Rivera Sun's Blog: From the Desk of Rivera Sun, page 11

August 24, 2019

Nonviolence News: Being Water In A World On Fire

Photo credit for opening image: Brazilians march for immediate action to stop the Amazon fires and protect Indigenous rights. Photo by André Penner/AP

Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun:

In a world on fire, we are the water putting out the flames of war, hatred, violence, racism, sexism, and other injustices. The fires in the Amazon – set off by clear cutting for cattle and palm oil plantations – have sparked a global outpouring of protest at Brazilian embassies around the world. People are recognizing, increasingly, that our fates are tied together . . . not just with humanity, but with the entire planet, plant, animal, mineral, ocean, air, and so on. As Dr. King said in Letter from the Birmingham Jail, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

Our fates are bound together. Struggles for justice anywhere are connected to struggles for justice everywhere. Movement participants borrow tactics and ideas from one another. Citizens in Portland, OR, braced for an alt-right rally by using a tactic from Germany – an involuntary walkathon – and raised $30,000 for immigrant rights groups by getting people to pledge to donate for every alt-right protester who appeared. In Hong Kong, the pro-democracy movement acknowledged the 1989 Baltic Way as an inspiration for their 28-mile human chain. Three Bay Area, California cities are preparing to follow Berkeley’s lead and ban natural gas infrastructure in new construction.

Sharing knowledge and learning is one of the most important things we can do to work for peace and justice. This is central to the mission of Nonviolence News. This week, my new article on “Tapping Into People Power” shares 28 examples of powerful ways people are working for change. This piece is being posted in numerous online journals as a way of building popular understanding about how nonviolent action works. Please share it – and Nonviolence News – with a friend.

Thank you for being water in a world on fire,
Rivera Sun, Editor

Thanks for supporting Nonviolence News. You can make a donation to support my work rounding up these stories here: http://www.riverasun.com/thank-you/

Here’s what you’ll find in
this week’s Nonviolence News:
Victory! Success Stories
Recent Actions
Racial Justice
Migrant Justice
Climate Action
Peace Action
Creative Action
Knowledge & Reflection
Calls-to-Action

Nonviolence News shares recent success stories so we see and remember
that nonviolent action is powerful and effective.

Sudanese military and civilian democracy leaders agree on the details of a peace deal for a joint ruling council after eight months of protest. Read more >>

After nationwide calls for justice, organizers succeed in pressuring NYPD to fire the officer who strangled Eric Garner to death with a chokehold. Read more >>

“Brain Committee” puts students in charge of solving school problems. They tackle fights in the cafeteria and after 3 months of changes, there have been zero fights. Read more >>

PopMobPDX raises $30,000 for Causa (immigrants rights group) by holding an “involuntary walk-a-thon” during an alt-right rally. This tactic organizes people to pledge money to social justice groups for every neo-Nazi and supremacist who comes to the rally, thus making their actions support causes they hate. Read more >> Want to support this? Here’s how to make a contribution.

Protesters “jubilant” as judge denies Columbia Gas the right to take public land for the Potomac Pipeline. Read more >>

Meet the group making DC streets safer through DIY urbanism. Read more >>

Around the world, people are launching nonviolent campaigns and/or using principled nonviolence to transform their communities and fight injustice.
Here are a few recent stories.

Hong Kong protests turned violent and chaotic as police and protesters clash. Read more >> Earlier this week, 1.7 million Hong Kongers protest in pouring rain. Read more >> This action was followed up by a 28-mile long human chain to demand political freedoms and functional democracy. Inspired by the 1989 Baltic Way human chain across Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, they called it the “Hong Kong Way”. Read more >>

In Zimbabwe, the opposition leader was arrested for failing to stop banned protests. More than 100 people were arrested for exercising their right to protest. Read more >>

Georgia’s leading news anchors quit on air, citing censorship concerns. Read more >>

Nigerian activist arrested after organizing nationwide protests with the call for a #RevolutionNow protest movement. Read more >>

Migrant rescue boat captain declines Paris Medal of Honor, citing hypocrisy of the government’s anti-migrant policies. Read more >>

Despite major police presence, thousands protest at G7 conference in France. Read more >>

Women’s skateboarding group breaks gender stereotypes in India. Read more >>

School of Justice trains former child brides and women sold into prostitution to be lawyers and supports them in emotional and trauma healing. Read more >>

At “Recess Rally” Moms Demand Gun Action pushes Florida lawmakers for gun safety. Read more >>

As coal miners continue 23-day (and counting) blockade of coal train shipments over stolen pay, progressives step forward to support them. Read more >>

Police arrest three white men for threatening to commit mass shootings. Editor’s Note: intervening in the threat of mass shootings is an important preventative step, and one that could be framed a nonviolent response to the tragedy of mass shootings. Read more >>

Civil rights activist and labor organizers Dolores Huerta was arrested for blocking the entrance of Fresno County Board of Supervisors during an SEIU protest that denounced officials “for failing to represent the county’s seniors, disabled, and their caregivers.” Read more >>

People are organizing for racial justice in communities all over the world. Here are some stories of how they are using nonviolent action in those campaigns.

Annual “Free Land” protest actions in Brazil gain renewed significance with Jair Bolsonaro’s bigotry and attacks on the Amazonian Indigenous, and with the Amazon on fire. Read more >>

This story has gone viral: how a Black community and this white police officer navigated the terrain of racism and police brutality to begin building trust. Read more >>

Teen Vogue offers tips on how white people can hold other white people accountable on racism, particularly institutional racism. Read more >>

How the women of Standing Rock are building sovereign Indigenous economies. Read more >>

Providence, RI, rally holds a “lock arms for peace” demonstration, calling for an end to gun violence, police accountability, and continued investigation into unresolved homicides. Read more >>

Fans of two rivaling soccer teams in Portland, OR, stood united against racism and fascism, holding a 33-minute protest during the match. The teams’ Twitter accounts also posted messages reading, “Bigger than a rivalry. We stand together against fascism and racism.” Read more >>

As millions of humans become migrants and refugees from war and climate disasters, the struggle for migrant justice continues to grow.

