Creating Positive Peace: Workshop Aims to Mainstream Nonviolence

Creating Positive Peace: Workshop Aims to Mainstream Nonviolence

SANTA CRUZ – In response to the political turmoil, prejudice, and violence plaguing our country, the Resource Center for Nonviolence held their twice-yearly Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation Training May 12th and 13th. Attended by a diverse group of individuals from different genders, ages, and ethnicities, the event provided participants with skills to peacefully navigate and effectively transform the violence in their lives. The workshop, led by co-trainers Drew Glover and Chris Van Breen was described by attendees as, “eye-opening and inspiring,” encouraging participants’ reflections and providing strategies for dealing with conflict in their public and private lives.

Kingian Nonviolence, inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and developed by Dr. Bernard Lafayette and David Jensen, is a philosophy and methodology that outlines the principles, steps, and motivation for people to pursue a nonviolent life as well as the tactics to solve personal and community problems. This workshop focuses on acknowledging the different types of conflict and potential violence that can arise when issues are left unaddressed. The curriculum also provides historic context and tools for individuals to identify, de-escalate, and reconcile conflicts when they present themselves. In addition, the Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation Training works to dispel the notion that nonviolence is just the passive absence of violence, but is rather a systemic framework of both conceptual principles and pragmatic strategies to institutionalize nonviolence and promote positive peace at the personal, community, national, and global levels.

Lead trainer Drew Glover wants to see the training implemented throughout the entire Santa Cruz Community. “Dr. King’s final marching orders were to institutionalize and internationalize nonviolence,” Glover said. “One of my personal goals is to have our local police department, elected officials, non-profit leaders, and even our Sheriff’s office complete this training.” The Resource Center for Nonviolence will be offering the next Fall Session on November 17th and 18th, 2018, Saturday and Sunday, from 10 AM – 6 PM with breakfast and lunch provided on both days. There is a $10 registration fee for printing materials, but the training is set up through a gift economics model, similar to sliding scale in order for the experience to be accessible to everyone.

For more information, please e-mail Drew Glover: drew [at] rcnv.org. You are invited to learn more about the Resource Center for Nonviolence at rcnv.org or call them Monday – Thursday from 12 – 4 PM at (831) 423-1626. Community members can keep up with upcoming events by following the RCNV on social media through Facebook @rcnvsc and on Instagram @the_rcnv. The Resource Center for Nonviolence is located at 612 Ocean St., Santa Cruz, CA.