During the summer of 1964,
thousands of Civil Rights activists, many of them white college students from
the North, descended on Mississippi with the goal to register as many African
Americans voters as possible. Mississippi had historically excluded African
Americans from voting by the use of poll taxes, literacy tests, fear, and
intimidation.
This highly publicized voter registration campaign is known as Freedom Summer.
During the campaign, black and white students struggled, at times, to work together and all faced constant threats and harassment—with some volunteers losing their lives for the cause. The summer’s most notorious case of violence was the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. Despite the obstacles and loses, the campaign left a positive legacy—it paved the way for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and galvanized national support for the Civil Rights Movement.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer and to pass on the enduring legacy of youth activism during the Civil Rights Movement, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Committee of Greater Attleboro will examine the role of youth during the Civil Rights Movement and explore Kingian principles of nonviolence during its 2014 Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday celebration, which will kick off with a Nonviolence Training workshop on Saturday, January 18. The program theme is “Youth Activism: Moving Our Communities from Violence to Nonviolence.”
The Nonviolence Training workshop, which is focused on youth violence, will be held at the Attleboro YMCA, Pleasant Street Branch, 537 Pleasant Street, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
During the one-hour, hands-on
workshop, participants will learn how to resolve conflict without violence by
using Dr. King’s principles of nonviolence. The workshop, led by the Institute
for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence, Providence, RI, is free and open
to youth, parents, and community leaders.
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On Monday, January 20, the Committee’s King-day celebration will begin at 1:00 p.m. with a Municipal Program at Attleboro City Hall, 77 Park Street. This year the Handchime Choir from St. John the Evangelist Church, Attleboro, will join the Committee and local politicians in commemorating the national holiday.
At 2:00 p.m., the Committee with host an Interfaith Service at All Saints Episcopal Church, 121 N. Main Street, Attleboro. Sal Monteiro of the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence will give the keynote address. Monteiro will discuss the role of youth in the Civil Rights Movement, review and examine Kingian principles of nonviolence and Dr. King’s views of a Beloved community; also Monteiro will tell how youth, and other community members, can use King’s principles of nonviolence to stem violence in their community, and how King’s principles can be part of the national discussion on gun and youth violence.
The mission of the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence is to teach, by word and example, the principles and practices of nonviolence, and to foster a community that addresses potentially violent situations with nonviolent solutions. The organization works to build Dr. King’s ideal of the nonviolent Beloved Community. The institute also provides assistance to families that have lost a loved one to violence.
A goodwill offering will be taken up during the service. Half of the offering will be donated to the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence. The remainder of the offering will fund the Committee’s W. Duane Lockard scholarship and general operating fund. The Committee is also asking attendees to bring office, and arts and crafts supplies to the Interfaith Service to benefit the Institute’s work.
Members of the committee include Ethel Garvin, Attleboro; the Rev. Jewel Hardmon, Attleboro; Darren Major, Attleboro; Selvanayaki Mayilsamy, North Attleboro; Albert Richmond, Attleboro, and Mary Whelan, Attleboro.
