Season for Nonviolence
Inspired by the work of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., César Chávez and Chief Wilma Mankiller, the annual Season for Nonviolence honors these leaders’ visions for an empowered, nonviolent world. Colleges and universities throughout the country celebrate the Season for Nonviolence by bringing together community partners to educate and empower communities on how to use nonviolent methods to create a more peaceful world.
2026 is the 18th year Central Oregon Community College has been hosting programming to honor the Season for Nonviolence. Our 2026 theme is Respect. Dignity. Freedom. The programming is co-presented by The Nancy R. Chandler Lecture Series and the College's Office of Equity and Well-Being.
All Season for Nonviolence events are FREE and OPEN to the public.
In recognition of Black History Month during February 2026, COCC is honored to welcome speakers and programs that highlight Black triumph. For a full lineup of Black History Month Events, please visit Black History Month - Central Oregon Community College
Community Book Discussions
Be a Revolution: How Everyday People Are Fighting Oppression And Changing The World - And How You Can, Too
by Ijeoma Oluo
Ijeoma Oluo aims to show how people across America are working to create real positive change in our structures. Looking at many of our most powerful systems—like education, media, labor, health, housing, policing, and more—she highlights what people are doing to create change for intersectional racial equity.
This book aims to not only be educational, but to inspire action and change. Oluo wishes to take our conversations on race and racism out of a place of pure pain and trauma, and into a place of loving action. Be A Revolution is both an urgent chronicle of this important moment in history, as well as an inspiring and restorative call for action.
FREE and OPEN to the public.
COCC Madras & Prineville
Mondays beginning January 12, 5-6 p.m.
Virtual
Contact Christy at cwalker2@cocc.edu to register
almadorada
Thursdays beginning January 15, 2-3:30 p.m.
In-person
Contact Melissa at quetranza@almadorada.net to register
Justice Riders
Mondays beginning January 19, 6-7 p.m.
Hybrid (Virtual and in-person)
Contact Marcus at mlegrand2@cocc.edu to register
Trinity Episcopal Church
Thursdays beginning January 22, 2-3 p.m.
In-person
Contact Betsy at betsy@betsywarriner.com to register
Barber Library Discussion Group
Wednesdays beginning January 28, noon-1 p.m.
In-person
Contact Kirsten at khostetler@cocc.edu to register
Redmond Campus Discussion Group
Tuesdays beginning February 10, 1-2 p.m.
In-person
Contact Amy at acward@cocc.edu to register
Everyday Revolution: Building a World of Respect, 
Dignity and Liberation
Ijeoma Oluo - author, speaker, movement worker
Tuesday, February 24, 6:30 p.m., NEW LOCATION: Caldera High School Auditorium, 60925 SE 15th St., Bend
Join acclaimed author and speaker Ijeoma Oluo for a powerful keynote conversation on transforming the world through everyday action. Drawing from her latest book, Be a Revolution, Oluo will challenge us to reimagine activism—not as a distant ideal, but as a daily commitment to respect, dignity and liberation. This event will celebrate the transformative power of everyday people working toward justice—and invites us all to take part in creating lasting, nonviolent change.
FREE and OPEN to the public.
Register for in-person event or access to the recorded version here.
ASL interpretation will be provided. In advance of college events, persons needing accommodation or transportation because of a physical or mobility disability should contact campus services at 541-383-7775. For accommodation because of other disability such as hearing impairment, contact student accessibility services at sas@cocc.edu or 541-383-7583.
Ijeoma Oluo (ee-joh-mah oh-loo-oh) is a Seattle-based Writer, Speaker and Internet Yeller. Her work on social issues such as race and gender has been published in The Guardian, Esquire, Washington Post, ELLE Magazine, New York Times, NBC News and more. She has been featured on The Daily Show, All Things Considered, BBC News, and more. Her #1 NYT bestselling first book, So You Want To Talk About Race, was released January 2018 with Seal Press. Her second book, MEDIOCRE: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America, was published December 2020 with Seal Press and her newest book, Be A Revolution: How Everyday People Are Fighting Oppression and Changing the World - and How You Can Too, was released January 2024 with Harper One. Ijeoma was named one of the Most Influential People in Seattle by Seattle Magazine, one of the 50 Most Influential Women in Seattle by Seattle Met, one of The Root's 100 Most Influential African Americans in 2017 & 2018, and is the recipient of the Feminist Humanist Award 2018 by the American Humanist Association, the Harvard Humanist of the year 2020, the Media Justice Award by the Gender Justice League, and the 2018 Aubrey Davis Visionary Leadership Award by the Equal Opportunity Institute.
