Welcome to the 64 (66) Days of Nonviolence
Inspired by the M.K. Gandhi Institute of Nonviolence, the annual 64 Days of Nonviolence campaign (known as the Season of Nonviolence) runs from January 30th through April 4th each year, beginning on the day of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination and ending the day of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination.
“Passive violence fuels the fire of physical violence.”
Arun Gandhi
Each day, we will bring attention to a new way of practicing nonviolence inspired by Gandhi and King’s own principles. Violence is expressed in many forms, both direct and passive. Direct violence often manifests as physical violence, while passive violence can be exhibited by discrimination, negative self-talk, suppression, waste of resources, etc. During the Season of Nonviolence, we will contemplate many antidotes to all forms of violence. Days 1-23 will focus on personal change, days 24-47 will focus on interpersonal change and days 48-66 will focus on community.
Why 66 Days?
Why 66 days instead of the usual 64? Because we recognize that it takes an average of 66 days to create a new habit. Therefore, we feel that it is imperative to continue this work for two more days to initiate a habit of nonviolence that will continue to inspire change within our communities long after this observance, thereby passing on a legacy of peace to future generations.
The Practices
Each day we will add the next set of prompts for the practices. You can also download the shorter version below.
Our Part
Our 66 Days of Nonviolence campaign takes a new twist on the original by bringing people together both inside and outside of the prison system. Our goal is to spread awareness about the humanity of all people, whether incarcerated or not. We believe that everyone has more in common than most people realize.
We will share individual perspectives about the 66 Ways to Practice Nonviolence on our social media channels with the goal of building bridges between those who are incarcerated and those who are not.
We will highlight the work of individuals living inside prison as they focus on this Season of Nonviolence and we invite you to participate by sharing your own insights and observations on our social media channels. Through sharing our experiences and commenting on the work of incarcerated individuals, we can begin to break the stigma surrounding those who are incarcerated.
Get Involved
Independently
Each day, take time to practice each of the 66 prompts and reflect on the changes in your own life. If you feel more comfortable participating independently, we recommend journaling about your thoughts and feelings throughout the process to help facilitate your own personal reflection. We also invite you to take the Nonviolence Pledge.
On Social Media
Social media plays a huge role in the way the current generation communicates today. The Compassion Prison Project is calling on you to spread the word and participate in our campaign via Instagram and TikTok. Each day we will be sharing videos from people living in prison which are based on the daily prompts.
We invite you participate in the campaign by posting your own video or story about the daily prompt. Be sure to use the hashtag #64DaysCPP so we can follow along.
We love when you tag us on social media, remix our posts, comment and share our content with your followers. Every effort helps us spread the message that we are no different than those who live and work inside prison. We have all experienced trauma, and we all can heal from it. Help us build the bridge and get involved today.
With Your Community
If you are interested in participating in the campaign on a larger scale, such as in a school or place of worship, we invite you to check out the student journal provided by the Gandhi Institute linked below. We welcome you to reach out to us if you have further ideas for supporting participation in your community.