ICE shutdown a hotline for immigrants after Orange is the New Black featured it on the television show. Editor’s Note: Kudos to the show for bridging fact and fiction to work for social change. They have a great history of doing this and featuring the real hotline was a powerful act of resistance. Read more >>

Anti-police, anti-ICE activists rally at Greyhound Bus station to demand “ICE off our buses“. Read more >>

Corrections officer, facing investigation after driving his truck through a crowd of protesters, resigns. Read more >>

Living sustainably and protecting our planet are forms of “nonviolence toward the Earth”, which is inseparable from embodying nonviolence toward ourselves and all others. Here are recent stories of nonviolent climate action.

Protesters flood Brazilian streets and besiege Brazilian embassies worldwide calling for immediate action to stop the Amazon fires that have been raging for three weeks. Read more >>

Finland urges European Union to ban Brazilian beef over Amazon fires. Read more >>

Vancouver poet Rita Wong was incarcerated for four weeks over a peaceful anti-pipeline protest. Read more >>

Activists in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are protesting the government’s issuing of oil licenses in Virunga and Solanga reserves. Read more >>

Three other cities in the Bay Area are poised to follow Berkeley’s natural gas ban in new construction. Read more >>

6 water protectors lock down to Enbridge’s office gates in Minnesota, halting work for the day. Read more >>

Ecosia takes radical steps to support climate action, including paid days off for taking action and covering legal fees incurred. Read more >>

Local mothers launch campaign for electric school buses. Read more >>

Protests break out against US Democratic Party’s decision not to hold climate debates. Read more >>

Teen Vogue tells students how to take climate action at school this year. Read more >>

Extinction Rebellion shares this week’s Action Highlights, including solidarity actions for Amazon and global Indigenous peoples in South Africa, India, Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and New Zealand. Read more >>

Peace and nonviolence go hand-in-hand. As Gandhi said, “means are ends in the making”. Nonviolence gives us a way to build peace while working for peace.

Yemeni women activists escape war with the help of a global, underground network. Read more >>

Detroit rally protests US role in Yemen war. Read more >>

Turkey’s “Academics for Peace” defend their views from prison cells and exile; calls for peace are still considered a crime in Turkey. Read more >>

Two peace activists get arrested for blockading gate of Des Moines, Iowa, drone command center. Read more >>

Gambia’s Truth Commission continues to confront abuses under previous president’s regime. Read more >>

French activists reoccupy tree-sit and blockade of proposed nuclear waste dump site after police clear them off. Read more >>

Nonviolence unleashes humanity’s amazing creativity. Here are a few stories that show how people used a creative approach to work for change.

This German city’s “involuntary walkathon” is stopping neo-Nazi marches and rallies so well that other places are emulating the tactic. Read more >>

“Banana Bloc” uses bright yellow banana costumes and levity to draw hate-based attention away from vulnerable populations during alt-right rally in Portland, OR. Read more >>

1,000 Hong Kong protesters sing “Do You Hear the People Sing” from Les Miserable. This article also includes a video from Turkey and a links to other uses of the song. Read more >>

From Monopoly to Co-opoly, People’s History of Board Games explores the cultural values taught through games. Read more >>

California girls launch creation of 15,000 paper butterflies to represent the number of migrant children being held in detention centers. (And yes, it is eerily reminiscent of the 1,000 paper cranes folded to remember the victims of nuclear bombs). Read more >>

17-year-old US student organizes a campaign to snatch up 1,000s of tickets for Trump rallies … and then leave the seats empty. Read more >>

Captured Project shows drawings of people who should be in prison created by people who are incarcerated, highlighting the lack of accountability for “white collar” crimes, war criminals, and harm-causing CEOs. Read more >>

Teachers paint positive messages on bathroom stalls to encourage students. Read more >>

In the field of nonviolence, people around the world are deepening their understanding of how nonviolence works to make change and wage peace.

Tapping into people power: seven ways people are finding the power to demand change – by Rivera Sun. Read more >>

On the Indigenous nonviolence at the Mauna Kea protests: Kapu Aloha is a solemn Hawaiian pledge and commitment to live aloha (love and nonviolence) even under the most adverse circumstances. Read more >>

On India’s Chipko Movement and the role of women – particularly Indigenous women – in protecting forests. Read more >>

Hardy Merriman, of International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, joins Metta Center’s Nonviolence Radio to discuss the report, “Preventing Mass Atrocities” during nonviolent movements. Read and listen >>

26 biggest retail boycotts of all time. Read more >>

Twenty-one free resources for teaching social justice in the classroom. Read more >>

How movements build strength through training – by George Lakey. Read more >>

How did Greta Thunberg rise to be a worldwide-known champion of the earth? “No one saw this coming, least of all me,” says the teenager. Read more >>

How to resist locally, renew globally while shifting from mega-corporate and neo-liberal economies to local, sustainable economies. Read more >>

Mindfulness and social change: moving beyond stress reduction to systems change. Read more >>

On activism and self-identity – how participating in social change changes you. Read more >>

How US foreign policy creates media bias in how global protest movements are covered in US corporate media. Read more >>

Here are a few actions and events requesting your participation.

Support the Kentucky coal miners and supporters that have been blockading a rail line in demand for unpaid wages. If you can donate money or supplies, or go in person, fill out this survey circulated by Showing Up For Racial Justice. Learn more >>

Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions September 14-22, 2019, Everywhere. Host or join a march, rally, protest, or other event or action for a culture of peace and active nonviolence. Learn more >>

Sept 20-27th, join the Global Climate Strike. (It’s not just for the kids, any more. Get ready to go on strike.) Read more >>

Oct 5th is a Day of Action Against Domestic Violence. Hold or join a 2-min die-in protest. Learn more >>

Oct 7th is a Day of International Rebellion for climate justice organized by Extinction Rebellion. Learn more >>

You can make a donation directly to Editor Rivera Sun on her website. Thanks!

