Sun., Oct. 4, Youngstown kicked off Ohio Nonviolence week with its 10th annual Non-Violence Parade and Rally. I attended the event with Sister Norma Raupple, Ursuline Sisters HIV/AIDS Ministry Director Dan Wakefield, and Ursuline Associates Dan and Peggy Eicher.
Each of our cars donned the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown or Ursuline Ministries signage to show our support for non-violence and stand with the mission of love of St. Angela Merici, our founder. Like many things this year, the usual march-style parade was canceled and a caravan car parade took its place. Organizations, students and community members decorated their cars and drove in solidarity together.
The parade was organized by high school students with Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past in 2011. It’s still largely run, orchestrated and designed by high school and university students.
The emphasis of the power of young peoples’ passion and drive to make change was one of the overriding themes of the event. As a young person, it was inspiring to me to see the Sojourn students, high schoolers and recent high school graduates, come together with members of the community and Youngstown State University to create such an important and impactful event.
All the speakers’ messages of the afternoon could be summed up by this quote from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.”
Listening to the speakers and seeing the parade of cars was evidence of how much people genuinely love the Youngstown community. Justin Jennings, Youngstown City Schools CEO, discussed the violence we all witness in our community, the violence we witness in our own lives, and called everyone to be the genesis of change.
This seems like a simple thing, but with so much tension in our own lives and the world around us, it can be difficult to take a step back from that lens and adjust our focus and vision to one of love, compassion and grace.
A quote from the event’s program stood out to me: “The non-violent person is one who believes in the unity and potential goodness of all persons and therefore dares to value his opponent in the face of all evidence to the contrary.”
Being the positive change in the world starts with how we treat the people around us. Through the small changes we make to adjust our own lens to one of love, to listen actively and openly, and to focus on the goodness in everyone, we can promote love and nonviolence every week of the year.