Persistence, Diligence, and Vigilance in Advancing Social Justice

"I can't believe I'm 66 and still protesting this shit.”

That resonates. I am 66. I recall taking part in civil rights rallies in the early 1970s, during school desegregation in Boston when white supremacists threw rocks at buses carrying Black school children. Forty-seven years later, I am taking part in marches and unity rallies protesting those same racist attitudes. And in 2020, institutional racism is being enabled, even encouraged by a United States President who seems to admire global autocrats more than democratic leaders. 

That slogan also expresses frustration but at the same time an urgent reminder that persistence, diligence, and vigilance is needed when tracking society’s injustices and inequality. Black Lives Matter exemplifies that. Formed in 2013 as a response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s killer, BLM has finally and rightfully achieved global center-stage, a position from which to aim the spotlight on ongoing institutional and societal racism. From stopping persons of color for a traffic check for no apparent reason (other than their skin color) to killing George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others, we have seen many incidents of racism in law enforcement.

Toni Morrison has said: “In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.” She is referring not to the hyphens, for example, in African-American, Asian-American, and Native-American (terms of empowerment) but rather the hyphen in “non-white”, which implies that being other than a white person is, in a sense, “only” a negation of whiteness, not really quite a full citizen.

Historically, this is poignantly illustrated in the cases of Black soldiers who fought to end slavery in the civil war, the Tuskegee Airmen in WWII fighting fascism in Europe, and Black soldiers in Vietnam, fighting to (presumably) stop Cold War Communism in Southeast Asia. In Spike Lee’s most recent movie, “Da Five Bloods,” one of the 5 Black Vietnam War Veterans featured in the film, says “we fought a war to protect rights we didn't even have." He speaks for not only all Black soldiers in all wars but also for all other “hyphenated” Americans asking only for justice in equal rights and fair play.

Those Black soldiers, like all persons of color, were subject to Jim Crow laws when they returned to their lives in the United States. Those laws, a most blatant form of institutionalized racism, were in place from 1876 to 1965. They included laws like segregated public transportation, separate drinking fountains and restaurants, but they also outlawed “miscegenation,” or mixed-race marriage. Consider the irony of that term. The prefix “mis” is understood as a negation; for example, “misapplied” means to apply wrongly or mistakenly. But “mis,” further back etymologically means “to mix” so miscegenation decays from “mixed genes” to “mistakenly (mixed) genes.” Institutional racism embedded in the language of the law.

As to the question: “What does Nonviolence mean now?” Let us examine the term “nonviolence.” I suspect many people think of nonviolence in its hyphenated form: “non-violence.” Like the term “non-white” that elevates “white” to a higher position, “non-violence” subtly elevates violence. In contrast, “nonviolence” reflects a basic foundation and holistic meaning, an attitude and way of being. The term “violence” refers to a “violation of peace.” May we persistently, diligently, and vigilantly proceed towards peace through nonviolence. Perhaps then we can aspire to the place where we all have unequivocal faith in a nation which affirms that, regardless of race, color, or creed, every person deserves the title of “American.” Maybe then, to paraphrase Toni Morrison, we can all “surrender to the air and together ride the wind.”

Allan Andersen is a former English Literature Instructor at the University of Colorado. He is currently a small business owner in Ashland, OH and has been a member of the ACN Steering Committee for the past 6 years.

What Does Nonviolence Mean Now?

In a well-known passage from Minima Moralia, Theodor Adorno writes that “The only philosophy which can be responsibly practiced in the face of despair is the attempt to contemplate all things as they would present themselves from the standpoint of redemption.” To Adorno, the light shed on things by redemption—seeing things not only as if they were capable of being redeemed, but also seeing them as though they are already on the way, if not already redeemed—is a perspective he calls “messianic.” 