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Published on August 24, 2019 15:36

August 21, 2019

Tapping Into People Power

by Rivera Sun, Editor of Nonviolence News

Image by Robert Jones from Pixabay

In times like this, many of us feel powerless to do anything about the political, social, and environmental injustices we face. But, power is everywhere. Like sunlight and solar panels, it’s a question of tapping into it. Accustomed to the top-down power of presidents and CEOs, most of us have no idea where to plug in and connect to the phenomenal people power that exists. As the editor of Nonviolence News, I collect 30-50 stories of nonviolence in action each week. These stories are inspiring examples of how people like us are finding unexpected sources of strength, creativity, resistance, hope, and yes, power. Beyond protests and petitions, there are hundreds of ways to work for change. Here are seven ways we can connect to the power of removing our consent and cooperation, refusing to go along with injustice, and intervening in the destructive practices that cause harm. I’ve included several examples in each section – a total of 28 amazing stories – that illuminate how and where people can find the power to make powerful change.

Pocketbook Power: Hollywood’s Brunei Boycott

In early 2019, Brunei’s government passed a law calling for adulterers and homosexuals to be stoned to death. Actor George Clooney called for a Hollywood boycott of Brunei’s hotels. Within two months, the government backed off from enforcing the law. What worked here? It’s not just about star power. It’s about wallet power. Clooney’s boycott slashed the profits of a multi-million dollar industry. By organizing his Hollywood friends and associates, the economic impact forced Brunei’s leaders to re-think the law. We may not be millionaires or movie stars, but all of us have the ability to reach for our wallets and mobilize our coworkers, friends, and communities to do the same. This is one type of power we can all use. Every penny counts when working for change.

This article on how to organize a boycott looks at several recent examples of boycotts and shares some tips for success. You can also learn a lot from following current boycotts, like the American Federation of Teachers’ call for a Back-To-School Boycott of Walmart over gun sales, or the massive South Korean boycott of Japanese companies due to an on-going trade war. The most creative example I’ve seen is Extinction Rebellion’s global fashion boycott to cut down on waste and pollution in a time of climate crisis.

Podium Power: Climate Crisis Commencement Speakers

To speak up when silence is expected . . . to deviate from the acceptable speech: these are sources of power in our world. The climate justice movement is putting them to work. Class of 0000 (pronounced Class of Zero) organized hundreds of college and university commencement speakers to address climate change in their speeches. These bright students addressed captive audiences of hundreds to thousands of people all across the country, devoting part of their speeches to dealing with the climate crisis. In some places, the administration banned the speeches or swapped out student speakers, showing their draconian suppression of free – and truthful – speech. By speaking up where silence was expected, these students shifted the script and changed the narrative around the climate crisis.

There are many ways to use our voices, podiums, and platforms to speak up for justice. Speaking up doesn’t just happen on a stage. Recently, Icelandic scientists wrote a public eulogy and held a funeral for the first glacier lost to climate change. In Russia, 17-year-old Olga Misik gained international attention by reading the Russian Constitution – which granted her the right to protest – as Russian riot police arrested her at a pro-democracy demonstration. In Boston, Massachusetts, baseball fans unfurled a giant banner at Fenway Park in support of migrant rights and closing the detention centers. Last spring, I interrupted a hotel breakfast buffet to announce the top headlines in Nonviolence News because the enormous corporate media televisions behind us weren’t covering these important stories. Breaking the silence and deviating from the script is something we all can find a time and place to do.

Common Ground Power: Christians Opposing Christian nationalism

At a time when extremists (particularly white nationalists) are causing hate crimes, mass shootings, unjust policies, and violent rallies, these Christians are stepping up to denounce Christian Nationalism. 10,000 of them signed a declaration against the ideology and are preparing to take further action to rein in the abuses of people who claim to share their faith. They’re tapping into the power of faith – but not in the way we usually mean that phrase. Our faith groups are large networks of people. When we take responsibility for the manner in which those networks behave, we can stand up against abuse in powerful ways. This is true for religions, races, classes, businesses, unions, neighborhood associations, academic institutions, cultural identities, ethnicities and more. Take a look at all the networks that contribute to who you are – you’ll find plenty of opportunities to organize with others who share those beliefs to hold your circles accountable.

Organizing around common ground and shared identities can be very powerful. Recently, Japanese-Americans protested migrant detention centers, denouncing the system of internment camps during WWII, leading to the decision not to use a former Oklahoma internment camp as a migrant detention center. This action was also supported by people of Jewish faith – who have been increasingly organizing together. For example, #IfNotNow mobilizes Jewish Americans to oppose Israel’s apartheid system and oppression of Palestinians. Our faith groups, in particular, have many important social justice issues to take responsibility on. Check out this story of how a group of Christians surprised Pride Parade marchers with signs that apologized for the anti-LGBTQ views of other Christians.

Creative power: Artists withdraw works from Whitney Museum

When these eight artists realized that one of the board members of the prestigious Whitney Museum made his fortune selling tear gas and riot gear, they pulled their pieces out of the Whitney Biennial. Along with a protest action campaign, these efforts succeeded in getting the donor/board member to resign. This type of power has to do with refusing to offer one’s labor, intelligence, creativity, and abilities to an institution engaging in or supporting an injustice. Many of us have labor or creative capital – and we can choose to lend our names and skills to an organization or refuse to be associated with it.

In the opposite way, here’s a story about a museum leveraging its prominence to support a movement: this famous London museum decided to show an exhibit of Extinction Rebellion’s “artefacts” to raise awareness about the need for climate action. Artists can also leverage their creativity for memorable protests, such as the Australians who used art instead of written comments to oppose a mine. Upset at their government’s support of the toxic industry, Australians sent 1400 paintings of a bird species endangered by a proposed mine to the public officials.

Worker Power: Belfast “Titanic” shipyard workers occupy for green energy

After failing to find a buyer for the insolvent and privately-owned shipyard that built the Titanic, the factories in Belfast, Ireland, were slated to be closed. Then 130 workers occupied the yards with a rotating blockade, denying the foreclosure officials access. Their demand? Nationalize the facilities and convert them to building renewable energy infrastructure. For weeks, the workers have maintained the occupation and blockade. Their example is a reminder to all of us that we have more power than we think. These Irish workers faced unemployment – instead, they grasped their collective power to intervene with a new solution. Can you imagine if you and your coworkers organized such visionary action?

