Ohio Nonviolence Week will get underway Sunday with parade and rally in Youngstown

Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past will kick off Ohio Nonviolence Week at 3 p.m. Sunday with its 12th annual Nonviolence Parade and Rally in downtown Youngstown.

The parade will begin at the intersection of Wood Street and Wick Avenue and proceed to Boardman and Phelps streets. It will finish at the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre, where a rally will be held.

Parade participants will include Sojourn to the Past students, various Valley schools, churches, nonprofit and community organizations, political candidates and others, according to a news release. Awards will be given for the best float, best banner and best in show for highlighting the themes of “peace” and “nonviolence.”

Speakers at the rally will include civil rights activist JoAnne Bland of Selma, Alabama; Youngstown City Schools Superintendent Justin Jennings; Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown; 1st Ward Councilman Julius Oliver; Youngstown police Chief Carl Davis and Officer Malik Mostalla; the Rev. Lewis Macklin; and Sojourn to the Past members Ky Matlock, John Rhodes, Charlissa Tate and Ashlynn Wells.

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

Also Sunday, the Five Day Nonviolence/Social Justice Reading Challenge and Panel Discussion will get underway. “The challenge asks participants to make daily time and space to learn more about the principles of nonviolence and how the community can stand in solidarity and speak up against violence,” the Ohio Nonviolence Week website states. Participants who signed up will receive daily reading material, and the challenge will conclude with a panel discussion and lunch at noon Friday at YWCA Mahoning Valley, 25 W. Rayen Ave. Register here.

Here’s the schedule for other Ohio Nonviolence Week events:

MONDAY

• Sojourn to the Past will host its Mingle With Minni fundraiser from 6 to 9 p.m. at Flambeau’s Live, 2308 Market St., Youngstown. The cost is $25 and includes dinner and an opportunity to speak via Zoom with Minnijean Brown-Trickey, one of the Little Rock Nine. Tickets can be purchased here or by calling 330-953-7822 or 330-207-4467.

TUESDAY

• A Poetry Slam will be presented at 6:30 p.m. at Hopewell Theatre, 702 Mahoning Ave., Youngstown. High school students will present spoken-word poetry on nonviolence, and poet Quartez Harris of Cleveland will read some of his work.

WEDNESDAY

• Winners of the Nonviolence Art and Poetry contests will be honored during a reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at The Soap Gallery, 117 S. Champion St., Youngstown. The event is free and open to the public.

THURSDAY

• The Simeon Booker Award for Courage will be presented at 7 p.m. in the Chestnut Room in the Kilcawley Center at Youngstown State University. The event is free and open to the public. There will be a wine and hors d’oeuvres reception at 5:30 p.m. The cost is $25. To register, click here or contact Penny Wells at 330-207-4467 or PennyWWells@sbcglobal.net. The local winner of the Simeon Booker Award for Courage is Dr. Virginia “Dee” Banks, an infectious disease and internal medicine specialist practicing in Youngstown. The national winner is Anthony Ray Hinton, who was exonerated in 2015 after spending 30 years on death row in Alabama.

FRIDAY

• The Art of Emotion, an art session for students ages 6 to 13, will take place from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown, 505 Gypsy Lane. For reservations, contact Nic Bush at 330-746-3251, ext. 114, or nbush@jewishyoungstown.org.