100 Days of Nonviolence Introduction

Weekends

Saturdays: Featured Organization
Sundays: Character of Nonviolence

You can pull from these profiles if you only have 10 minutes one day. More significant research projects on the organizations or characters can be undertaken by an individual student, or group of participants. For people using the curriculum over the weekends, they can draw from the Words of the Day (MWF) or Stories (TR) anytime.

More information about each section:

Opening Breath and Affirmation: Before stating the affirmation aloud together, have the participants sit or stand and take 1-3 deep breaths. This will get them centered, and taking a deep breath before doing anything is a great way to have a better chance at making a choice to do something nonviolent, rather than escalatory, retaliatory, or violent. Taking a deep breath is a reminder that health matters, and they will experience their breath as essential to life.  There are 50 different affirmations throughout the course of the 100 days, back by popular demand after the King Center propagated them in coordination with the 50^th anniversary celebration of the March on Washington, in August 1963.

Nonviolence Quote of the Day: There are many wise sayings available to us from a broad range of brilliant and committed people who worked tirelessly to lead communities, faith groups, and people of all ages toward peace.  These 100 quotes are but a sample of the many wise words we can surround ourselves with when there is negativity and discouragement all around. What do you want to be remembered for saying?

Today in Social Movement History: Almost nothing in society got to be the way it just “because that’s the way it is.” People created it to be this way. Throughout history things have been happening that challenged injustice.  Every day is special.  Learning about what ordinary people did can motivate participants to get together and plan an action to make their voice heard!

Word of the Day (MWF): It is helpful to know specific vocabulary in order to comprehend the written information about nonviolence.  Participants can practice integrating the words they learn!  Participants can practice using the new word in a complete sentences; new words help generate new thoughts, and new thoughts help generate a new mindset. This in turn can generate a new worldview, and words are the tools to construct the world we want to see.

Story (TR): So many stories! So little time…Feel free to add in your own story, the story of your organization, or the story a participant wants to offer! Most of the stories in this 100 days come from a collection called Engage: Exploring Nonviolent Living, a study program for learning, practicing, and experimenting with the power of creative nonviolence to transform our lives and the world (a project of Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service). Ordering information for the full book is available here: http://paceebene.org/store/item/engage-exploring-nonviolent-living 

Activity: This is an opportunity to apply the learning, have some fun, and engage in a way goes beyond the vocal or written.
Featured Organization: There are a lot of great folks working together to make a positive difference in the world. Many of them offer jobs and internships, resources and programming.  Getting the word out about these organizations will raise awareness about the growing movement to #choosenonviolence, and how participants can continue to be involved after the 100 days completes!

Character of Nonviolence: Knowing the people in peace movements (historic and contemporary) is crucial to building an intergenerational appreciation for leaders that have a sense of the leaders and the context(s) that shaped them.

Respond Non-Verbally Offline and Online: Each day has a question that assists in reflecting upon the experience of that day in their life, in light of the new information gained during the session. Reflecting critically upon one’s experience and context is an important exercise that aids creative thinking and the development of nonviolent strategies that are culturally relevant and successful. Responding can happen verbally (in the 5 and 10 minute sessions) or in offline form (written, drawn, or other form of art) or by participating in the lively online conversation, using the #choosenonviolence.  The online conversation is a way to connect with people far away who are also concerned about their local and global context.

Concluding moment: Repeating aloud together the Affirmation to close the day’s participation is an easy, quick, and powerful way to close. Depending on what the group needs, maybe sitting still and taking another deep breath will be best.

Legend
M-Monday, T-Tuesday, W-Wednesday, R-Thursday, F-Friday, S-Saturday, U-Sunday

Materials Required

• All 100 days are digitally generated , so a computer is necessary to acquire the information, and also useful in further research about featured organizations (they all have websites) and Characters of nonviolence (all can be found on Google Images).
• Responding by writing or drawing requires pencils, crayons and/or markers.
• Responding by social media requires digital devices
• Possibly a projector, so students can see the words as well.

Rationale
We are doing this because the practice of nonviolence was central to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s work for racial justice. It was through this practice that he believed any meaningful and lasting change concerning civil rights in the United States could be reached.  One of the most popular and straightforward products of his work on this topic is known as the 6 principles of nonviolence. If you are able to have 20-30 minute time slots for at least some of the days of the #choosenonviolence 100 days of nonviolence effort, your students/the participant(s) will have the opportunity to interact with these principles.

• Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. It is a positive force confronting the forces of injustice, and utilizes the righteous indignation and the spiritual, emotional and intellectual capabilities of people as the vital force for change and reconciliation.

• The Beloved Community is the framework for the future. The nonviolent concept is an overall effort to achieve a reconciled world by raising the level of relationships among people to a height where justice prevails and persons attain their full human potential.
• Attack forces of evil, not persons doing evil. The nonviolent approach helps one analyze the fundamental conditions, policies and practices of the conflict rather than reacting to one’s opponents or their personalities.
• Accept suffering without retaliation for the sake of the cause to achieve the goal. Self-chosen suffering is redemptive and helps the movement grow in a spiritual as well as a humanitarian dimension. The moral authority of voluntary suffering for a goal communicates the concern to one’s own friends and community as well as to the opponent.
• Avoid internal violence of the spirit as well as external physical violence. The nonviolent attitude permeates all aspects of the campaign. It provides mirror type reflection of the reality of the condition to one’s opponent and the community at large. Specific activities must be designed to help maintain a high level of spirit and morale during a nonviolent campaign.
• The universe is on the side of justice. Truth is universal and human society and each human being is oriented to the just sense of order of the universe. The fundamental values in all of the world’s great religious include the concept that the moral arc of the universe bends toward justice. For the nonviolent practitioner, nonviolence introduces a new moral context in which nonviolence is both the means and the end.

Printability?
I am not yet sure how printer friendly the elements are. It is possible to copy and paste elements of each day from the www.choosenonviolence.org/100daysofnonviolence website into a word-processing document, and printed from there.

Questions?
Email 2014KHO@thekingcenter.org or Call (574) 612-0340