Brian
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Post by Brian on Mar 10, 2015 22:59:58 GMT -8
Bernard LaFayette, co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and lifelong advocate of justice and nonviolence, was interviewed last Saturday on C-SPAN3 before the ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the march in Selma, where he led SNCC's voter registration drive from 1963 to 1965. This video on C-SPAN's website runs nearly two hours, but Dr. LaFayette only appears in the first 44 minutes: www.c-span.org/video/?324692-1/open-phones-50th-anniversary-selma-marchSix years ago, Jeanne, Anni and I attended a workshop on practicing nonviolence by Dr. LaFayette at Cal Poly Pomona. We wrote down some of his lessons in this thread here on the Montrose Peace Vigil message board: montrosepeacevigil.proboards.com/post/1065/thread
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Post by Jeanne on Mar 11, 2015 5:22:50 GMT -8
Thanks for that throwback Tuesday link, Brian. Taking stock, I think we have remained on a good path and have been a part of shifting ideas in our community. It gives me an idea for a new sign.
I hope we'll see you Friday at the film.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Jan 7, 2018 0:00:16 GMT -8
Bernard LaFayette Jr. Another 50th anniversary arrives this year -- the Poor People's March in Washington, D.C., which Bernard LaFayette helped to organize in 1968. Periodically, I Google around to see what he's up to now. I learned that Dr. LaFayette is teaching a five-part course created by Emory University on the Coursera website, "From Freedom Rides to Ferguson: Narratives of Nonviolence in the American Civil Rights Movement." Check it out: www.coursera.org/learn/nonviolenceDoc gave a brief interview to the Coursera Blog last August from which I took that quote: blog.coursera.org/nonviolent-social-change-conversation-rev-dr-bernard-lafayette-jr/
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Post by Jeanne on Jan 7, 2018 6:18:26 GMT -8
Thanks for the update on Bernard, Brian. It's an encouraging thought for us as we start out 13th year of standing for peace.
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anni
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Post by anni on Jan 7, 2018 16:12:50 GMT -8
Exactly the message for our our 12th anniversary, and beyond!
And on a slightly sillier note, this fine and shining human is our fuzzy son's namesake:Bernard
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Sept 2, 2018 23:00:14 GMT -8
Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr.
The Ahimsa Center at Cal Poly Pomona is now selling tickets to its 2018 conference, "Transformative Power of Education: Lessons from Gandhi, King, Chavez and Mandela," from Friday, October 5, to Sunday, October 7, in the Bronco Student Center on campus.
Dr. LaFayette, whose name is often spelled Lafayette on the Internet, is returning to Ahimsa for two sessions this year. He will precede the conference at 10 a.m. Friday with a special workshop on nonviolence:
Doc kicks off Saturday at 9 a.m. with the opening session, "Global Nonviolence Leadership." Four sessions follow on the topics of advancing the work for civil rights, civility and dialogue in society, choosing sustainable living, and educating for justice. Ahimsa Center's main webpage for the conference: www.cpp.edu/~ahimsacenter/conference/conference_18.shtmlAnni and I have tickets for the pre-conference on Friday and the entire conference on Saturday. Cost totaled just $65 each.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Jun 9, 2020 23:00:36 GMT -8
I've been inspired by the life and work of Bernard LaFayette Jr. since I participated in his nonviolence workshop at Cal Poly Pomona in 2009. Needless to say, I've been thinking about him a lot in the past two weeks.
In his book about his involvement in voter registration and the marches in Alabama from 1963 to 1965, "In Peace and Freedom: My Journal in Selma," Dr. LaFayette wrote, "Dr. King used to say that when an issue is kept alive through headline news for at least ten days, then you have a movement, not just a protest march. This was a movement."
Dr. LaFayette, who turns 80 on July 29, is the founding director of the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies at the University of Rhode Island. Yes, he is still at it. This year, the Center is conducting its 21st annual International Nonviolence Summer Institute online over three days beginning July 30:
web.uri.edu/nonviolencesummerinstitute/
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Jul 20, 2020 23:00:11 GMT -8
Dr. LaFayette lost two of his closest friends last Friday -- a mentor and his college roommate. John Lewis got Bernard out of that Nashville dorm room in 1960 and into good trouble: they collaborated in lunch counter sit ins and the first Freedom Rides, then each took leadership positions in the Voter Registration Campaigns sponsored by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the South. Doc was interviewed by the New York Times about their friendship: www.nytimes.com/2020/07/18/opinion/john-lewis-dead.htmlDr. LaFayette told the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser: "A week before he passed, he wanted to talk to me. I realized he was ill and was going through these struggles with his health. When it was over with, I found out he just wanted to hear my voice. We didn't have a long conversation, it was only about his health and how he was doing. I didn't expect this to happen. I didn't expect him to leave us this soon." C. T. Vivian came from the previous generation of civil rights leaders. In his 2013 book, "In Peace and Freedom: My Journey in Selma," Dr. LaFayette wrote about him: We will continue to be inspired by C. T. Vivian and John Lewis as long as we live.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Jul 18, 2022 23:00:30 GMT -8
As far as I know, Dr. Bernard LaFayette still has no online presence of his own so I periodically search his name. I just found a treasure: a new half-hour documentary about how Bernard started his life of activism that just won Best Short Documentary at the 2022 Harlem International Film Festival. The only voice heard in "When I Get Grown - Reflections of a Freedom Rider" is Dr. LaFayette's, taken from a six-hour interview that he gave to Dr. Clayborne Carson of the World House Project at Stanford University. I can't embed the high resolution video here, but here's the direct link: vimeo.com/713858824/dd57adea39?mc_cid=a36f23b8e7&mc_eid=ba99044d68So far, there are very few mentions of "When I Get Grown" on the entire internet. I'll keep checking to see if the documentary gains a wider distribution.
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anni
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Post by anni on Jul 20, 2022 9:25:37 GMT -8
This morning (finally) my computer behaved and I got to watch this entire video. What a joy. What an inspiration. May peace make me what I am, today. Every day.
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