Manchester University speakers to explore how MLK’s framework for nonviolent change can work today
NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – Nationally recognized trainers in using nonviolence as an active, positive, reconciling force for change are speaking at Manchester University on Tuesday, Oct. 24.
Matt Guynn, director of nonviolent social change organizing at On Earth Peace, and Pam Smith, executive director of the Addie Wyatt Center for Nonviolence Training, will present “Kingian Nonviolence: The Beloved Community is the Framework for the Future.”
The presentation is at 3:30 p.m. in Cordier Auditorium on the North Manchester campus. It is free and open to the public.
Smith and Guynn will talk about the role of nonviolent approaches developed by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement to overcome conflict and injustice while supporting social and political change.
In this overview, participants will learn four lasting contributions that MLK and civil rights leaders made to mobilization and political action, explore principles and steps from Kingian Nonviolence that can help frame issues and motivate communities, and hear stories and visions about applying nonviolence today.
This presentation is part of a larger conversation throughout the 2017-18 academic year honoring MU’s tradition of peace and justice. Fifty years ago, on Feb. 1, 1968, King spoke to an overflow audience at Manchester on “The Future of Integration.” It was his last address at a college campus before his assassination.
The Oct. 24 presentation is made possible by MU’s Office of Multicultural Affairs and Peace Studies Institute. It is part of the Values, Ideas and the Arts series at the University.
Guynn, a 1995 Manchester graduate, went on to earn master’s degrees at the University of Notre Dame and Bethany Theological Seminary. His ministry provides training for those who seek to address issues of violence and oppression using the power and promise of nonviolent love.
A longtime consultant for Chicago nonprofit organizations, Smith holds master’s degrees from George Mason University and Northeastern Illinois University. She is a co-founder of the Addie Wyatt Center in Chicago, which engages and empowers youths and communities facing violence.
About Manchester University
Manchester University, with campuses in North Manchester and Fort Wayne, Ind., offers more than 60 areas of academic study to nearly 1,600 students in undergraduate programs, a Master of Athletic Training, a Master of Pharmacogenomics and a four-year professional Doctor of Pharmacy. It has students from 20 nations and is home to the world's first undergraduate peace studies program, established in 1948. Learn more about the private, northern Indiana school at www.manchester.edu.
October 2017