BOOK SALES: Dudley's Bookshop Cafe will be at the event selling copies of Oluo's book, Be A Revolution, and Ijeoma Oluo will be available for book signing after the event. Dudley's is offering a 10% discount if you buy the book from their web site BEFORE the event. If you think you'd like to buy the book that evening, we encourage you to order and pay ahead. Once you place your order you can either pick your book up at Dudley's Bookshop Cafe in downtown Bend beforehand or grab it at the event without waiting in line.
Please use the Promo Code "REVOLUTION" to receive a 10% discount.
Link to order Be A Revolution
And of course, if you are registered to receive the recorded event and won't be at the in-person event you can still use this link and promo code and pick up your book at Dudley's Bookshop Cafe.
This discount code will expire at 2pm on the day of the event (2/24/26).
Student Event:
A Conversation with Ijeoma Oluo
Tuesday, February 24, 12 – 1 p.m., Wille Hall, Coats Campus Center, COCC Bend Campus
Students are invited to join an informal conversation and Q&A with author, speaker and humanist Ijeoma Oluo.
Ijeoma Oluo is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling first book, So You Want To Talk About Race, Mediocre and Be a Revolution. Her work on race and gender has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post and NBC News; and she has been featured on The Daily Show and NPR’s All Things Considered. Named on the TIME 100 Next list and The Root 100, she’s been awarded the Harvard Humanist of the Year Award, the American Humanist Association’s Feminist Humanist Award, Gender Justice League’s Media Justice Award and the Equal Opportunity Institute’s Aubrey Davis Visionary Leadership Award.
FREE and OPEN to all students.
Home – A Dance Performance
Tuesday, March 3
Two performances: 3 - 5 p.m. and 6 - 8 p.m.
Wille Hall, Coats Campus Center, COCC Bend Campus
Drawing inspiration from history, psychology, and literature, this multimedia contemporary dance piece explores and portrays multiple meanings of home and the evolution of those physical spaces and their impact.
This is a collaboration between the Bend Contemporary Dance Company and Central Oregon Community College. Poetry and music from COCC students will be integrated into the performance.
Choreographers: Shelby Blanchard, Maud Comboul, Sinnamon Hauser and Marisa Malzone.
In co-operation with COCC faculty, Jessica Hammerman, associate professor of history and Stephanie André, professor of composition and humanities.
FREE and OPEN to the public.
Register for either performance here.
We Are Home Film Festival: Celebrating stories from Native & Indigenous Communities
Thursday, April 9, 6-8 p.m., Madras Performing Arts Center, 412 Se Bluff St., Madras 
The We Are Home Film Festival showcases five short films that celebrate Native and Indigenous communities across the country. Presented by Thrive Central Oregon, this annual festival is now in its fourth year. Each year, it explores a theme rooted in the values of home, belonging and community.
This one-night event is designed to inspire and engage audiences by highlighting the strength and creativity thriving in Native communities today. The evening features powerful films by filmmakers, producers and storytellers from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Choctaw Nation, Haida and Karuk Tribe —an experience you won’t want to miss.
FREE and OPEN to the public.
Thrive Central Oregon is a nonprofit that connects Central Oregonians to essential resources, from housing and health support to child, family and disability services. Through their daily work, Thrive’s Community Outreach Advocates hear the real-life stories of people across the region. This annual film festival brings those stories to life, harnessing the power of storytelling to create a vibrant and meaningful community event.
Completed 2026 Season for Nonviolence Programs
When We Rise: My Life in the Movement
Cleve Jones – Author, 2SLGBTQIA+ Activist
Tuesday, January 20, 6:30 p.m., Tower Theatre, Bend
Drawn from his critically acclaimed memoir, When We Rise, Cleve Jones will share his 50-year personal and political journey to becoming a hero for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Beginning with the electrifying atmosphere of 1970s San Francisco, he will take us through the Gay Liberation Movement, his mentorship with legendary Harvey Milk, the terrifying early years of the AIDS pandemic and his own rise to the forefront of activism as co-founder of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and AIDS Memorial Quilt. Speaking as both a witness to history and as one who critically shaped it, Jones will chronicle an era that forever changed both the fabric of our nation and the lives of millions of 2SLGBTQIA+ Americans.
FREE and OPEN to the public.
Register for in-person event at the Tower Theatre here.
Register to receive access to the recording here*
*This is not a livestream. You will receive an email with a link to the recording
several days after the event.
