BEND, OR -- Central Oregon Community College’s 15th annual Season of Nonviolence starts next month.
COCC’S Christy Walker says the award-winning young adult novel ‘This Is My America’, by University of Oregon Vice Provost Kim Johnson is not typical for this event, “We tend to use more academic type of books in these reading groups, and we thought that having a book of this nature that is a powerful fiction story, would hopefully inspire and invite a diverse group of people to join these book groups.”
Along with the book discussions throughout Central Oregon there are live performances, community conversations, and a pair of distinguished keynote speakers.
“We’re so excited to bring in Ilyasah Shabazz and Ndaba Mandela, who are respectively Malcolm X’s daughter and Nelson Mandela’s grandson. They’re doing a joint conversation talk at the Tower Theater on January 26th,” says Walker.
COCC’s Season of Nonviolence book group discussions start January 9th and run through mid-March.
“This is our 15th year hosting the Season of Nonviolence. Traditionally it honors Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Martin Luther King, and here at COCC we also add Chief Wilma Mankiller and César Chávez as folks that we look up to that inspire us through peaceful activism and education,” Walker explained.
Season of Nonviolence events can be found on the COCC website.