Labor organizing has a long and impressive history of action. Even beyond union strikes, workers have banded together to work for change. Recently, Walmart workers held a walk-out in protest of company’s continued gun sales. The Swedish women’s hockey team boycotted trainings over an unsettled pay dispute. Portuguese fuel truck drivers went on strike, leading to nationwide fuel shortages. And in Taiwan, the first flight attendant strike in their nation’s history grounded 2,250 flights in a struggle to gain fair pay. All over the world, people are organizing the workplace to work for change.

City Power: Denver dumps private prison contracts

In 2019, as the #NoKidsInCages movement decried migrant child detention, Denver, CO, cancelled two city contracts totaling $10.6 million in opposition to the companies’ involvement in private, for-profit, migrant child detention centers. This is just one of the numerous instances and ways municipal bodies have been leveraging their authority, power, and clout to make a difference in social justice issues. By organizing for our cities to take a stand, we can push for change with the collected might of the city. It’s bigger than our household, but often easier to shift than our federal government.

The amount of recent municipal action deserves its own article, but here are three great examples of city power. In Prague, the mayor refused to deport a Taiwanese man despite China’s pressure and threats to cut financial investments in the city. Berkeley, CA, concerned about the climate crisis, banned fracked gas infrastructure in new construction, prompting three other Bay Area cities to take similar action. And, three mass shootings in one week in the US prompted the city mayor of San Rafael, CA, to order the flags to be kept at half-mast until Congress acts to stop mass shootings.

Block & Stop Power: Boats blockade against rising seas

In a dramatic and memorable street action, the climate justice group, Extinction Rebellion, used five boats to stop traffic in Cardiff, Glasgow, Bristol, Leeds, and London. The action halted fossil fuel powered cars with an ironic reminder that life-as-usual is causing global warming, climate catastrophe, and rising sea levels. This action tapped into our power to nonviolently interrupt and disrupt using blockade actions. In efforts to stop fossil fuel pipelines, this tactic has been used so frequently that the hundreds of efforts have been dubbed “Blockadia”.

Blocking and stopping injustice from carrying out its plans is a powerful – and risky – type of action. But if you can pull it off successfully, it’s one of the best examples of applied people power. In Seattle, citizens formed a rolling picket line to block ICE from driving out of their headquarters to conduct immigration raids. In Appalachia, protesters decided to lockdown to equipment to stop construction of a fossil fuel pipeline. And in Kentucky, unpaid coal miners blockaded the coal trains for weeks in demand for unemployment compensation.

These are just a few examples of the hundreds actions – involving millions of people – that have occurred in the past few months. These seven categories offer a glimpse of the many places we can find the power to make a difference. This kind of power isn’t the strength of individual superheroes, saints, or political leaders. This is the kind of power that we all wield, together, when we find ways to shake up life-as-usual in order to work for change. With nonviolent action, we can find hundreds of ways to influence our world in the social, cultural, spiritual, political, financial, economic, industrial, and educational spheres. We have more power than we think . . . we just have to tap into it.

__________________

Rivera Sun , syndicated by PeaceVoice , has written numerous books, including The Dandelion Insurrection . She is the editor of Nonviolence News and a nationwide trainer in strategy for nonviolent campaigns.

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Published on August 21, 2019 15:58

August 17, 2019

Turning the Titanic: Belfast Shipyard Workers Want to Build Windmills

Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun:

Each week, I read hundreds of articles and survey close to a thousand headlines in search of the stories I feature in Nonviolence News. Finding these reports bolsters my heart. In New Zealand, 10,000 weapons have been turned in through a buy-back program after the Christchurch massacre. In Brazil, Indigenous women occupied a building in protest of far-right policies. But the pièce de résistance is the Belfast, Ireland shipyard workers’ two weeks (and counting) occupation of the site that built the Titanic. 130 workers are refusing to leave until the United Kingdom nationalizes the facilities (currently held by an insolvent foreign company that plans to close them) and converts them to producing renewable energy and green infrastructure. How’s that for poetic justice?

This is just one of many inspiring stories. If you scan through this week’s round-up, you’ll see a staggering number of ways people are resisting injustice. I hope it gives you ideas – we need countless every day heroes and sheroes like you. One reason I compile Nonviolence News each week is the hope that it will inspire us all to find ways to take action. Do you have a story to share about this? Let me know. I’ll feature your true story about how a story from Nonviolence News inspired you in an upcoming enewsleter.

With heart and courage,
Rivera Sun, Editor

Photo credit for opening image: Belfast shipyard workers picket the gates of the shipyard that built the Titanic, refusing bankruptcy administrators access to the facility. Image by Unite the Union.

Thanks for supporting Nonviolence News. You can make a donation to support my work rounding up these stories here: http://www.riverasun.com/thank-you/

Here’s what you’ll find in this week’s Nonviolence News:

Victory! Success Stories
Recent Actions & On-Going Campaigns
Racial Justice
Migrant Justice
Climate Action
Creative Action
Knowledge & Reflection
Calls-to-Action

Nonviolence News shares recent success stories so we see and remember
that nonviolent action is powerful and effective.

Did migrant justice activists really just shut down Homestead Detention Center? Recent news indicates that the migrant children have been moved from the facility. Reports say that they have been sent to their US sponsors (usually family members) or to other facilities. Read more >> Organizing groups say that questions still remain about where the children went . . . and the work continues to end family separation. Read more >>

How #MeToo is influencing Sex Ed standards – even in Red States. Editor’s Note: when measuring a “victory”, we sometimes overlook ripple effects like this. Have we ended sexual violence toward women? No, not by a long shot. But this policy shift is an outgrowth of the #MeToo movement and should be celebrated as a partial success and a step in the right direction. Read more >>

Honduran political prisoner Edwin Espinal released on bail, protests continue against government. Read more >>

Under “withering” public criticism, the US Environmental Protection Agency revokes its decision to allow the use of cyanide bombs to kill coyotes and other wildlife. Read more >>

Around the world, people are launching nonviolent campaigns and/or using principled nonviolence to transform their communities and fight injustice.
Here are a few recent stories.

Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests force airport to shut down all flights. Read more >> Later, the protesters at Hong Kong’s international airport issued apologies to travelers after a peaceful sit-in devolved into chaos and massively disrupted air travel. Read more >>

New Zealand gun buy-back program collects 10,000 weapons after Christchurch massacre. Read more >>

Women lead the struggle to preserve democracy in India amid the rise of Hindu nationalism. Read more >>

Zimbabweans struggle to gain the right to protest as armed police patrol the streets and a court rules against them. Read more >>

On August 10th, worldwide protests condemned increased US blockade of Venezuela. Read more >>

Hundreds of Indigenous women occupied a building of Brazil’s health ministry in the capital, Brasília, on Monday to protest against the policies of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. Read more >>

Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans march against Trump’s embargoes. Read more >>

Extinction Rebellion’s “Animal Rebellion” activists plan to blockade major meat market. Read more >>

Portugal’s fuel truck drivers go on strike.Read more >>

Mongolian herders re-launch cooperatives for sustainable livelihoods. Read more >>

Swedish women’s hockey team players boycott trainings over lack of pay. Read more >>

Resist Rockwool holds a sing-out outside the American Institute of Architects to ask them to drop Rockwool’s toxic insulation from their green standards. The activists are opposing a planned insulation plant factory in a Maryland community. Read more >>

Walmart employees walk-out to demand the company stop selling guns. 55,000 citizens and employees have signed a petition demanding that the superstore stop gun sales. Read more >>

California mayor decides to keep flag at half-mast until Congress takes action on gun control and stopping mass shootings. Read more >>

Protesters crash ALEC conference opposing the group’s support for criminalizing pipeline protests. Read more >>

A campaign organizes people to donate to immigrants rights groups for every fascist who attends a large rally in Portland, OR. “Every one of them that shows up is raising money for a cause that they hate.” Read more >>

This illustrated story shows why one rich kid decided to give his wealth to social justice causes. Read more >>

People are organizing for racial justice in communities all over the world. Here are some stories of how they are using nonviolent action in those campaigns.

Water Walkers march from Minnesota to Lake Winnipeg to raise awareness about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Read more >>

Washington State farmworkers rise up against Trump and labor exploitation. On August 4 workers and their supporters marched 14 miles in 90-degree heat through berry fields just below the Canadian border, protesting the widespread abuse of agricultural labor. Read more >>

Colin Kaepernick releases powerful video to mark the three-year anniversary of the first “Take A Knee” Anthem protests against racist police killings. Read more >>

White US fencing champion takes a knee at medals ceremony. Read more >>

As millions of humans become migrants and refugees from war and climate disasters, the struggle for migrant justice continues to grow.

Jews Against ICE hold nationwide protests, including 44 arrested in New York City direct actions. Read more >>

Private contractor working for ICE faces investigation after he drove his truck into a crowd of demonstrators, injuring several people. Read more >>

Banding together after a number of attacks on immigrants and Latinx people in the U.S., more than 200 Latinx entertainers, artists, and rights advocates published a letter in several major newspapers on Friday, pledging solidarity with people of Latin American descent across the United States. Read more >>

Protests erupt at GEO Group’s new Boca Raton, FL, headquarters in objection to private prisons and migrant detention centers. Read more >>

How Mississippians rallied for migrant justice and protected people during recent ICE raids. Read more >>

In late July, the Belfast shipyard which built the Titanic in 1909 was scheduled to be shut down after failing to find a buyer. Instead, over 130 workers seized control of the shipyard. After two weeks of blockading entry, they say they won’t leave until the facilities are nationalized and used to produce renewable energy infrastructure. Read more >>

Fridays for the Future takes to Swiss streets. Read more >>

Goldsmiths University in London, UK, takes beef off the university menu to help fight climate change. Read more >>

Extinction Rebellion UK daubs Brazil’s embassy in bright red paint to protest the destruction of the rainforest and murders of Indigenous peoples. Read more >>

Colorado’s sweeping new green law includes a mandate for designing Just Transition for former coal workers. Read more >>

Two pipeline protesters lock down to the Mountain Valley Pipeline stopping the construction work. Read more >>

Nonviolence unleashes humanity’s amazing creativity. Here are a few stories that show how people used a creative approach to work for change.

Artists & activists use Puerto Rican popular heroes and poetry on new “rebel” currency. Read more >>

Fresno State alumna aims to ‘erase’ U.S. border with mural showing faces of deportation. Read more >>

Rohingya poets, facing genocide, turn words into art of resistance. Read more >>

‘Greta effect’ leads to boom in children’s environmental books. The 16-year-old climate change activist has galvanized young people to read more about saving the planet. Read more >>

Actor Jason Momoa delays filming Aquaman 2 to protest Mauna Kea telescope. Read more >>

Extinction Rebellion UK saves the world at Boomtown immersive theater festival. Read more >>

1,000 US artists join into creative effort to popularize and explain the beauty and necessity of a Green New Deal. Read more >>

Forced by law to display national motto of “In God We Trust”, a Kentucky school district displays $1 bills with the saying. Read more >>

In the field of nonviolence, people around the world are deepening their understanding of how nonviolence works to make change and wage peace.

How protesters are ‘deanonymising’ Russia’s riot police. Online tools identify policemen who violently dispersed protesters in Moscow. Read more >>

Four ways we can engage with the global community of civil resistance. Read more >>

Who are the Gilet Noirs? Hint: they use political protest space opened by the Gilets Juanes and seek rights for undocumented migrants. Read more >>

Here’s what it takes for a boycott to work. Read more >>

Here are a few actions and events requesting your participation.

Global Appeal for Peace organizes international community to oppose war and uphold international law. Read more >>

#FreeJulianAssange August actions are being held globally on Aug 18, 23, 24th. Read more > >

Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions September 14-22, 2019, Everywhere. Host or join a march, rally, protest, or other event or action for a culture of peace and active nonviolence. Learn more >>

Sept 20-27th, join the Global Climate Strike. (It’s not just for the kids, any more. Get ready to go on strike.) Read more >>

Oct 5th is a Day of Action Against Domestic Violence. Hold or join a 2-min die-in protest. Learn more >>

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Published on August 17, 2019 15:27

August 10, 2019

Against All Odds, We Rise & Resist

From Qatar to Honduras, People Take Action.
Nonviolence News: Aug 10th, 2019

Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun:

In Nonviolence News this week, you’ll find some powerful stories. Thirteen victories, large and small, show how change is being made step-by-step. Georgians, Russians, Hondurans, migrant workers in Qatar, and Irish and British airport workers are all striving for political and economic justice.

