Everything Under The Sun: Carbondale Actively Addresses Violence

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Carbondale Actively Addresses Violence

Provocative programs lead to addressing the issue directly.

I think that if a person reads enough headlines and/or lives near a major US city, that person becomes keenly aware of a pattern of violence. In many cities, deaths from violence numbers in the hundreds, sometimes multiplied in single digits. Many have pondered these statistics, trying to sort out the many causes and seeking some solution to restore the peace.

Carbondale, Illinois, formed a NONVIOLENT CARBONDALE organization, its name signifying a hope and a goal. The idea was to explore the issues of peace, social justice, and compassion, and maybe even join other like-minded communities in becoming COMPASSIONATE COMMUNITIES.

Over the period of its existence, Nonviolent Carbondale has launched yearly 11-day initiatives that would explore facets of bringing Carbondale into the level of a compassionate city. The 11-days were divided into themes: 11 Days For Peace (2011), 11 Days For Compassion (2012), 11 Days For Food Justice (2013), 11 Days For Peace (2014), and 11 Days For Compassion (2015).

There has been widespread participation in these focused sessions by thousands of community members and numerous supporting organizations. The City government has provided support through its Human Relations Commission, under President Hugh Muldoon. With the input and participation that Nonviolent Carbondale has garnered, a resolution is to be brought before City Council to affirm the City's participation in the Charter For Compassion and declare Carbondale's participation in a ten-year plan to become a Compassionate City (from the start of 2011).

When a city, like Carbondale, embarks on a campaign to become a NONVIOLENT CITY, it is committing to address its incidents of violence in all its forms, structures, and systems, along with connecting the commonalities. Then there is a proactive effort to remake the culture as one that is holistic, creative, nonviolent, and city-wide. It involves promoting, teaching, and practicing nonviolence to the point that nonviolence becomes institutionalized in that city. It involves hard work, collaboration, and the participation of everyone.

At one 11 Days activity, a mask exhibit showed a diverse community of faces.

This is a positive vision, a striving forward towards a goal, a willingness to address the many issues that get in the way of the pursuit of nonviolence. Yet, in our major cities, there needs to be some soul-searching, the same hard work, the striving to eliminate the forces that contribute to violence. This is one way. I wish the best to the City of Carbondale in their effort to become compassionate.