Civil rights hall of fame leader discusses nonviolence week

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – October 6-11 is Ohio Nonviolence Week and speaking in-depth about what the local community is doing to raise awareness is Chairperson Penny Wells.

Wells is the founder of the nonprofit Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past, which takes high school students on a journey to civil rights sites in the South. In 2023, Wells was inducted into the Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame for her work.

At first, Wells said she just planned on taking the trips to the South but she realized she wanted to do more when the students came back as well.

“So my goal was to take sophomores out, take juniors and seniors in high school… So not only is that an experience in history, but it’s also a leadership development, life-changing experience where students come back with action plans — and nonviolence week, which was totally the idea of students at Chaney High School,” Wells said.

Well said she has also taken many adults on the trips with Sojourn to the Past. The nonprofit’s sister organization in California is now even taking police from the San Francisco Police Department.

“They see this as part of their professional development meeting leaders of the civil rights movement, seeing how they were treated, listening to their stories, and then beginning to discuss among themselves, ‘What can we do differently? How can we change the way we see our constituents? How do we can we change the way we interact with our constituents?'” said Wells.

The conversation with Wells continues Wednesday about this year’s local non-violence events.

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