In the United States, we are reeling from yet another set of deadly mass shootings. But we are also organizing. In one of the most interesting recent tactics, the American Federation of Teachers is threatening Walmart with a Back-To-School Boycott if they continue to sell weapons. Reflecting on the tragedy, nonviolence advocate Ken Butigan reminds readers that in order to break the cycle of violence, we must actively engage nonviolence in all aspects of our lives. This isn’t an utopian vision, but rather a pragmatic reality.

For too long, nonviolence has been marginalized and viewed as something that only great figures like Gandhi and King can wield. The truth is that ordinary people use nonviolence every single day, all over the world. As Ken Butigan says, “If violence were the default, the human species would have destroyed itself long ago, with the retaliatory and escalatory logic of violence spinning out of control and into extinction. It is the secret history of nonviolence that has – hour by hour, day by day, year by year, century by century – kept this from happening.”

Nonviolence News strives to illuminate the truth of this statement. As you scan this week’s stories, remember: this is what humanity does, day in and day out, week by week.

Thanks for all the countless ways we save our world each day.
Don’t forget to share the good news – Nonviolence News!
Rivera Sun, Editor

Photo credit for opening image: Native Hawaiians on the island of Kauai march in solidarity with protectors on Hawai’i Island blocking construction of a Thirty Meter Telescope on top of Mauna Kea. By Jon Letman in a recent Truthout article.

Here’s what you’ll find in
this week’s Nonviolence News:

Victory! Success Stories
Recent Actions & On-Going Campaigns
Climate Action
Migrant Justice
Creative Action
Knowledge & Reflection
Calls-to-Action

Nonviolence News shares recent success stories so we see and remember
that nonviolent action is powerful and effective.

Amnesty International votes to divest from fossil fuels. Read more >>

Following pressure from Greenpeace, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are cutting ties with an association that lobbies for our continued use of single-use plastics. Read more >>

French bank BNP Paribas becomes 5th major bank to quit funding private prisons and detention centers. Read more >>

1,000 emails from concerned citizens and organizing by nonprofits stopped a new oil well and pipeline in the Carrizo Plain National Monument for the second time. Significantly, California Bureau of Land Management also stated that new wells could not be approved without weighing their impact on climate change. Read more >>

RIP Medical Debt partners with major businesses to abolish $30 million in medical debt for families in Los Angeles. Read more >>

Major companies in the United Kingdom cut plastic bag usage in half this year. Since 2015, thanks to a 5 pence fee, the use has dropped 90%. Read more >>

Medicine Hat, Canada becomes the first city in the nation to end homelessness, using a “Housing First” plan. Salt Lake City, Utah also used this model to reduce its homelessness by 91% in ten years. Read more >>

US Bank forgives credit card debt for old customers in Canada after discontinuing operations in the country. Read more >>

France passed an ecotax on plane tickets that will help fund eco-friendly travel alternatives. Read more >>

Denver City Council dumps two contracts totaling over $10 million in rebuke for the companies’ involvement in private prisons. Read more >>

Timbuktu librarians rescue thousands of artifacts, manuscripts, and cultural treasures from certain destruction by Al Qaeda. Read more >>

Threat of 48-hr work stoppage by 4,000 Heathrow Airport workers pressures the airport to make concessions and agree to further talks. Read more >>

New York City restaurant workers saw their pay increase by 20% after a $15 minimum-wage hike, and a new report says business is booming despite warnings that the boost would devastate the city’s restaurant industry. Read more >>

Around the world, people are launching nonviolent campaigns and/or using principled nonviolence to transform their communities and fight injustice.
Here are a few recent stories.

How native people across the Pacific are resisting dispossession of sacred land. Read more >>

Thousands of Georgians resist Russia‘s attempts to control their country. Read more >>

Migrant workers in Qatar hold rare strikes over terrible working conditions as they construct the facilities for the 2022 World Cup. Read more >>

Honduran protesters demand the resignation of the president. Read more >>

Honduran prisoners and allies launch hunger strike to object to inhumane conditions in a maximum security prison. Read more >>

Irish airline pilots vote to strike. Read more >>

High profile activists and celebrities call for people to boycott SoulCycle and Equinox over planned board chairman’s fundraiser for Trump. Read more >>

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women billboard campaign arrives in Michigan. Read more >>

US teachers union threatens boycott of Walmart over their decision to continue selling guns. The threat from American Federation of Teachers comes just in time for back-to-school shopping, one of the biggest sales periods of the year. Read more >>

10,000 people sign on to a new grassroots movement of Christians opposing Christian Nationalism in the United States. Read more >>

Flash mob protest blocks rush hour traffic at the gates of trident nuclear weapons at Bangor Submarine Base in Washington State on the 74th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Read more >>

Germany’s largest labor union urges its 2 million members to join the student-led climate strikes. Read more >>

56 Australian climate activists arrested in Brisbane. Read more >>

19 year old Giovanni Tamacas went on hunger strike for 10 days in the US capital to protest about a ‘criminally complicit’ government’s inaction. Read more >>

Doctor holds 15-day hunger strike to decry government inaction on climate change. Read more >>

University of Michigan students hold die-in for climate action. Read more >>

For a sustainable climate and food system, regenerative agriculture is key. Read more >>

As millions of humans become migrants and refugees from war and climate disasters, the struggle for migrant justice continues to grow.

Guatemalan students occupy university in opposition to politicians’ meeting, especially their support of Trump’s immigration policy. Read more >>

Maine Jews march for migrant justice, saying “Close the camps”. Read more >>

Twin Cities Jewish community blockades ICE building. Read more >>

Jewish activists were arrested Monday for protesting at the Los Angeles office of the GEO Group, a private prison company that runs federal migrant detention facilities decried by critics as “concentration camps.” Read more >>

Group releases map of ICE contracts in all 50 states, including names of company and size of contracts. Read more >>

Nonviolence unleashes humanity’s amazing creativity. Here are a few stories that show how people used a creative approach to work for change.

