Kingian Nonviolence is a framework for transforming and reconciling conflict that was developed out of the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the organizing strategies of the Civil Rights Movement. The goal is to prevent violence, yes, but its ambitions are even bigger: to pursue reconciliation by putting strength and agency in the hands of those who choose to act, talk, and think in healthy, humanly-connected ways that pursue a common higher ground. An approach of nonviolence, as a result, has wide applicability for how people set goals, declare values, and interact with others. In this workshop we will study the nature of human conflict, the roots of violence, the principles of nonviolence, and the “six steps of Kingian Nonviolence,” which will discuss the role of direct action, education, negotiation, and other steps critical in movement building. Specifically, we will address strategies and principles on how to respond to both interpersonal conflict as well as larger social conflicts.
Dates and Location and Cost We ask participants to commit to both days of the workshop. May 18 @ Washington Hall: 415-500 pm sign-in, 500-900 pm workshop May 19 @ Washington Hall: 1030-1100 am sign-in, 1100 am-600 pm workshop
The workship is free and open to everyone. An introductory manual to Kingian Nonviolence will be provided to all participants. Pizza and waters and cookies will be provided on Friday, and sandwiches and waters and snacks will be provided Saturday.
Workshop leader In 1958, 18-year-old Bernard LaFayette enrolled at American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee. Lafayette is an African American and had lived in Florida and Pennsylvania: in the former, he was raised with segregation, in the latter, he attended integrated public schools. When he arrived at seminary, he roomed with John Lewis, now the U.S. Representative for Georgia's 5th congressional district. Within weeks at seminary, Lewis convinced Lafayette to dive into the practice of nonviolence that was gaining steam in Nashville. Lewis and Lafayette would go on to participate in some of the most crucial moments in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement: with Diane Nash, they led the sit-ins that integrated downtown Nashville; they helped to found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; both were Freedom Riders and were badly beaten in Alabama and thrown in Mississippi’s Parchman Prison; and both were instrumental in the voting rights movement that culminated in the 1965 Selma marches and inspired the US Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act. Always, LaFayette applied the principles of nonviolence to find pathways over conflict, racism, and prejudice. On the morning of April 4, 1968, shortly before he was assassinated, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. told Lafayette that the next step for the movement was “to institutionalize and to internationalize nonviolence.” In the decades since, Lafayette has done exactly this—spread the practices of nonviolence to organizations, institutions, and groups around the globe. Dr. Lafayette, having earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University, is one of the world’s foremost theoreticians and tacticians of nonviolence, drawing upon his knowledge, experience, and boundless optimism.
if you are interested, please complete the brief questions below, and we will see you on May 18!
Any questions, please email team@projectpilgrimage.org
