sen. Joe Schiavoni introduced the “Nonviolence Week in Ohio” bill, which was passed by both houses of the General Assembly and signed into law by Ohio Gov. John Kasich in 2013.
For more information, contact Penny Wells, Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past executive director, at 330-207-4467 or email pe*********@*******al.net….
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