I have found it difficult to know how to process so much of what American society has been going through since the murder of George Floyd on May 25. Reflecting on the nature of nonviolence has been on my mind as I have responded in other, more concrete ways. When I marched in a peaceful protest with fellow citizens of Ashland under the leadership of an Ashland University student, for example, I wondered about what makes a protest peaceful. Is it just that we were lucky enough that violence didn’t break out? I think there’s more to it than that. Nonviolence, which is a spirit more than a description of events, is “messianic” in Arorno’s sense: it names the discipline of striving to see reality as it currently does not appear to be, but that it will be one day. It doesn’t redeem reality; it lives as though reality will be or has already been redeemed. 

I am aware that this perspective can sound like the last thing we need right now. Doesn’t it counsel escape from reality, an especially dangerous impulse at a time when we especially need a heightened commitment to the unvarnished truth about injustice? This is indeed a very real risk if things aren’t really being redeemed. (And here I disagree with Adorno who adds that “the question of the reality or unreality of redemption itself hardly matters.” I think it matters quite a lot.) 

Early on, our organization was counseled to avoid spelling the word “nonviolence” with a hyphen; we needed to keep from defining nonviolence negatively. It’s much easier to get people to agree that we should oppose many forms of violence. When we go to take the next step, though, we lose some people. Is there a peace that is deeper than our opposition to violence? If there is, what happens if we begin to live as though that deeper reality were truly real? 

Keon, the student leader of our local protests, often engages passing drivers by shouting, “We love you unconditionally!” Opponents and allies alike are included in this unconditional love, an element in our protest that I would say makes it truly a peaceful protest.

This is an experiment with truth—the truth that love is the foundation of all things. It would be very foolish to try to live as though that were true if it isn’t. But this is why nonviolence must be dared. Gandhi, of course, was committed to experimenting in this way. One commentator summarized Gandhi’s philosophy like this: “My adversary is part of my truth-finding process.” To Gandhi, peace names an openness to correction, supremely to being shown how what we thought was peace isn’t true peace. 

I consider this openness to be another step on the path of nonviolence. My own self-perception is one of the things that must be cast in the light of redemption. Resignation sees my adversary as an obstacle to be suffered; violence sees him as an opponent to be dispatched. But my neighbor is sometimes my enemy whom I must trust is crucial to my encounter with a truth I might never know apart from him.

I hasten to add that none of this makes my enemy “good,” except in the sense that he and I are both children of our creator who only creates good things. Furthermore, the point isn’t that my adversary is always or ever right. It is that my adversary is there to be reckoned with: sometimes to be listened to, sometimes to be corrected, sometimes to be opposed, and always to be loved. Nonviolence requires that I refuse to overpower the truth. In a very practical way, this means that I need adversaries because my friends might be tempted by the same tendency toward self-deception that I have. 

This, to me, is the heart of peace: believing that all things can be redeemed and are being redeemed. And living like that is the truth.

Craig Hovey is executive director of the Ashland Center for Nonviolence

A Presidential Sacrilege

The events of the past few weeks have unmasked the quick recourse to violence that infuses the American psyche. The national bent toward violence as a means of dealing with difference and dissent has now been set in sharp relief by a presidential threat of violence, followed by an exertion of violence. In short order, the President declared that he would use the military to dominate the streets, in order to restore law and order, and then followed a path cleared by the forceful dispersal of protestors from St. John’s Episcopal Church – so that he could be photographed holding up a Bible in front of it. Although Mr. Trump said nothing, the crude message of the photo was unmistakable: “The violence that I threaten and exert is sanctioned by Christianity’s sacred text and by the God it speaks of.”

Step back and let this sink in. Our country’s head of state and his security forces drove protesters from the grounds of a church and then occupied that space briefly for the purpose of political gain, without consulting or informing the religious personnel who had authority over that space – as if he exercised as much authority in sacred space as he does in the secular sphere.

The Founders were keenly sensitive to the tyrannical practices of the European monarchs, who utilized religious institutions as tools of the state and used force to suppress religious dissenters (like the Pilgrims). That is why they placed limitations on the Executive Branch and why Jefferson argued for a wall of separation between the Church and the State. Presidents do not have the right to enter sacred space as if they have carte blanche to use it as they see fit. By overriding those who steward sacred space, such executives imply that they are above divine authority. This is the essence of arrogant tyranny. It is sacrilegious, as it profanes sacred space (that is, does not give due reverence). And it is blasphemous, when sacred objects and symbols, like the Bible, are blatantly used for political ends. Every citizen ought to be alarmed. A leader of state who believes he owes no reverence to the sacred – whether or not he is a religious adherent – is capable of doing anything.