Palestinian Youth Orchestra is an act of resistance, using skype to circumvent travel bans and travel permit denials, and showing the beauty and talent of young Palestinians. Read more >>

“No tears. No blood.” Hong Kongers hold huge laser show to protest after police arrest people with “offensive weapons”, i.e. laser pointers. Read more >>

Hong Kong protesters use flash mob style tactics to evade police. Read more >>

Editor’s Note: usually, we report on what activists are doing to achieve their goals. This story is on the creative tactics of the other side. Russian government tries to diminish protests by holding last-minute organized street festivals with kebabs and rock music in an attempt to lure young protesters away from demonstrations. Read more >>

In the field of nonviolence, people around the world are deepening their understanding of how nonviolence works to make change and wage peace.

International Center on Nonviolent Conflict’s free, online course on civil resistance is now open for applications. Read more >>

After El Paso shootings, Ken Butigan reflects on the need for nonviolence in a violent world. Read more >>

Can there be democracy without nonviolence? Metta Center’s Nonviolence Radio interviews Jamila Raqib from the Albert Einstein Institution. Read more >>

Here are a few actions and events requesting your participation.

Global Appeal for Peace organizes international community to oppose war and uphold international law. Read more >>

#FreeJulianAssange August actions are being held globally on Aug 18, 23, 24th. Read more > >

The River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding and partners are launching a webinar series on “Neighborhood Justice” – a program that grows and adapts their peacebuilding and community justice work. Read more > >

Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions September 14-22, 2019, Everywhere. Host or join a march, rally, protest, or other event or action for a culture of peace and active nonviolence. Learn more >>

Sept 20-27th, join the Global Climate Strike. (It’s not just for the kids, any more. Get ready to go on strike.) Read more >>

Oct 5th is a Day of Action Against Domestic Violence. Hold or join a 2-min die-in protest. Learn more >>

Want more Nonviolence News? Support us! Thank you. http://www.riverasun.com/thank-you/

Activist/Author Rivera Sun is a nationwide speaker and trainer in strategy for nonviolent movements. She is the author of nine books and novels focusing on nonviolence, including The Dandelion Insurrection, The Roots of Resistance, and The Way Between. For four years, she cohosted nationally-syndicated radio programs on nonviolent struggle. Rivera Sun has worked for Campaign Nonviolence, Metta Center for Nonviolence, and Nonviolence Now, among other groups. Find out more about her work at: www.riverasun.com

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Published on August 10, 2019 14:15

August 5, 2019

From Single Protesters to Global Solidarity

How the power of one multiplies into people power.
Nonviolence News: Aug 3rd, 2019

Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun:

In this week’s Nonviolence News, you’ll find stories of people taking action at every scope and size. When the courage of one becomes the actions of hundreds, thousands, and millions of us, our efforts add up into significant change. Only one year ago this month, an unknown Swedish schoolgirl skipped class to protest climate change in front of the parliament building. Now, Greta Thunberg is a household name and millions of students are striking for a future.

Nonviolence News stories this week cover a full range of individual to collective action, including 17 year old Olga Misik (pictured above) who sat down in front of a line of riot police, and read her constitutional right to protest amidst Russia’s largest mass arrest (1,400 protesters) in the past decade. This week’s news also includes stories about the lone, courageous activist whose lockdown stopped a pipeline for a day, and a Black man in Vermont who stood up in court to protest the racial bias of a judge’s ruling to let an avowed violent White supremacist walk free. In Kentucky, USA, 400 coal miners blocked the tracks of a coal train in protest of bailouts for corporations while the workers lost jobs, benefits, and unemployment pay. Taiwanese airport workers grounded 2,250 flights in 17 days in order to win labor justice. Tens of thousands of Colombians demonstrated against attacks on activists. 30,000 Adivasis and Forest Dwellers organized in nationwide protests against eviction and changes to the Indian Forest Act. And, speaking of trees, Ethiopians planted 350 million trees in 12 hours, breaking India’s recent world record.

The numbers are staggering … and the creativity is heartening! Don’t miss these Nonviolence News stories of clever and creative actions: the artist who put cages around Boston’s “Make Way for Ducklings” statue to protest child detention centers; the pink seesaws installed through the US-Mexico border fence; 40 children who held a playdate protest for migrant children; the French activists who removed President Macron’s portrait from town halls to protest government climate inaction; and the Victoria and Albert Museum show featuring Extinction Rebellion “artefacts”; and the fascinating way the Hong Kong protesters are using lasers to disrupt the police’s facial recognition software.

And there’s so much more. The world is changing … and nonviolent action is the mechanism of that transformation.

May we all find ways to take action, individually and collectively,
Rivera Sun, Editor

Photo credit for opening image: Olga Misit sits in front of Russian riot police reading her constitutional right to protest. Image from a video by Alexei Abanin.

Here’s what you’ll find in this week’s Nonviolence News:

Victory! Success Stories
Recent Actions & On-Going Campaigns
Climate Action
Migrant Justice
Racial Justice
Creative Action
Knowledge & Reflection
Calls-to-Action

Nonviolence News shares recent success stories so we see and remember
that nonviolent action is powerful and effective.

Taiwanese flight attendants win partial victory after grounding 2,250 flights. The 17-day strike was the largest and longest in Taiwanese airline labor history. Read more > >

Illinois will expunge 700,000 marijuana convictions from people’s records this week as the state legalizes the use of cannabis. Read more > >

Finland shows how to rein in “fake news”. Hint: isn’t about limiting free speech … it’s about teaching critical thinking skills. Read more > >

UK anti-racism activists win policy changes at Goldsmiths University of London after a five month-long occupation for racial justice. The university has promised to introduce mandatory “race awareness” training for staff and review its anti-discrimination and harassment procedures, among other measures. Read more > >

Around the world, people are launching nonviolent campaigns and/or using principled nonviolence to transform their communities and fight injustice. Here are a few recent stories.

