Ujamaa Place Bringing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Nonviolent Philosophy To Minnesota

SAINT PAUL, Minn. - Aug. 14, 2017 - PRLog -- Ujamaa Place and partnering organizations are taking a leadership role to address violence in Minnesota.  On October 10 – 11, 2017, a group of 130 men will experience a life transforming education and training facilitated by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King's youngest daughter, Bernice A. King, along with a team representing The King Center (The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change).

Nonviolence365™ Education and Training is a critical step in the "Pilgrimage to Nonviolence", in which people embrace and actualize nonviolence as a lifestyle.  It will empower participants to have a posture of nonviolence in their thinking, speaking and acting. It also serves as a mechanism for changing the way individuals approach problems, conflict, tension, violence and differences by providing a holistic means for responding in a nonviolent manner. The education and training provides character education within the modules, which convey Dr. King's nonviolent philosophy, methodology,  perspectives and leadership style.

Ujamaa Place serves men who have been involved in the criminal justice system.  Most have grown up in systemic poverty and have lived a life of survival in families that often don't have what most would describe as basic needs.  "It is time to take sustainable action and avoid finger-pointing and the blame game", says Otis Zanders, Executive Director of Ujamaa Place.  The herculean problem requires an innovative and collaborative solution.  The solution requires a sustainable strategy based on empowering people most affected by the problem.

Ujamaa Place knows the pain of its men, often criminalized because of the color of their skin and inability to find a job. "This is what causes trauma and a person to lose hope," comments Hafia Gray, behavioral director of Ujamaa Place.

"My parents believed, as do I, that "nonviolence is the answer to the crucial moral and political questions of our time" and that it is the path to the Beloved Community," says Bernice A. King. She continues, "By  leading the organizing of the upcoming Nonviolence365™ Education and Training, Ujamaa Place is helping to provide the answer and the path for young men to reengage community with great purpose. Further, the deep disparities in education and economics that exist in communities of color in Minnesota cannot be ignored and will not correct themselves. Strong community partnerships are required to bring about change.  My father's nonviolent philosophy and methodology will provide strength, spirit and strategy for these community partnerships. As The King Center and the world prepare to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of my father's assassination on April 4, 2018, we are honored to continue his legacy by educating 130 men in St. Paul on how to create a more just, humane, peaceful world, beginning in their communities, with Nonviolence365™."

More information is available at: ujamaaplace.org

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About Ujamaa Place

The vision of Ujamaa Place is to foster development of young African American men to become strong, responsible, employed, educated and financially stable men and fathers, who provide and contribute productively to their family and community.  More information at: http://www.ujamaaplace.org

About The King Center

Established in 1968 by Mrs. Coretta Scott King, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change ("The King Center") has been a global destination, resource center and community institution for over a quarter century. Nearly a million people each year make pilgrimage to the National Historic Site to learn, be inspired and pay their respects to Dr. King's legacy.  More information at: http://www.thekingcenter.org