The Founders also worried over a standing army, which many believed could be used by the President against his own people – as was the practice of European tyrants. They believed, rather, that a citizen militia would provide an adequate defense and, for this reason maintained a minuscule regular force that garrisoned only a few forts and outposts during the early years of the Republic. Mr. Trump’s threat to utilize the military against U.S. citizens therefore steps into deeply troubling waters.

Mr. Trump is the kind of tyrannical president the Founders tried to protect democracy from. It remains to be seen whether the Constitution they bequeathed to us will enable our democracy to overcome it.

Daniel Hawk is Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Ashland Theological Seminary, an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, and a member of the ACN Steering Committee.

Poverty Simulation Volunteer Opportunity

Here is an important volunteer opportunity being coordinated by Ginny Telego:


I have been asked to reach out to community members to gather volunteers to assist Hillsdale Middle School with a Poverty Simulation they are putting on for teachers on Monday, August 20th. Volunteers should arrive at 11:00 am for instructions. The simulation will last from noon to 3:00pm. They need of 20 volunteers.

Volunteers will serve at resource stations that represent organizations that people experiencing poverty might interact with in their daily lives — child care, school, grocery store, bank, social services, etc. Your role will be to interact with the teachers who are role playing members of families who are struggling to make ends meet. “Family units” represented include parents and children, single parents with children, grandparents raising grandchildren (some adult family members have jobs, some trying to find work, others unable to work).

I highly recommend participating as a volunteer if you are available — it is very eye opening and can provide insight into how we can provide support and dignity to those who are struggling to keep their heads above water, especially for kids.

Additional information about the simulation can be found here: http://www.povertysimulation.net/about/

"The Community Action Poverty Simulation breaks down stereotypes by allowing participants to step into the real life situations of others. Poverty is often portrayed as a stand-alone issue - but this simulation allows individuals to walk a month in the shoes of someone who is facing poverty and realize how complex and interconnected issues of poverty really are."

If you are available to help with this important educational program for teachers, please contact Tim Keib, Principal at Hillsdale Middle School, via e-mail at hill_tkeib@tccsa.net or via phone at 740-504-6935 by this Thursday, August 16th. PHONE CALLS PROBABLY ARE BEST TO REACH TIM.

Tim would be happy to talk with you if you would like more information about the simulation and would greatly appreciate it if you would share this opportunity with anyone else who you think would be interested in volunteering.

I hope you will consider helping out!

Thank you in advance,

Ginny Telego, Leadership Ashland

Having hard conversations about confederate monuments

Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 2:30pm

Eagle's Landing in the Student Center

Join presenters Dr. Susan Glisson (Ph.D. in American Studies) and Charles Tucker, the co-founders of Sustainable Equity, for an in-depth yet informal conversation about confederate statues, what they mean and communicate, and what alternatives exist. They will share their experiences from over 20 years of working to reduce inequities in the South and their realization that these fights over divisive symbols have become surrogates for the difficult discussions we're afraid to have about how to dismantle racial barriers that have been fortified over generations. 

Glitter in the Dirt

By Emily Wirtz

Gathering around the sweet and warm-hearted Israeli woman, the group of 41 adventurous Ashlanders chose their playground seats. Swings, slides, stumps, and low brick walls supported our tired bodies as we sat in the heat to listen to the tragic story of modern Israel.

When we arrived, our tour guide Efrat pointed to the various small concrete buildings scattered around the community. “When you get off this bus,” she explained, “if you hear a siren, you have 10 to 15 seconds to get into one of those buildings.” A few of us giggled and through side glances. She can’t be serious. “You are two and a half miles from Gaza, and that’s how long it would take a rocket to get here.” We shut up.

