Summer of Peace - Teaching Nonviolence in Westerly, Rhode Island

By Frank Thacker

“Be the change you wish to see.” Like many others I have encountered this quote of Gandhi many times over many years. After decades of protests, demonstrations, letters and calls to representatives and senators and other like activities, all of which have their place in creating the mosaic of peace, I felt Gandhi’s quote striking a different chord in me.

I found myself becoming more and more drawn toward nonviolent living. I started reading a number of books like Michael Nagler’s The Search for a Nonviolent Future and James O’Dea’s Cultivating Peace. Also I was blessed that the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies was housed at the nearby University of Rhode Island. They offer an intense 3 week, 5 days a week, 9 to 5 training on becoming a certified nonviolence trainer. I was able to participate in this training and learned a great deal about nonviolent living. I would add, that throughout this period, and actually for many years before, I have had a daily meditative practice. I believe this is an essential part of creating a culture of peace.

One of the things I learned was my own propensity for violence in my daily living. At the same time I was drawn to the belief that if we are to create a culture of peace, which is one in which conflict is not absent but one in which conflicts are resolved in a nonviolent and just way, it is going to come from the bottom up. It is going to be created by ordinary people learning to live their daily lives in a more and more nonviolent way.

Around this time as things were shifting within me, I encountered The Shift Network’s Summer of Peace 2012. I saw a connection between what they were attempting to do and my notion of being the change you wish to see and change coming from the bottom up. The Shift’s Summer of Peace was working on the global level. I felt moved to do something on the local level.

I live in a middle sized tourist town of about 23,000 which almost doubles in the summer time. It has its own daily newspaper and its own radio station. Given these and other similar factors it is a town in which it is fairly easy to “get the word out.” Thus we were able to organize a number of events focused on the Summer of Peace and motivate a number of local organizations to support the Summer of Peace. For example the town council passed a resolution endorsing the Summer of Peace 2012.

Over the past four years I have become more and more impassioned with the notion of nonviolence and in particular the importance of ordinary everyday people learning to live more nonviolently in their daily lives.

My credo runs something like this: I believe that most, if not all of us, in our heart of hearts desire a culture of peace; that the road to such a culture runs through nonviolent daily living; that if you wish to live more nonviolently you need a model; that one of the best models I know is the Kingian principles and steps.

As you know these principles and steps came out of the Civil Rights Movement. I have taken them and attempted to present them in a way that can be applied to everyday living. During the past year or so I have had the opportunity to present a number of workshops, lectures and presentations on Nonviolence for Daily Living based on the Kingian principles and steps.

A few months ago I felt this movement to reconnect with the Summer of Peace 2016 and to do something on the local level. With the help of the local newspaper, the local station radio station and the weekly jazz concerts on the beach we have created a six week series. Each week there will be a focus on the six principles of Kingian nonviolence and how they can be used in daily life. You can find more details at our website www.summerofpeace2016.org

If anyone is feeling inspired to create something locally I would be glad to share my experiences. You can contact me by email: click here.

As I see it, we are creating this beautiful mosaic of peace. Each tile is important. So shine up your tile. Add it to the mosaic. Become part of the change you wish to see.
 

Frank Thacker, MSW. M. Div. MA in Conscious Evolution

Frank is a retired clinical social worker with over 30 years of experience in “inner” city social work along with an individual and family psychotherapy practice. He has been working on peace and justice issue for over 45 years. He is also a level II certified nonviolence trainer. He lives in Westerly, Rhode Island wife his wife Karen Hanson, MSW, MA, a retired psychotherapist, a tireless peace and justice worker and a certified trainer in Contemplative Prayer.