UA News

Bernard LaFayette Jr., who has devoted his live to the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr., will be at the UA in February to speak and lead nonviolence training workshops.

Bernard LaFayette, Jr. was among the leaders who were at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement and, having worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr., has remained devoted to the principles of nonviolent protest.

On Feb. 3 at 7 p.m., LaFayette, an educator who was one of the founding members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1960, will give the keynote address "Nonviolence Youth Leadership: Passing the Torch," for The University of Arizona's Black History Month celebration.

"I think his visit will be a good way to bring together people from different backgrounds," said Brianne Richmond, a Women's Resource Center intern and UA family studies and human development senior.

Richmond and other organizers say LaFayette's visit comes as a critical juncture in history.

This year, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is celebrating its centennial.

Also, the UA's African American Student Affairs unit, which is responsible for building a support system and also providing programs and services geared toward Black students, is celebrating its 20-year anniversary.

LaFayette's keynote address will precede a month full of workshops, lectures, film screenings, presentations and exhibitions.

The event is free and open to the public and will be held at the UA's Gallagher Theater, located in the Student Union Memorial Center, 1303 E. University Blvd. LaFayette's address is expected to draw a substantial crowd of on and off campus community members.

LaFayette is expected to speak about the role of students in the history of the Civil Rights Movement and in current social justice efforts. His visit is sponsored by the Nonviolence Legacy Project, a local coalition of both on and off campus partners.

"The aim is to train future leaders and activists who want to create change," Richmond said, adding that LaFayette will inform people on ways to create community growth.

"This is definitely a way to bridge different communities," Richmond said.

LaFayette, currently director of the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies at the University of Rhode Island, is expected to discuss the role of civil rights organizations and social change movements in the United States and internationally.

LaFayette worked for several years with Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC, was among the most active organizations during the Civil Rights Moment, having led sit-ins and helped organize freedom rides.

He was also involved with the Freedom Riders and the Selma Movement. King appointed him as an administrator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the National Coordinator of the Poor People's Campaign. Since then, LaFayette has devoted his life to upholding King's legacy.

LaFayette will speak Feb. 4 during a public event to be held at the Northwest Neighborhood Center, 2160 N. Sixth Ave.

The event takes place from 5:30 to 8 p.m, and LaFayette will speak about the Civil Rights Movement and current human rights issues.

While at the UA, he will also lead a nonviolence leadership training session on Feb. 5 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The workshop is free and will be held at the Student Union. It is open to about 200 middle school, high school and college students. From that group, smaller groups of students will be pulled for an intensive two-day training as well as attendance during a two-week institute to be held in Rhode Island.

"There is so much excited buzz around bringing a renowned civil rights leader to our campus to not just talk to us, but to teach us," said Carly Thomsen, who helped revive the Women's Resource Center at the UA.

Thomsen said that, too often, national figures are brought to campus to energize the campus around an issue, then leave without helping to create a localized plan for action. Hence the reason behind LaFayette leading the workshop for students, she said.

And Thomsen, who now serves as the center's advisor, said the teachings of the Civil Rights Movement remain relevant today.

"But because the Civil Rights Movement was an instrumental catalyst for many different types of societal change," Thomsen added, "if we can give young people the opportunity to realize the promise of what theories of nonviolence and civil rights encompass, this could energize current them in immeasurable ways."