Collective Violence and Kneeling for the National Anthem

By Craig Hovey

Let’s think about NFL players “taking the knee” in terms of how societies respond to their acts of collective violence. In recent years, I have been shaped in my thinking about violence and nonviolence by the work of the late anthropologist René Girard. According to Girard, societies are sustained by collective violence which they must not only justify but also consider and remember as sacred. “Our violence is righteous and has brought us peace and has brought us together,” will be a typical conviction. There will be fierce opposition to anyone who challenges the sacredness of a society’s violence.

For some, the national anthem of the United States isn’t just about our country, but about our sacred acts of violence: our wars and those who fight in them. Singing the national anthem together in public commemorates not just our unity as a nation, but the means by which we were brought together. Not to stand for the anthem, then, produces a deep anxiety for a society used to marking the sacredness of our violence in a way that goes unquestioned.

When NFL players kneel during the national anthem to draw attention to racial violence, the effect is twofold. First, it has the effect of undermining the unity and peace brought by sacred violence that we thought we were celebrating. The sacredness of this moment with this song cannot withstand dissenters whose actions are meant to say we’re not as united nor as peaceful as most have wanted to believe. Second, kneeling draws attention to forms of collective violence other than our wars (that is, white violence against blacks) and which our society today can usually sacralize only awkwardly and incompletely, usually opting to try to ignore it by drawing attention to other things.

The big professional sports are some of the most important “other things” that are meant to distract us from our collective disunity and the violences we have a harder time covering over in sacredness. The faux rivalries that electrify fans—superficial loyalties for one team over another—allow a society an outlet for energies that might erupt into violence in other settings. It is “bread and circuses” appeasement of the populace. The more violent a sport is, the better this works. When some members spoil this mechanism by interjecting other, racial rivalries into the very sports that were meant to help us ignore them, at least on game day, it has the effect of interfering with one of the deeply important social functions these sports are meant to play. The raw reality of our society’s collective violence is uncomfortably put on public display shorn of all sacredness. So these actions are accused of being both unsportsmanlike and unpatriotic.

Craig Hovey is executive director of the Ashland Center for Nonviolence.

Conversation about Historical Context in Confederate Monuments: Who Are We?

Tuesday, Sept. 12 at 2:30pm

Eagle's Landing in the Student Center

Join presenters Dr. Susan Glisson (Ph.D. in American Studies) and Charles Tucker, the co-founders of Sustainable Equity, for an in-depth yet informal conversation about confederate statues, what they mean and communicate, and what alternatives exist. They will share their experiences from over 20 years of working to reduce inequities in the South and their realization that these fights over divisive symbols have become surrogates for the difficult discussions we're afraid to have about how to dismantle racial barriers that have been fortified over generations. 

Nonviolence in Theory and Practice Conference - Call for Papers

Proposals Due October 15, 2017

Multi-disciplinary conference will be held Saturday, February 24, 2018 on the campus of Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio

Nonviolence includes a wide variety of philosophies, theologies, practices, and strategies. It commands different levels of commitment from adherents, whether tied to absolute and unconditional core beliefs or tactical and ad hoc methods for achieving social and political change. Some advocates link nonviolence to convictions about the way things are: to wager everything on it is to experiment with truth itself; its practitioners are working with the grain of the universe. Others point to the success of nonviolent movements, greater justice for vulnerable groups, and more equitable arrangements of and access to power, often also linking nonviolence with democratic participation.

Whether primarily thought of as a kind of philosophy or an approach to political arrangements, reflection on nonviolence leads to a range of questions that are being taken up in today’s world, often with great urgency. What are the sources of nonviolence, both philosophically and historically? How do different approaches to nonviolence (such as Eastern versus Western) differ from each other? How do these different perspectives learn from each other? What about when nonviolence fails or appears to fail? What are the most effective ways to promote nonviolent alternatives to retributive responses to injustice? How should we evaluate the outcomes of violence and other conflicts in light of these alternatives?

