East Point Peace Academy

Investing in Peace. Nurturing the Beloved Community.

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Overview
    • Guiding Philosophies
    • Our People
    • In The Media
  • What We Do
    • Our Programs
      • Peace from Within
      • Sitting in the River
      • Nonviolence Dojo
      • Capacity Building
    • Who We Work With
    • Our Trainings
  • Kingian Nonviolence
    • The History
    • The Philosophy
      • Conflict
      • Violence
      • Nonviolence
      • Peace
      • Principles
      • Steps
    • The Trainings
  • Get Involved
    • How to Get Involved
    • Upcoming Events
  • Resources
    • Readings
    • Movies & Videos
    • More Trainings
    • More Resources
      • Crowd Sourced Resources
    • Nonviolence Glossary
    • Unsung Heroes
    • For Kingian Trainers
  • Contact Us
  • Blog
You are here: Home / Kingian Nonviolence / The Philosophy / Violence

Violence

We sometimes conduct workshops where individuals, or sometimes even entire communities feel like they are not impacted by violence in a direct way.  Some people who live in communities that do not witness high levels of crime, for example, feel like they do not deal with violence on a regular basis.

However, in Kingian Nonviolence, we define violence as “physical or emotional harm.”

Violence is Physical or Emotional Harm
Suicide vs Homicide by state

Suicide vs Homicide by state

According to the Center for Disease Control (which views violence as a public health issue), there are approximately twice as many suicides every year in the United States as there are Homicides.  This speaks to the high impact of emotional harm and internal violence of the spirit.  If we think of violence as only a physical act, we are missing the picture.

In fact, even acts of physical violence are almost always rooted in emotional harm.  As the old saying goes, “hurt people hurt people.”  When we carry around emotional harm and our needs are not met, we carry that pain out on someone else.

The opposite of that is also true, that the emotional trauma caused by physical violence can last longer and be more painful then the actual physical harm.  Veterans or victims of violence can suffer from PTSD long after all of the physical scars have healed.

Teaching children that “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” may be one of the most harmful things we can do.  A broken bone or a cut will heal, but the emotional harm caused by bullying, isolation, abandonment and internalized forms of oppression may last for years or even decades.

Emotional violence manifests in countless ways.  Low self-esteem.  Drug and alcohol abuse.  Destructive relationships.  Allowing anger and hatred to fester inside your heart.  Without addressing these forms of violence, the homicides will never stop.  

With this broader understanding of what violence is, it becomes clear that there is not one community anywhere in the world that is not directly impacted by it.  Therefore, there is not one community in the world that does not need more practice in nonviolence.  

 

Upcoming Events

  1. Skillful Means for Social Change – Muir Beach, CA

    May 12 @ 9:00 am - 4:45 pm
  2. Intro to Kingian Nonviolence – Oakland

    July 14 @ 10:00 am - July 15 @ 6:00 pm
  3. The Gandhian Iceberg – Oakland

    August 11 @ 10:00 am - August 12 @ 6:00 pm

View All Events

Categories

  • Art Music & Poetry
  • Community Work
  • East Point Updates
  • History
  • Homepage 1
  • Homepage 2
  • Homepage 3
  • Nonviolence & Analysis
  • Principle 6
  • Prison & Jail Work
  • Slideshow
  • Training Reflections
  • Uncategorized

Tags

Art Music & Poetry gandhian healing jail kingian nonviolence
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Our Programs
  • Support Us
  • Blog
  • Kingian Nonviolence
  • 250 Year Plan
  • Our Budget
  • Gift Economics
  • Resources
  • Contact Us
  • Get Involved
  • Sitemap
East Point Peace Academy

P.O. Box 30652, Oakland, CA 94604

Top Copyright © 2016 · East Point Peace Academy