Patrick Lising & Anastasia Loza
Victory over Violence had a startling effect on people who attended its exhibition Monday.
Victory over Violence is a youth sponsored group meant to help young people identify and counteract the root causes of violence in their lives and in their communities.
Around 31 students, faculty and passersby attended and were given a more in-depth explanation of the different kinds of violence and how people can prevent it. It was simple; a friendly interaction of strangers with one another by having exploring conversations.
Organized by the club ‘Buddhists for World Peace’ the Victory over Violence seminars had people talking about specific points concerning ethnicity or slightly personal information in a forum setting.
Professor Maria Bates, an English professor, explained what Victory over Violence was hoping to achieve.
“Basically we teach about violence, the different types of violence. Most people only know about the physical (type of violence). We’re trying to show how one person can make the difference,” she said.
Marlene Glenn, club member and Pierce student, also gave her thoughts on what the club was trying to expose about violence in society.
“Victory over Violence is a way to calm down the combat, even the passive violence such as name calling, snubbing and the everyday things like that happen because of different races, sexual orientation or religion,” she said. Not only were students and faculty involved in the exhibit, but also people from outside the school attended the exhibit to observe and learn. “Some lady pulled me in and told me it would be a good experience and it was,” said Stephen Reed, a passerby hoping to be a student in the near future.
“Being able to speak to other people, being around other ethnicities and learning about each other, I developed more relation skills. I came here to learn something and I learned something. Now I know I have to be more active in it,” he said. A video from Victory over Violence was also shown at the exhibit.
Iqbal Nasih, once a child slave, campaigned to stop child slavery and freed an estimated 3,000 other kids who were slaves as well and unfortunately was killed in during his campaign.
“I particularly liked the video. I thought the video was particularly inspirational,” said Margarete Allen, part-time faculty member who teaches physics and astronomy.
“What affected me the most was the video. I was very awed of what the children were saying. That affected me a lot,” she said.
Event organizer Lansil Choi gave her thoughts on the outcome for Victory over Violence.
“When people first came they were a little bit anxious. The video was great but I think most people when we went into the dialogue part, you could tell they were a little uncomfortable and anxious. But once we started finding common ground with one another you could tell the atmosphere changed the activity,” said Choi. “I think that outcome was that people felt more relaxed, they could be themselves and they learned that they’re not so different after all,” she said.