The goal of this one day conference is to address questions such as these by displaying and analyzing many of the ways that people, communities, and traditions think about and embrace nonviolence. In order to enhance the discussion, we are seeking presentations from a variety of academic disciplines. Both theoretical and practical considerations are welcome.

Possible topics for individual papers and panels might include (but are not limited to):

• Historical evaluations of nonviolent tactics being used and/or important leaders and advocates in nonviolent movements
• Philosophies of nonviolence and/or the key figures who have advanced them
• Religious, spiritual, or theological perspectives
• Histories of development and debate over the meaning and purpose of nonviolence
• Sociological or political case studies
• Ethical debates about the moral meaning and purpose of nonviolence
• Nonviolence and specific moral issues such as capital (and other) punishment, suicide, war, abortion, immigration, euthanasia, health care, the economy, race, gender, and sexuality
• Nonviolence in the workplace and at home
• Nonviolence as a personal or communal virtue and how it is developed
• Practical training / workshop

Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted using the online submission form no later than October 15, 2017. Presenters should plan on a 35-minute paper or presentation with an additional 10 minutes for questions and discussion. We also welcome panel proposals.

Presenters are welcome to engage in technical and academic debates, but they should avoid jargon and be aware that the conference audience will be diverse, including scholars from multiple disciplines, practitioners from many fields, students from various backgrounds, and community members.

The conference organizers are considering publishing a selection of the papers, depending on submissions. Please indicate in your proposal whether you are willing to produce a version of your presentation for publication. Please note that papers for publication will be longer than versions used for presentation (publication versions will usually be around 7,000 words in length).

Gun Culture Conference Opened My Eyes

By Jessica James

Going into the fields of both social work and criminal justice, in some sort of manner I will have to deal with guns on a daily basis. Whether I get a job where I will be permitted to open carry a weapon or even if I have to deal with a suicidal patient who has a cabinet full of guns at home, I knew in some sort of fashion, firearms and guns would always play a part in my life. And this is one of many reasons I wanted to attend the Ashland Center for Nonviolence conference about Understanding our Gun Culture. This conference opened my eyes to a lot of issues relating to gun rights and gun control.

The first night of the conference, as a part of the pre-conference panel, I heard a lot about the issues of gun control and gun rights, specifically relating to this past election.

When Violence Starts at Home

By Maria Cardona

As kids, many of us were taught about “stranger danger.” Our parents told us that if anyone picked on us, we had to tell an adult, that hurting people was wrong, and that there are just certain things you can’t do. For many of us, home is a safe place away from bullies, toxic relationships, and the cruel realities of the world we live in. However, what happens when violence starts at home?

What do you do when your dad’s temper ends in bruises covered by sweaters and scarves? What do you do when your mom’s drinking habits end in a barrage of insults? What do you do when your cousin slips into your room at night and touches you – but don’t you dare say a word because that’s not nice. What about when you become your husband’s or your wife’s punching bag – when their hands and/or their words injure you? What about when you’re so depressed and locked inside yourself that you hurt yourself and pray to die every night because your life has become unbearable?

How do we talk to kids, our friends, our neighbors – our own family and tell them that there is safety when they live in a state of constant torment and fear? What can we do for that trembling child who’s molested every night? What can we do for that battered woman or man who’s threatened into staying? What can we do for those who drink away their pain and those who have to face their drunken wrath time after time?

It’s difficult to say because victims of domestic violence are so good at hiding it. They’ll draw up excuses to explain away bruises and we’ll be skeptical but we’ll believe them because it’s easier than facing the truth. It’s easier than realizing your neighbor is aggressive, it’s easier than admitting that there’s a rapist inside your family (maybe even inside your home), and it sure as heck is easier to pretend that when the alcohol is speaking, nothing is said in earnest.

It’s harder when the victims are children because they don’t understand and because the power dynamics are so great that they become powerless in any situation. How can a child explain what’s going on if they don’t even possess the vocabulary and the comprehension of what’s being done to them? Plus, under the threat of upsetting their parents and being bad kids, they do whatever the grown up tells them because they’ve been taught not to disobey. What power can we give an innocent child facing danger at home?

