OCTOBER 5-11, 2025
OHIO NONVIOLENCE WEEK
nonviolence week events
nonviolence week events
Day 5 - Thursday, Oct 9
”Speak Your Peace”
Spoken Word Event
6-8 PM
FREE & Open to the Public
St. John’s Episcopal Church
323 Wick Ave, Youngstown
Day 4 - Wdnesday, Oct 8
Art & Poetry Reception 5-7 PM
FREE & Open to the Public
The Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County
305 Wick Ave, Youngstown
Day 1 - Sunday, Oct 5th at 3pm
15th Annual PARADE AND RALLY
Corner of Wick & Wood
Downtown Youngstown
15th Annual Parade and Rally The parade will begin at the intersection of Wood Street and Wick Avenue and finish at the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre, where a rally will be held. Parade participants will include Sojourn to the Past students, various Valley schools, churches, nonprofit and community organizations, political candidates and others. Awards will be given for the best float, best banner and best in show for highlighting the themes of “peace” and “nonviolence.” The Rally will feature speakers, music and food kicking off the week long series of events focused on nonviolence and peace!
October 5 - 10
FIVE DAY READING CHALLENGE
YWCA Youngstown
25 W. Rayen Ave., Younstown
Day 2 - Monday, Oct 6
MINGLE WITH MINNI
5-8 PM
Fundraiser Dinner
Cost: $25
Flambeau’s Live
2308 Market St., Youngstown, 44507
Five Day Nonviolence/Social Justice Reading Challenge and Panel Discussion The Challenge asks participants to make daily time and space to learn more about the principles of nonviolence and how the community can stand in solidarity and speak up against violence. Participants who have signed up for the challenge will receive daily reading or visual material via email to help foster their understanding and awareness. Readings will be emailed Sunday through Thursday (October 5-9) and a panel discussion with our community leaders will be held in-person on Friday, October 10, at noon at the YWCA. For many years, the YWCA, in conjunction with Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past, has commemorated Ohio Nonviolence Week. This Reading Challenge is just one example of their collaborative efforts. PANEL DISCUSSION: The Challenge will end with a panel discussion with our community leaders at noon on October 10 at the YWCA. A light luncheon will be served to those who attend. Register for the panel discussion and luncheon below.
“Mingle With Minni" Come meet Minnijean Brown Trickey, one of the group of African-American teenagers known as the “Little Rock Nine.” On September 25, 1957, under the gaze of 1,200 armed soldiers and a worldwide audience, Minnijean Brown Trickey faced down an angry mob and helped to desegregate Central High. Minnijean Brown Trickey provides audiences with a fascinating exploration of social change, diversity, and the battle against discrimination and racism. Realistic, but at the same time hopeful, she helps her listeners to understand both how far we have come from that fateful autumn in Little Rock, and how far we have still to go, in the battle for freedom and equality in America. This fundraiser dinner supports the Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past. Students from Youngstown area high schools participate in a seven-day journey to Civil Rights sites in the South and meet many of the people who participated in the Civil Rights Movement.
Simeon Booker
Day 3 - Tuesday, Oct 7
Simeon Booker Award 7 PM
Free & Open to the Public
*Reception at 5:30—Cost $35
Tyler History Center
Youngstown
Jo Ann Bland
Gary & Cindy Koerth
Day 6 - Friday, Oct 10 at Noon
5 Day Read Panel
YWCA
25 W Rayen Ave. Youngstown
Day 5 - Thursday, Oct 9
Noon Lunch & Learn
Jewish Community Center
2025 Simeon Booker Award for Courage
Jo Ann Bland
National Simeon Booker Award for Courage recipient & Keynote Speaker
Jo Ann Bland is a lifelong activist whose courage has shaped the struggle for voting rights and racial justice. As a child in Selma, Alabama, she was arrested more than a dozen times before age 12 for standing up to segregation. At just 11 years old, she marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on “Bloody Sunday,” witnessing brutality that only deepened her resolve. She later co-founded the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute to honor the ordinary people who risked everything for equality. Bland’s life is a testament to the power of collective action and the unbreakable spirit of those who dare to demand justice.
Gary & Cindy Koerth
Local Simeon Booker Award for Courage recipient
Gary and Cindy Koerth are Youngstown roots-keepers whose quiet courage has transformed their Glenwood neighborhood into a place of hope. After years of community-building, they invest heart, soul, and more to reclaim and reinvent a 1925 building - launching Glenwood Grounds Coffee Shop as a welcoming hub in a food desert. Gary and Cindy opened their doors not just to serve coffee but to offer beloning, care and a space where every neighbor matters. Through weekly picnics, mentorship, and volunteer-led engagement, they’ve stitched connection into the fabric of their community.
Who was Simeon Booker? Simeon Booker was a courageous and pioneering African-American journalist during the Civil Rights Movement who lived in Youngstown, OH, from when he was five until he left Youngstown College after one year in 1938 because African Americans could attend the college but were not able to receive an activities card. His work helped unify the fight for equality. This event was created in his honor to celebrate his life-long achievements and to highlight those torchbearers who have risked life and limb in pursuit of the same things Simeon Booker stood for – justice and equality.
The Ohio Nonviolence Week Committee presents the Speak Your Peace spoken word event. Students in grades 6-12 can submit entries focusing on one of MLKs Principles of Nonviolence before September 21. Students will perform their work at the event on October 9th. Prizes will be awarded.
The Nonviolence Week Committee is sponsoring both an art contest and poetry contest and invites students in the Mahoning Valley to participate. The theme is NONVIOLENCE, and the artwork/poetry must exhibit the message of peace and nonviolence. All entries must be original. Winning artwork entries will be displayed at the Art and Poetry reception. The art and poetry reception will be held at the main library for winners in both contests.
Deadline for both contests is September 15th.
The 5 day reading challenge will end with a panel discussion with our community leaders at noon on October 11 at the YWCA. A light luncheon will be served to those who attend. This year’s panelists are Minnijean Brown Trickey, Rev. Joseph Boyd, led by moderator Rev. Jon Paul Robles.
LUNCH & LEARN
with Minnijean Brown-Trickey LOCATION: Jewish Community Center 505 Gypsy Ln, Youngstown
FREE: Registration required
Call the JCC to register at 330-746-3251
