YOUNGSTOWN — The 11th annual Nonviolence Parade and Rally will take place at 3 p.m. Oct. 3.

The Sunday event will lead off Nonviolence Week in Ohio, which is Oct. 3-9.

This year, there will be a parade of walkers, cars, trucks, and floats. The parade will begin at the intersection of Wood Street and Wick Avenue, proceeding through downtown to the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre, where the rally will be held immediately following the parade.

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 city council, 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 passed by both houses of the General Assembly and signed into law by then-Gov. John Kasich on July 11, 2013.

The purpose of Nonviolence Week is to make the community stop and think about the need to work for nonviolence. In the words of Congressman John Lewis, an icon of the civil rights movement, “If not us, then who? If not now, then when?”

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.

There is still time to register for the parade by going to www.ohiononviolenceweek.com.

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

Other events for the week are:

• Oct. 4-8 — Five Day Nonviolence Reading Challenge followed by panel discussion at noon on Friday, Oct. 8 at the YWCA or via Zoom meeting. Register for the challenge at www.Ohiononviolenceweek.org. Ohio Nonviolence Week committee and the YWCA are sponsors.

• Oct. 4 — Simeon Booker Award for Courage at the Tyler History Center, 325 W. Federal St. The national recipient is Congressman John Lewis, honoring him posthumously. The local recipient is the Rev. James Ray, advocate for social justice and nonviolence since his university days. The reception is at 5:30 p.m. and the cost is $25. At 7 p.m. is the free program. The Mahoning Valley Historical Society and Ohio Nonviolence Committee are co-sponsors.

• Oct. 5 — “Mingle with Minni” — Flambeau’s Live, 2308 Market St., from 6 to 9 p.m.Chicken and fish dinners $25 / dining in or $25 for two dinners as takeout. Minnijean Brown Trickey will speak with dinner guests via Zoom at 7 p.m. Brown Trickey was a member of the Little Rock Nine, a group of nine African American teenagers who integrated Little Rock Central High School. The integration followed the Brown v. Board of Education decision which required public schools to be desegregated. Tickets may be purchased at www.ohiononviolenceweek.org. This is a fundraiser for Sojourn to the Past. Flambeau’s Live and St. Patrick Church in Youngstown are sponsoring this event.

• Oct. 6 — 6 p.m. reception for art and poetry contest winners at the Soap Gallery, 117 S. Champion St. It is free and open to the public.

• Oct. 8, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. — Nonviolence Week art session, “The Art of Emotion” for grades K-8 with instructor Emelia Sherin at the Jewish Community Center, 505 Gypsy Lane. Sherin will have two activities. Activity 1 (40 minutes): Rip art with upbeat background music to discuss coping mechanisms with emotion and making a big picture out of our ripped-up pieces. Activity 2 (40 minutes): Watercolor with classic / low fi music in the background to discuss how one action, such as a brush stroke, can affect our lives and others, like the big picture. Register by emailing Nic Bush at nbush@jewishyoungstown.org.

• Oct. 8: Noon, panel discussion on the five-day read at the YWCA, 25 W. Rayen Ave., and also on Zoom. Register at www.ohiononviolenceweek.com.