And for those battered men and women, how do we encourage them to leave when they have everything to lose? If they don’t have a job or a home of their own – where do they go when they leave? How do they avoid being a burden to others? And if they have children – yes, leaving is good because your children won’t think abuse is okay but leaving is worse because they lose a parent, a home, stability, and many times an income.

It’s hard to talk about this and it’s hard to come up with viable solutions because what seems so obvious becomes unclear when you’re at the mercy of fear. To many of these questions, I have no clear answer. I think we need to come together as a community and create answers. Offer our neighbors a home if theirs is broken. Really listen and read between the lines. Don’t let bruises and scars be explained away. Tell children that adults aren’t always doing the right thing and that the danger doesn’t always come from a stranger. Remind a person that being intoxicated is not an excuse to hurt yourself or others.

We cannot allow our victims to stay victims. We need to help them rise above – to become survivors. We need to remind them of their beauty and their worth. We need to validate their experience whether it happened today, 2 weeks ago, 6 months ago, or 20 years ago – because it happened and it counts.

Maria Cardona is a senior at Ashland University and an intern with the Ashland Center for Nonviolence.

Register Now - Understanding Our Gun Culture conference

Registration is now open! Register Here

John D. Stratton Conference - Understanding Our Gun Culture

Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio

March 31 - April 1 2017

Featuring keynote speaker, Randolph Roth

Take advantage of early bird rates through February 15, 2017

$25 for students, $50 for general admission

Presentations from a variety of national experts will include:

• "Narratives of the Gun Paradox" - Amanda Gillespie (Miami University)
• "Should Concealed Guns Be Permitted on College Campuses?" - Ian Young (Bowling Green State University)
• "Guns and their Owners as Material and Affective Assemblages: Notes toward an Ethnographic Account of American Gun Culture" - Michael Grigoni (Duke University)
• "Social Violence: Role of Gun Culture" - Binod Kumar (University of Dayton)
• "Who Owns Handguns?: An Analysis of the Correlates of Handgun Ownership" - Mitchell Gresham (Bowling Green State University)
• "A Carribbean Perspective: Gender and Age Lessons Learned from assessment of youth on youth violence factors of School Bonding, Protective, Threat, and Risk Factors" - Carolyn Gentle-Genitty (Indiana University)
• "The American Gun Culture: Potential Impact on K-12 School Violence" - Gordon Crews (Tiffin University)
• "Fatal and Non-fatal Shooting Incidents: Understanding the Circumstances of Victimization" - Lauren Magee (Michigan State University) and Natalie Kroovand Hipple (Indiana University)
• "Gun Shops as Local Institutions: Federal Firearms Licensees, Social Disorganization, and Neighborhood Violent Crime" - Trent Steidley (University of Denver)
• "The Storied Gun: Using Narrative to Grasp the Moral Logic of Guns in America" - Mark Ryan (University of Dayton)
• "But the Disciples did not carry guns: The Apparent Contradiction of the Gun Rights Christians" - Matt Stolick (University of Findlay)
• "A Study in Contrasts: European Domestic Control of Guns and their International Export" - Rachel Boaz (Baldwin Wallace University)

Lunch will be provided.

More conference info: http://acn.nationbuilder.com

Thoughts following the election

By Craig Hovey

After yesterday’s election—indeed after months and months of the election—many people are exhausted and today a lot of Americans are profoundly nervous about what a Trump presidency will hold. I am one of those people too.

While the Ashland Center for Nonviolence is a non-partisan organization, peace movements in America have generally been more at home on the Left since at least the early twentieth century. In the last half-century especially, the conscientious objectors, other war critics, and the advocates for civil rights largely saw their movements most represented among the Democratic party. This has not meant, of course, that Democratic leaders have always embraced nonviolence. As I watched the Clinton and Trump campaigns, I sensed some role-reversal early on when it came to Hillary Clinton’s strong advocacy for military might and Donald Trump’s near isolationism.