ASL interpretation will be provided. For other accessibility needs at the Tower Theatre please call the Box Office 541-317-0700.
For 50 years, Cleve Jones has given a voice to the voiceless, organized the struggling
and disenfranchised, and inspired activists and audiences alike with his life stories of driving
history-making change. He was recognized as a Champion of Change by President Obama
and portrayed in an Oscar-winning film. His acclaimed keynotes connect the historic struggles of
the past with the most urgent issues of our time: overcoming pandemics, achieving economic
justice, protecting the vulnerable, and standing up for all forms of human rights.
A passionate speaker with a powerful story, Jones is now speaking out for all who struggle
for equality and fair treatment. He brings both historical perspective and storytelling talent to
timely discussions of diversity, intersectionality, civil and human rights and the stunning parallels
between the HIV and COVID-19 pandemics.
Jones currently works as a community organizer for UNITE HERE, the international union
representing hotel, casino, food service and restaurant workers. He came to labor activism
already a hero in the struggle for gay, lesbian and transgender rights and a fearless champion
for those living with HIV. Jones has been a driving force behind the most important gains made
by the 2SLGBTQIA+ community over the last five decades. From his early days in the “gay liberation”
movement with Harvey Milk to co-founding the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, founding the
AIDS Memorial Quilt and fighting for marriage equality, Jones has made history as part of one of
the most effective human rights movements of all time. He was portrayed by Emile Hirsch in the
Oscar-winning film Milk, for which he served as a historical consultant. Jones was also
prominently featured in the critically acclaimed miniseries When We Rise, which was inspired by
his award-winning 2016 memoir of the same title.
Now considered one of the elder statesmen of human rights activism, Jones came to
advocacy through his own struggle as a gay man born in the mid 1950s. As a teen runaway, he
was drawn to the progressive life and politics and of San Francisco in the early 1970s. It was there
that he met Harvey Milk, the nation’s most outspoken gay elected official. Jones worked in Milk’s
City Hall office as an intern until Milk’s assassination in 1978. With the onset of the AIDS epidemic,
Jones rose up to organize the gay community and raise awareness, co-founding the San
Francisco AIDS Foundation (SAF) in 1983. Unlike the movements of today which rely heavily on digital
marketing and social media, Jones grew the SAF into one of the largest and most influential advocacy
organizations of its kind through grass roots efforts.
In 1987, he founded the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, the world’s largest
community arts project, memorializing the lives of more than 85,000 Americans. Jones’s first
book, Stitching a Revolution: The Making of an Activist chronicles his life and how the AIDS
Memorial Quilt project sought to restore hope in a time of tragedy and fear. Jones led the 2009
National March for Equality in Washington D.C. and also served on the Advisory Board of the
American Foundation for Equal Rights, which challenged California’s Proposition 8 in the U.S.
Supreme Court, winning a landmark victory for marriage equality.
Jones consistently receives rave reviews for both his onstage presence and collaboration
with clients. His keynotes have won the hearts of a wide range of audiences, including a pharma
company developing HIV drugs, fundraising professionals interested in community engagement,
companies and organizations celebrating diversity and gay pride, human resources
professionals seeking an 2SLGBTQIA+ perspective, advocacy groups wishing to learn from his
experience, and universities and groups interested in the history of the gay rights movement and
civil rights
Student Event:
A Conversation with Cleve Jones
Tuesday, January 20, 3-4 p.m., Wille Hall, Coats Campus Center, COCC Bend Campus
Students are invited to join an informal conversation and Q & A with author and 2SLGBTQIA+ activist Cleve Jones.
For 50 years, Cleve Jones has given a voice to the voiceless, organized the struggling and disenfranchised and inspired activists and audiences alike with his life stories of driving history-making change. He was recognized as a Champion of Change by President Obama and portrayed in an Oscar-winning film. Jones works to connect the historic struggles of the past with the most urgent issues of our time: overcoming pandemics, achieving economic justice, protecting the vulnerable and standing up for all forms of human rights.
FREE and OPEN to all students.
Thank you to our 2026 Season for Nonviolence Sponsors!
Premier Sponsor:
Partners for Affordable Housing
Gold Sponsor:
Brooks Resources Corporation
With additional support from:
Associated Students of COCC
Cascades Academy
Oregon Community Foundation - The Casey Family Fund
Pacific Power Foundation
The Tower Theatre
Questions? Need more information? Contact Charlotte Gilbride cgilbride@cocc.edu / 541-383-7257 or Christy Walker cwalker2@cocc.edu / 541-383-7412.