By Buzz McClain
The 1963 March on Washington. U.S. government photo
Faculty members, graduates, and students of George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (S-CAR) will be among the speakers during the 50th anniversary commemoration of the “March on Washington” when Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. George Mason president Ángel Cabrera will lead Mason’s contingent of eight speakers during the National Action to Realize the Dream 2013 at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday, Aug. 24, beginning at 8 a.m.
Mason’s involvement with the high-profile national commemoration stems from the university’s relationship with Communities Without Boundaries International (CWBI), one of the march’s sponsors along with the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. CWBI was founded and is led by Johnny J. Mack, president, and Maneshka Eliatamby, senior vice president and chief program officer. Mack is an S-CAR PhD candidate; Eliatamby is a 2012 PhD graduate of S-CAR and an adjunct professor.
CWBI demonstrates how motivated S-CAR students are to practice what they learn at the school. “What we do is in our name,” says Mack. “We build communities without boundaries, and we do that through community building and development using the philosophy of nonviolent social change.”
Having such a big stage as the commemorative march in Washington, Mack says, “tells the world that we’re here, and it tells the world what we do. The march represents resolving conflict, and Maneshka and I realize this is an opportunity to expose the world to what CWBI and S-CAR do, which is resolve conflicts.”
Other speakers representing S-CAR and Mason include alumni Addishiywot Aseffa Girmammo, Joann Kim and Michael Shank; and master’s candidate Mark Perez.
For more about the National Action to Realize the Dream 2013 and the National Action Network, see here.
For more about S-CAR, see here.
For more about CWBI, see here.