But I’ve always insisted that there’s more to peace than simply avoiding war. Nonviolence is also a gentle spirit that looks for concord, that advances respect for people who are different, that lifts up the weak, and seeks justice for the oppressed.

Listening to Veterans

By Emily Wirtz

It’s difficult to overstate how much genuine human connections contribute to our well-being in all facets of life. I am learning that this is especially true of veterans. When people—often very different people—come together to share and to listen, great things can happen.

As a senior in college, résumé building is a top-priority sort of task—next behind endless homework of course. Hours of adding, editing, changing, editing and formatting go into the single-sheet “about-to-graduate-and-desperately-need-a-job-to-pay-off-my-loans” certificate of transition. I have been fortunate enough to not need to fluff up my own résumé with vague job descriptions and a list of activities I’m barely to not involved in, in order to feel confident enough to land myself a job once I graduate. Via an exceptionally supportive AU staff, my own human connections, I am currently working my 4^th internship this year, an accomplishment that shows the faculty’s care and dedication.

Ginny Telego pays Tribute to John Stratton

By Ginny Telego

Today my heart is heavy with the loss of my dear friend, Dr. John Stratton.

I first got to know John in 2013, as I was transitioning in my career and applied for a part-time position as the Assistant Director for the Ashland Center for Nonviolence at Ashland University. I knew who John was from a previous time of employment at Ashland University, but I had not worked with him directly. When I had my initial “interview” for ACN with John in his office, we immediately hit it off. I loved his brash exterior that vaguely covered his true heart and giving nature. After being hired, I had the privilege to spend a great deal of time with John and his wife, Dorothy, sharing our views on nonviolence and world events as well as the ongoing challenges at AU during that time. John brought me into ACN’s circle where I quickly found a place that I could be myself, openly expressing my “inclusive” views as well as learning more about the impact that nonviolence could have in resolving conflict – whether among families, neighbors or countries.

John was passionate about peace. He believed that it was indeed possible to resolve conflict without the use of deadly force and he wasn’t afraid to voice those beliefs to anyone who would listen, as well as to those who might not want to listen. John loved teaching and empowering others and he taught many people how to work to create change in achieving peace. He was a leader in educating both students and the broader community about the power of nonviolence as a method for conflict resolution.

I will especially miss our conversations about current events and sharing with him the work I am doing with my equine assisted learning program. Even after I left ACN to focus on my business, John continued to encourage me and pushed me to open my mind to opportunities that would allow me to guide people in gaining more self-awareness – with the hope that such self-awareness might lead to new insights on how they could become more accepting of others and resolve conflict through nonviolent means.

Most of all, for me personally, John encouraged me to pursue my own beliefs about connection and to not be afraid to question the belief among others that violence is the answer to conflict. He taught me to not be afraid to ask questions of others who believed that working towards peace was a waste of time. He taught me to believe in myself and that I could make a difference in the world. For that I will be eternally grateful.

As I bid John farewell from this world, these words from Gandhi will always make me think of him: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Thank you, John Stratton, for setting the example of this and for encouraging others to speak out to create change. Many thanks to you my dear friend – for accepting me for who I am and for teaching me to not accept the status quo in the world.


Ginny Telego served as Assistant Director of the Ashland Center for Nonviolence from 2013 to 2015.

What John Stratton taught me about Peace

By Craig Hovey

John Stratton passed away at home on Sunday. I knew John to be a deeply generous soul with an enormous heart mostly in his work as a local leader in the cause of nonviolence. I’m honored to have succeeded him in leading an organization he founded, the Ashland Center for Nonviolence. While there will no doubt be a lot of tributes to John in the coming days, I wanted to reflect on what I learned from him about peace.

John didn’t just wish for peace. He was committed to making it happen locally and was flat-out mad at the fact that American society seems to resort to violence so quickly. At the same time, John didn’t think of himself as a pacifist, but as a skeptic. He was especially skeptical of either/or thinking that ruled out creative approaches to resolving conflict without violence. He could also be skeptical of religious people if he sensed rigidity. It occurs to me that my own brand of Christian pacifism might have struck him as somewhat rigid too. John was adept at looking for different, untried ways, which I observed in him on many occasions, but presumably on none so critical and sustained as his recent illness. (I hesitate to “use” John’s illness as an “illustration” for what are probably obvious reasons. Yet if dying well is really about living well, we should take notice of how others and ourselves do both.)

