A Season for Nonviolence is a national 64-day educational, media, and grassroots campaign dedicated to demonstrating that nonviolence is a powerful way to heal, transform, and empower our lives and our communities. Inspired by the memorial anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., this international event starts January 30 and ends April 4 and thus honors their vision for an empowered, non-violent world.

Since 1996, the County of Alameda and the City of Alameda have partnered with AUSD to create the Alameda Collaborative for Children, Youth, and their Families (ACCYF). Moreover, ACCYF each year helps to support a city-wide speech contest.

Daily readings are just one of the highlighted activities practiced during the season. AUSD schools have been provided materials by which teachers and administrators integrate these daily readings into the school day.  

Today’s principle of nonviolence is Commitment.

Nonviolent activists commit themselves to the principles of nonviolence in order to be prepared to accept suffering in their work for peace and justice.

 Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis explains, “Before we went on any protest, whether it was sit-ins or the freedom rides or any march, we prepared ourselves, and we were disciplined. We were committed to the way of peace - the way of non-violence - the way of love - the way of life as the way of living.”