YOUNGSTOWN — As difficult and painful as continually being taunted and threatened by white mobs was to the teenage and adult Minnijean Brown Trickey, the horrific collection of experiences also shaped her into being a rebel of sorts.

“I propose that it was mob violence that taught me nonviolence,” Brown Trickey, one of nine black students who integrated the all-white Central High School in September 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas, and paid a high price for her courage, said. “Nonviolence is about peace.”

The white students who acted on their hatred of Brown Trickey, 84, of Vancouver, British Columbia, also strengthened her resolve to never behave in such a manner, she said during a peace initiative gathering Wednesday afternoon at the pavilion in Wick Park on the North Side.

The Rotary Club of Youngstown, in conjunction with Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past, hosted the event. It also was part of Nonviolence Week that began Sunday and continues through Saturday.

The gathering was to feature the dedication of a pole, to symbolize a greater need for peace, in a garden on the south side of the pavilion. However, the pole’s arrival was delayed because of Tuesday’s inclement weather, though it could be installed in a few days, Gerri Jenkins, the Rotary club’s president, said.

Brown Trickey, who also is a staunch longtime environmentalist, social justice advocate, teacher and civil rights figure, expressed great pride toward the Youngstown elementary, middle and high school students she’s met during visits to the Mahoning Valley over the years. Among other things, the young people set a good example for others to look at and internalize, she said, adding that she also cares a great deal about others, the environment and peace.

Especially in this politically divisive and hate-filled society, it’s more important than ever for people to speak and act peacefully toward others individually and collectively, Brown Trickey added.

“We have the capability for advanced thought, and we better start using it,” she continued.

Maintaining a peaceful approach in a largely polarized society is imperative also because too many people are unwilling to listen, learn and grow from or talk to those with differing viewpoints, Msgr. Robert J. Siffrin, rector of St. Columba Cathedral Parish, said in his remarks Wednesday.

“We need to exemplify what peace is all about,” Siffrin said, adding that doing so also is an essential element for bringing about social justice as well as making it a greater part of one’s attitude and commitment.

Also, peace “can’t just be an adjective we talk about; it’s got to be an action,” Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said, adding that it also includes respect for others.

In addition, working for greater peace and inclusivity remain a cornerstone for Rotarians. Once installed, the peace pole will “remind us of how peace can be fostered, and how easy it is to be kind,” said city Councilwoman Samantha Turner, D-3rd Ward.

Yoad Rodriguez-Lopez, a Chaney High School senior and member of Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past, discussed the first of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s six principles of nonviolence for social change, which states that the philosophy is a way of life for courageous people.

Specifically, the principle states that nonviolent resistance is an active and brave stance to take against societal wrongs and injustices, not passive or cowardly, and that it requires strong convictions and discipline.

The other five principles state that the philosophy seeks to win friendship and understanding, aims to defeat injustices and not people, holds that unmerited suffering can educate and transform, chooses love instead of hate and believes the universe is on the side of justice.

In the fifth principle, King stressed that nonviolence not only means renouncing physical violence, but hate in general, which he referred to as “internal violence of the spirit.”

Brown Trickey, who also spoke during Sunday’s 15th annual Nonviolence Parade and Rally at the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre, made a direct connection between two core attributes she tries to espouse to audiences she meets around the world.

“Love is peace, and peace is love,” she said.