Season of Nonviolence

2023 SNV web header

Inspired by the work of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., César Chávez and Chief Wilma Mankiller, the annual Season of Nonviolence honors these leaders’ visions for an empowered, nonviolent world. Colleges and universities throughout the country celebrate the Season of Nonviolence by bringing together community partners to educate and empower communities on how to use nonviolent methods to create a more peaceful world.  

2023 marked the 15th year Central Oregon Community College has been hosting programming to honor the Season of Nonviolence. The programming is co-presented by The Nancy R. Chandler Lecture Series and the College's Office of Diversity and Inclusion.


Past Season of Nonviolence Speakers

 

2023: Ndaba Mandela & Ilyasah Shabazz 
2022: Winona LaDuke 
2021: Jelani Cobb 
2020: Ericka Huggins 
2019: Robin DiAngelo 
2018: Julissa Arce 
2017: Shakti Butler 
2016: john a. powell 
2015: Richard Blanco 
2014: Walidah Imarisha 
2013: Arun Gandhi 
2012: Carol Ruth Silver & Claude Albert Liggins
2011: Jimmy Santiago Baca
2010: Reyna Grande 
2009: David Bacon 

 


Completed 2023 Season of Nonviolence Programming


Lessons from Our Fathers: Continuing the LegaciesMandela 2 of Nelson Mandela and Malcolm X

 

Ndaba Mandela - Grandson of Nelson Mandela, Founder of Africa Rising Foundation 

Ilyasah Shabazz - Daughter of Malcolm X, Professor & Author 

Thursday, January 26, 6:30 PST p.m. 
Tower Theatre in Bend and livestreamed 

Drawing on the legacies of their iconic and beloved family members, Ndaba Mandela and Ilyasah Shabazz shared inspirational stories and empowering lessons. Today, both Mandela
and Shabazz have dedicated their life’s work to continuing the Shabazz 4call for social justice started by Nelson Mandela and Malcolm X.

FREE and OPEN to the public. 

 

 

 

 

Livestream Watch Gathering on COCC's Madras campus 

Watch the livestream of "Lessons from Our Fathers" together on our Madras campus. 

Thursday, January 26 - COCC Madras Campus -- Community Room 

6 p.m. - Gather for refreshments
6:30 p.m. - Livestream from the Tower Theatre begins

FREE and OPEN to the public.

STUDENT ONLY EVENT

A conversation with Ndaba Mandela and Ilyasah Shabazz 

Thursday, January 26, 3-4 p.m. 
COCC Bend Campus - Wille Hall 
Students are invited to join an informal conversation and Q&A with social justice leaders Ndaba Mandela and
Ilyasah Shabazz before their public presentation.

FREE and OPEN to all students.


Community Book Conversations 


This is My America 

by Kim Johnson

Join us and other community organizations for the 2023 Season of Nonviolence book discussions. This year’s selection is Kim Johnson’s This is My America.

Every week, seventeen-year-old Tracy Beaumont writes letters to Innocence X, asking the organization to help her father, an innocent Black man on death row. Will Tracy and her family survive the uncovering of the skeletons of their Texas town's racist history that still haunt the present?

COCC Madras Discussion Group
Mondays beginning January 9, Noon-1 p.m.
COCC Madras Campus

Environmental Center Discussion Group
Wednesdays beginning January 11, 5-6 p.m.
Virtual

Barber Library Discussion Group
Tuesdays beginning January 17, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Virtual


Unity Spiritual Community of Central Oregon Discussion Group
Thursdays beginning January 19, 10-11 a.m.
63645 Scenic Drive, Bend


Afrocentric Club Discussion Group
Tuesdays beginning January 24, 2-3 p.m.
Virtual


La Pine and Sunriver Discussion Group
Tues./Wed. beginning January 24, 5-6 p.m.
Sunriver Library – 56855 Venture Lane, Sunriver


Trinity Episcopal Church Discussion Group
Wednesdays beginning January 25, 3-4 p.m.
Virtual


COCC Prineville Discussion Group
Mondays beginning February 6, 4-5 p.m.
COCC Prineville Campus

This is My America

BHM Header 2023In recognition of Black History Month during February 2023, COCC is honored to welcome speakers and programs that highlight Black triumph. We celebrate the past and present triumphs of the Black community while continuing our efforts to challenge oppressive systems and strive toward a more equitable future. 

Events are FREE and OPEN to the public.

For a full list of events for Black History Month visit:
2023 Black History Month Events


Community Conversations

The Conversation Project Programs are sponsored by Oregon Humanities. They bring people together to talk about their beliefs and experiences around timely and important issues and ideas.
Free & Open to the Public

Emerging From Our HomesLeeAnn
with Facilitator LeeAnn O'Neill

For most, the pandemic meant spending more time in our homes. As we emerge from our homes, our sense of safety and vulnerability moving through our communities may be different if we are walking, biking, rolling, taking public transit, or driving. Join facilitator LeeAnn O’Neill in a conversation that asks, how does the way you move through your community affect your sense of safety and vulnerability? What else affects your sense of safety and vulnerability? How might you change the way you interact with others as you move through your community to create a greater sense of safety for everyone? This conversation is a chance to reflect on our personal roles in creating greater safety for all as we move through our communities.

Redmond COCC
Building 3, Room 306
Monday, March 13
5:30-7:00 p.m. PST


Relationships for Resilience
with Facilitator Christina deVillier

In a time of intensifying social and ecological crises, in a cultural context of
individualism, the p
cdevressure to practice "self-care," build "personal resilience," and "transform oneself" is pervasive. While "doing your own work" is important, we overemphasize the individual to the detriment of our human communities and the rest of the living world. The deep transformations we need will be co-created, and the deep resilience we must develop will be relational. In this conversation, we will explore the dynamics of our strongest relationships, seeking to name the qualities and practices that underpin resilience. How can we bring our insights more intentionally and broadly to bear in our human relationships and in our relationships with our homelands, waters, and ecosystems?  

Prineville COCC
Room 119
Thursday, March 9
5:30-7:00 p.m. PST


Evolve

The EVOLVE Experience

The Evolve Experience is a unique arts-based performance from award-winning, Portland-based nonprofit Red Door Project that explores the relationship between law enforcement and communities of color through monologues and past interviews with police officers.

This event was brought to the Central Oregon community in large part due to the efforts of the Afrocentric Student Program.

 

 

Live at the Tower Theatre!  Free & Open to the Public

Two Performances:

  • Sunday, March 19, 2 p.m.
  • Monday, March 20, 6:30 p.m.

Recommended for ages high school and above.

We would like to thank the following organizations for their support. Without their contributions, this event would not have been possible.

St. Charles Health System Black United Fund of Oregon Visit Bend Embrace Bend OSU Cascades
Better Together Redmond & Bend Police United Way Pacific Source Health Plans City of Bend
Oregon Humanities Tower Theatre Autzen Foundation Central Oregon Health Council RWN
Rimrock Trails Deschutes County Mental Health Central Oregon Community College The Roundhouse Foundation  


Thank you to our 2023 Season of Nonviolence Sponsors!

Presenting Sponsor:
First Story 

Premier Sponsor: 
Brooks Resources Corporation 
With additional support from: 
Associated Students of COCC
Cascades Academy of Central Oregon 
Central Oregon Community College
Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund
Oregon Humanities 
St. Charles Health System
TDS

Questions? Need more information? Contact Charlotte Gilbride cgilbride@cocc.edu / 541-383-7272 or Christy Walker cwalker2@cocc.edu / 541-383-7412.