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YOUNGSTOWN -- Several upcoming events are set to observe Ohio Nonviolence Week in the Mahoning Valley.
The Ohio Revised Code designates the first full week in October as "Nonviolence Week," as enacted by the General Assembly. On July 11, 2013, former Gov. John Kasich signed Senate Bill 38 creating Nonviolence Week in Ohio. The 2023 Ohio Nonviolence Week will be Oct. 1-7.
This bill was proposed by Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past students, a small group of Youngstown high school students, who in 2009, after experiencing a life-changing journey called Sojourn to the Past, decided to have a Nonviolence Week in the Youngstown City Schools.
This year's planned events are:
l The 13th annual Nonviolence Parade and Rally, 3 p.m. Oct. 1 starting at Wick Avenue and Wood Street in downtown Youngstown and ending at the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheater for a program.
l Five-day reading challenge, Oct. 1 to 5. Visit www.ohiononviolenceweek.org to receive daily reading materials.
l Mingle with Minni, 5 to 9 p.m. Oct. 2 at Flambeau's Live, 2308 Market St., Youngstown. Fundraiser dinner with Minnijean Brown Trickey is $25 per person.
l Simeon Booker Award for Courage, 7 p.m. Oct. 3 at Tyler History Center, 325 W. Federal St., Youngstown, with reception beginning at 5:30 p.m. and is $40 per person. Event also includes a free program to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Sept. 15, 1963, church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama. The sisters of two of the four girls who were killed will speak. Award recipients will be Sarah Collins Rudolph, sister of one of the girls, and Sister Ann McManamon, who was coordinator of the Dorothy Day House of Hospitality.
l "Speak Your Peace," a spoken word gathering for students in grades six to 12, 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 4 at Hopewell Theater, 702 Mahoning Ave., Youngstown. Event is free.
l Free reception for art and poetry contest awardees, 7 p.m. Oct. 5 at the main branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, 305 Wick Ave., Youngstown.
l Panel discussion and wrapup of five-day reading challenge, noon Oct. 6 at the YWCA of Youngstown, 25 W. Rayen Ave..
l "The Art of Emotion," a free art class for students in kindergarten to eighth grade, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown, 505 Gypsy Lane.
In Youngstown in 2010, then-Mayor Jay Williams declared the first week in October to be Nonviolence Week in the city. In 2011, the Sojourn students petitioned the Youngstown City Council, the Youngstown Board of Education and the Youngstown State University trustees asking each to approve a resolution making the first week in October Nonviolence Week permanently, and they all did. The Mahoning County commissioners approved a similar resolution in the fall of 2012.
In January 2013, at the request of Sojourn students, then-state Sen. Joe Schiavoni introduced the Nonviolence Week bill in the Ohio Senate. In May, two Sojourn students testified for the bill before the Ohio House of Representatives committee, and the House of Representatives approved the bill in June, sending it on to the governor for his signature. Sojourn students were in Columbus to witness Kasich signing the bill into law.
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