Last March, five of us from Nonviolent Austin traveled to Selma, Alabama for the first time together. We crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the 60th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday. We sat with living Foot Soldiers. We trained at the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth, and Reconciliation under the guidance of Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr.

Dr. Bernard LaFayette was the civil rights strategist who laid the groundwork for the Selma voting rights campaign, helped birth the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and carried Dr. King's final charge to institutionalize nonviolence for the rest of his life.

We came home to Austin and got to work. Our team has been carrying this work into Austin schools, organizing spaces, and community rooms. We conducted our own CORE training in July, bringing the Selma Center's Training Director to Austin. The circle is growing.

On March 5, 2026, Doc passed away at 85. And weeks later, the Supreme Court gutted the very Voting Rights Act he marched for — effectively dismantling the protections that the blood and courage of Selma made possible.

Now, we are going back! This July, our team of five: Robert Tyrone Lilly, Jill and Phil Henderson, Raina Gradford and Stacie Freasier head to Selma for Level 2 Certification in Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation.

We go in grief. We go in urgency. We go because Doc spent his last breath insisting that nonviolence must be institutionalized and internationalized — and that charge now belongs to those of us who learned from him. Level 2 is how we grow the circle deeper and wider.

We are not going as students seeking credentials but as committed practitioners who have been doing this work for decades, who are grateful to have trained with a legend we recently lost, and who know that the moment demands more from us, not less.

This campaign is our community's invitation to travel with us on our journey to bring Kingian Nonviolence Certification program to our backyard. We're raising $7,500 to cover the cost of the trip for our team of five. A portion is already covered through organizational support. Every dollar raised here closes the remaining gap.

Any funds raised beyond our goal will be held in Nonviolent Austin's community coffers and applied directly toward future training expenses as we bring Kingian Nonviolence programming to Austin. Your contribution stays in the movement, no matter what.

This campaign is fiscally sponsored by Imagine for All (EIN 47-16122380). Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Doc's last words from Dr. King were about making nonviolence permanent. We intend to honor that.

"The great civil rights leader's final words to him centered on the urgency of making nonviolence a permanent, global institution. That charge became LaFayette's life work. — Legacy.com obituary, Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr. (July 29, 1940 – March 5, 2026)

"Nonviolence allows others to feel instead of react. We must feel to heal, and nonviolence is the only way forward." — Raina Gradford, Nonviolent Austin trainer, on returning from Level 1 in Selma

Nonviolent Austin Summer in Selma. We're Bringing It Back.

Level 2 Kingian Nonviolence Training Fundraiser · July 19–25, 2026

Team Members