YOUNGSTOWN — The 10th annual Nonviolence Parade and Rally will take place 3 p.m. Oct. 4, kicking off Nonviolence Week in Ohio, which is Oct. 4-10.

This year, due to the coronavirus, the parade will be a procession of cars, trucks and floats.

The parade will begin at the intersection of Wood Street and Wick Avenue, proceeding through downtown Youngstown to the Covelli Centre parking lot.

The rally will begin in the parking lot immediately following the parade. People will remain in their cars but can listen to the rally on their radio by tuning to 97.3 FM.

Nonviolence Week has been celebrated in Youngstown since 2010 when, at the request of Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past students, resolutions were approved by Youngstown City Council, the Youngstown Board of Education, Youngstown State University trustees and Mahoning County commissioners.

The first nonviolence parade and rally in 2011 was the idea of a Sojourn student, Janae Ward. Then-state Sen. Joe Schiavoni introduced into the Ohio Senate Sojourn’s “Nonviolence Week in Ohio” bill, which was approved by both houses of the General Assembly and signed into law by former Gov. John Kasich on July 11, 2013.

Denise and John York and The DeBartolo Corporation are sponsors of Ohio Nonviolence Week in the Mahoning Valley.

The remainder of the week’s events will all be virtual, either via Zoom or Facebook. Zoom meeting invites can be found at www.ohiononviolenceweek.org.

• Sunday, Oct. 4- 8: Five Day Nonviolence Reading Challenge followed by panel discussion via Zoom at noon on Friday, Oct. 9. Panelists: former Youngstown schools Superintendent Ben McGee, YSU assistant Provost Carol Bennett, Terry Vicars from Catholic Charities, Sojourn to the Past member and YSU student Ke’Lynn Dean. Register for the challenge at www.Ohionon violenceweek.org. Ohio Nonviolence Week committee and the YWCA are sponsors of this event.

• Monday, Oct. 5: “Mingle with Minni” — Order spaghetti dinners ($12) online and pick up at Flambeau’s Live, 2308 Market St., from 6 to 9 p.m. Also, bid on baskets at www.ohiononvio lenceweek.org. This is a fundraiser for Sojourn to the Past. Flambeau’s Live and St. Patrick Church in Youngstown are sponsoring this event.

• Tuesday, Oct. 6, 6 to 7:30 p.m. — Simeon Booker Award for Courage via Zoom. The recipient is Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, a civil rights activist who participated in the Freedom Rides, was arrested and spent weeks in Parchman Penitentiary. She is the first white member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. The Mahoning Valley Historical Society and Ohio Nonviolence Committee are co-sponsors of this event. The Zoom invite is found at www.ohiononviolenceweek.org.

• Thursday, Oct. 8, 4:30 to 6 p.m. — “Speak Your Peace” Poetry Slam / Spoken Word via Facebook. Poet Orlando Watson of Cleveland will be the guest speaker. The Youngstown City School District, Inspiring Minds of Youngstown, the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County and the Ohio Nonviolence Week committee are co-sponsors of this event.

• Friday, Oct. 9, noon — Nonviolence Reading Challenge discussion via Zoom.

The purpose of Nonviolence Week is to make the community stop and think about the need for everyone to work for nonviolence in the community. For more information, contact Penny Wells, director of Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past, chair of the Nonviolence Week committee at 330-207-4467 or pennywwells@sbcglobal.net.

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