What the Khan Exchange Reveals about America

By Craig Hovey

The recent exchange between the Democratic National Convention speakers, the Khans, and Donald Trump reveals a lot, not least about Trump’s insensitivity and lack of tact and political judgment.

Source: Slate.com

But I’m also interested in what it reveals about what really counts when it comes to demonstrating belonging, even unity, in America. The Khans, Muslim immigrants to the US, spoke at the DNC about their son’s sacrifice for his country in the US military—Humayun Khan was a US Army captain who was killed in Iraq in 2004. Trump’s very simplistic (not to mention dangerous and frankly un-American) suspicion of Muslims and immigrants is shown so strikingly by an equally simple demonstration of a single counter-example. It simply falls apart. Trump, who is notoriously anti-immigrant and anti-Islam, publicly mocked the family, drawing harsh criticisms from many veterans, including John McCain. We see in the DNC’s choice of the Khan family the strongest kind of example available for displaying the full inclusivity of American society: that fact that Muslims too will fight and die for America.

I believe that the Khans deserve deep admiration and respect. But I also wish that the lengths we apparently need to go to in America to communicate the full inclusion of Muslims and / or immigrants didn’t have to involve the death (sacrifice) of members of those groups.

Responding to Orlando

By Craig Hovey

We at the Ashland Center for Nonviolence join with so many others throughout the world in mourning the shooting in Orlando, the worst mass shooting in US history. There is just too much to mourn at once: the 49 lives lost, the 53 additional wounded, the terror felt especially by LGBT people, the inevitable backlash against Muslims in the US, the increasingly shrill tone of the debate about assault rifles, and the opportunistic political responses that jump on one or the other of these facets.

What is the meaning of nonviolence at times like this? I remain convinced that nonviolence is never just about ending violence; it is also a spirit that seeks justice through peaceful means. There are competing ideas about justice in our world, of course. After all, it appears that the gunman in Orlando was motivated by a version of “justice” understood as punishment and moral condemnation. But this separates justice and peace; we must hold them together. “There is no way to peace,” said A.J. Muste. “Peace is the way.”

I am aware that quoting Muste’s famous words risks sounding like a platitude, especially at a time like this.

Why Obama Won't Apologize for Hiroshima

By Craig Hovey

President Obama’s visit to Hiroshima is historic—he is the first sitting president to visit there—and he spoke movingly and philosophically about the desire for the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to mark the “start of our own moral awakening.” But observers also noted that Japan should not expect an apology for America’s actions 71 years ago. Why not?

Hiroshima Peace Memorial - Wikipedia

According to Stanley Hauerwas, war is a sacrificial system which, like anthropologists have long noted about religion, sacralizes violence through ritual. Even when surrounded by the most rigorously secular discourse, war often takes on a quasi-religious significance for a society, especially in how it is remembered. It is very difficult for a society to admit that an entire war was wrong (Vietnam) or that particular acts within a war otherwise thought justified might be wrong (Hiroshima) because admitting this calls into question all of the sacrifices that that society asked of its people when it waged those wars in the first place.

ACN receives Outstanding Award for MLK Day 2015

The Ashland Center for Nonviolence was recently honored at the Ashland University Service and Leadership Awards ceremony for our 2015 Martin Luther King Day event featuring civil rights legend C. T. Vivian.

In case you missed it, watch C.T. Vivian's address on YouTube.

For Martin Luther King Day 2015, the Ashland Center for Nonviolence bridged the AU campus and the wider community through an event featuring the civil rights legend, C.T. Vivian. At 91 years old, Dr. Vivian addressed a crowd of 650 attendees in Upper Convo, discussing his personal friendship with Martin Luther King, as well as his impressive involvement in pioneering activities for desegregation and civil rights such as the famous 1965 march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery.