CIP: Paper
kimmiboo
EDUC746MartinLutherKingPPT5.pptxEDUC 746 PPT 3
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. http://sclcnational.org/net/content/go.aspx?s=3341.0.0.2607
In the early 1980’s, America found itself gripped in an epidemic of youth violence. The arrest rates for young people skyrocketed and as a result, there were a number of federal, state, and local initiatives started to curb the escalation of violence across the country. The responses included new gun control laws, the establishment of boot camps, and the increased prosecution of young people as adults.
Although many would have you believe that the problem has lessened, many communities continue to struggle to maintain a hold on the problem. In fact, communities of color are particularly prone to a continued culture of violence fueled by drugs, violence, and in some instances “gangsta rap.”
Youth violence has been defined as the “intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results on or has a likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation. High profile school shootings have increased the public awareness of youth violence resulting in a number of school-based violence, but there are virtually no programs in operation that target community based violence.
According to the Center for Disease Control’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control:
In 2002, more than 877,700 young people ages 10 to 24 were injured from violent acts with 1 in 13 requiring hospitalization.
An astounding fact is that homicide is the second leading cause of death among young people ages 10 to 24, but the leading cause of death for African American young people in this age range.
In response to this rise in violence, a nationwide survey indicated that 17% of students surveyed reported carrying a weapon on one or more days on the 30 days preceding the survey.
COMMUNITIES BESIEGED BY YOUTH VIOLENCE
Cities across America are overcome with the problem of youth and gang violence. Take for instance the City of Dayton, Ohio, the site of SCLC’s first domestic conflict resolution center. The city has experienced a high level of violence recently, although the city points out that homicides were at it lowest period in 23 years. Community residents on the other hand point to an increasing number of youth involved incidents that are ravaging the city. The incidents involve attacks between young people and disturbing acts of violence by young people against other citizens.
In recent months, the media has reported a number of high profile incidents including:
17-year old Tearron Daniel was shot and killed. Police believe the shooting was not random, but was rather in retaliation for another crime that happened a couple years before the murder. The murder occurred when a group of teens were hanging out at the corner of Bohemian and Waymire and two cars passed by and opened fire. A bullet struck Daniel in the back and bullets including an 11-year old riding her bike hit four others.
A group of people was sitting on the porch of a home when another group shot them at. One person was shot in the shoulder and was taken to the hospital. Authorities believe that the shooting may have been connected to the shooting of Tearron Daniel.
Two 15 year olds and a sixteen year old assaulted a 60-year-old Dayton man. The victim, Fitz Payne, was beaten at West Third Street and Ardmore Avenue.
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17-year old Elijah Griffin was indicted on murder charges for the September 4, 2004 fatal shooting of Daily News Reporter Derek Ali, who has been working as a disc jockey at a party at the Lakeridge Community Center.
More than 50 people were involved in a fight in downtown Dayton, prompting the Regional Transit Authority to increase security at its main hub located at Third and Main streets. The city and county leaders met with the RTA board and agreed on plan to include armed securing officers patrolling the area.
KINGIAN NONVIOLENCE DEFINED
Kingian Nonviolence is a philosophy and methodology that provides the knowledge, skills, and motivation necessary for people to pursue peaceful strategies for solving personal and community problems. This approach is critical if the epidemic of violence is to be eradicated. Often mistaken for being simply the absence or opposite of violence, Nonviolence is, rather, a systematic framework of both conceptual principles and pragmatic strategies to reduce violence and promote positive peace at the community, national, and global levels.
Nonviolence is not new. Its efficacy has been proven historically across many situations in many different cultures. (Some recent examples include the democratic dissent that produced the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the independence movements in several countries of Eastern Europe and the end to Apartheid in South Africa.) And, as the world moves into a new century, Nonviolence is increasingly being recognized as the only real option for stemming the tide of violence.
In recent history, nonviolence has come to be recognized as a significant alternative for students, communities, and whole societies to effectively deal with the conditions they face locally, nationally, and internationally. During the 20th century, the successful social movements of Gandhi in India and Martin Luther King in the United States led to the public's realization of completely new dimensions of nonviolent conflict reconciliation. This approach does not depend on major material or technological instruments, but utilizes skills and methodologies.
Nonviolence Concept
There will always be conflict, but all conflict need not be violent. In most societies, in most situations, people can advance their influence through nonviolent means. The historical background is important to the approach because it provides the framework for interpreting the context for King's theories and actions. The basic premise is that the quality of one's deliberate actions is based upon the quality of one's philosophic position. A chronology of the campaigns led by Dr. King evidences the growth and maturation of the nonviolence concept and its application to social problems. If one can understand the organic nature of the nonviolence reconciliation theory, practice and process, one can appreciate the dynamic evolutionary continuum to which one can contribute, interpret and be involved.
Avoiding violence requires deliberate action. People have to buy into Nonviolence as the best way. People have learned the techniques of nonviolent struggle. And it can be taught successfully to people who then use it to attain their goals. Our approach is to prevent or respond to violence. We utilize our university resources to create broad reaching educational and research opportunities to ultimately combat violence and create a curriculum that provides learning opportunities transferable to the immediate community, entire state, nation and the globe.
The skills and methods of Nonviolence are closely related to those involved in mediation, interest based negotiation, counseling, and process consultation. Nonviolence has a long history nationally and internationally of creating positive social change, peace building and elevating the quality of human interaction. Supporters of Nonviolence do not always agree on the methodologies, strategies or stations in which it can be employed. All supporters of Nonviolence would agree however, that society could be enriched by preventing and reducing violence, and by creating more positive ways to resolve conflict and support reconciliation. It is an effective methodology and way of life for building long-term peace and beloved communities.
If one can appreciate the different kinds of conflict in our society, the role that conflict plays in the life of an individual, group or larger society, how that conflict can be managed and the importance of conflict bringing about change, then what might be ordinarily considered a totally negative experience can be transformed into positive outcomes. The perceptions, interpretation and persuasion of the leadership determine the role conflict might play in a particular situation and its positive or negative consequences.
In physically threatening situations, it could mean considering options before using violence.
In a dispute between family members, it could mean finding time to discuss the issue when the anger has subsided.
In a business negotiation, it could mean satisfying the opponent's needs as well as one's own.
In interactions with children, it could mean showing them how to solve problems in a step-by-step way
In political action, it could mean taking the time to understand the positions, motives, and capabilities of all the parties involved, from their point of view.
In dealing with highly volatile community conflicts, it could mean seeking "win-win" solutions in which everyone's needs and interests are identified and respected.