Puerto Rico’s governor is gone, but the struggle for justice against police repression continues. Demonstrators faced daily violent repression as they protested. Read more > >

Inside the Mauna Kea TMT protests, one activist writes, “it took a crisis to bring Hawaiians back together”. Read more > >

Police in Moscow used violent force to stop an opposition protest on Saturday, arresting nearly 1,400 people in what’s been described as the largest mass arrest in Russia in a decade. Meanwhile, Alexei Navalny—one of Russia’s most prominent opposition figures—has been hospitalized after possibly being poisoned in jail. Read more > >

17-year-old Olga Misik becomes an iconic figure in the Russian anti-authoritarian protest movement, sitting in front of a row of notoriously brutal riot police reading the Russia constitution’s right to peaceful assembly. Read more > >

Tens of thousands of Colombian demonstrators took to the streets on Friday in more than 50 cities and towns across Colombia to protest a surge of lethal attacks on indigenous, Afro-Colombian and environmental leaders in recent years. Solidarity marches were held in dozens of cities around the world, from Mexico City to Athens. Read more > >

Repressed in Pakistan, the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement marches on Geneva for rights, bringing together members of the Pashtun diaspora for the “Long March to Geneva”. Read more > >

Hong Kong protesters use lasers to disrupt police’s facial recognitiontechnology. Read more > >

Gilets Jaunes gather for third Assembly of Assemblies in the French popular movement’s search for economic and political justice. Read more > >

What’s the beef? Beef Plan Movement rallies Irish farmers and consumers for 6+ days of protest over paying higher beef prices while farmers are getting short-changed. Read more > >

US airline catering workers came together for a picket line on July 23 at Washington National Airport targeting American Airlines, one of the many airlines profiting off their labor by contracting out their food and beverage needs to companies that pay workers poor wages. The protest is one of the dozens of actions workers have held in recent weeks as they move closer to a strike. Read more > >

US coal miners blocked the tracks of a coal train in Kentucky for a second straight day as part of a standoff between a coal company that filed for bankruptcy and left nearly 400 workers without work and pay for a month. Read more > >

Across many sports, more and more women athletes are turning to direct action to win gender equity. Read more > >

How Jamaican women are tackling the climate crisis. Read more > >

Over 30,000 Adivasis and Forest Dwellers take to the streets in nation-wide protests against eviction and amendments to the Indian Forest Act. Read more > >

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe opens North Dakota’s first solar farm. Read more > >

French man is swimming through trash in the Pacific Gyre to raise awareness about plastic pollution. Read more > >

Following Berkeley’s fracked gas ban, more California cities prepare for a fossil free future. Read more > >

Ethiopia breaks India’s world tree planting record, planting more than 350 million trees in 12 hours. Read more > >

Greta Thunberg will sail across the Atlantic to get to climate conference. Read more > >

Boston rally calls for gas company to clean up gas leaks. Read more > >

Lone protester stops Mountain Valley Pipeline for a day. Read more > >

Climate activists set sights on ending fossil fuel exports in the Pacific Northwest United States, once and for all. Read more > >

As millions of humans become migrants and refugees from war and climate disasters, the struggle for migrant justice continues to grow.

Photo of Campoli grandmothers holding migrant children goes viral with the message: This Is The Italy I Want. Note: this article is in Italian, but can be translated in your browser. Read more > >

Indigenous Peoples of North America demand an end to migrant detention on stolen land. Read more > >

Environmental activism group Reclaim the Power is protesting outside the entrance of a bus company accused of assisting the government with deportations. Three protesters have suspended themselves on tripods, blocking access to facilities. Read more > >

Rolling picket line stops ICE deportations in Seattle, WA. Read more > >

40 children hold playdate protest at ICE headquarters to protest migrant child detention. Read more > >

27 people detained in North Carolina after surrounding and blocking an ICE van. Read more > >

National faith leaders begin Moral Mondays actions against federal immigration policies.Read more > >

What to do if ICE knocks on your door. Read more > >

Bostonians unfurl giant banner at baseball park in support of migrant rights and closing the detention centers. Read more > >

People of color are organizing to protest, stop, and intervene in systemic and structural racism, race-based hate crimes, and racial bias in all levels of society. Here are some of those stories.

Two weeks after 23-year-old Isak Aden was shot and killed by five police officers in Eagan, Minnesota, over 100 people took over Eagan’s City Council meeting seeking justice for Isak. Two of the officers involved in the shooting had murdered people before and were let off the hook. Read more > >

Protest for Isak Aden shuts down mall and highway. Read more > >

Vermont Black man interrupts court proceedings to protest the release of an armed, avowed white supremacist who was released by the courts. Objecting to racial disparities he had witnessed firsthand, the protester was removed from the court. Read more > >

#FirePantaleo demands justice for Eric Garner, strangled to death in 2014 with a chokehold by police officer Daniel Pantaleo. The officer, found guilty of one of two counts, was put on suspension rather than fired. Read more > >

Nonviolence unleashes humanity’s amazing creativity. Here are a few stories that show how people used a creative approach to work for change.

2020 Tokyo Olympics medals are being made from recycled cell phones and electronics. Read more > >

A municipal garbage service in Kyrgyzstan found an interesting way to reduce litter: employ a social media savvy press secretary who blogged about what the department of public works does for the people and city. Read more > >

A stitch in time: how craftivists found their radical voice and protested Trump’s policies. Read more > >

In a joyful act of resistance, pink seesaws were installed through the slats in the US-Mexico border fence. Read more > >

Netflix-series “Orange is the New Black” turns its prison justice lens on ICE this season. Read more > >

Artist cages iconic Boston “Make Way For Ducklings” statue to protest child detention centers. The statue is based on a classic and massively popular children’s book about a family of ducks “migrating” across Boston. Read more > >

French climate activists marched into town halls and removed the president’s portraitsto symbolically protest the “void in government on government policy on the climate emergency.” Read more > >

London’s Victoria and Albert Museum will host a show of Extinction Rebellion “artefacts”– signs, banners, and artful activism creations. Read more > >

In the field of nonviolence, people around the world are deepening their understanding of how nonviolence works to make change and wage peace.

Harvard College launches free online course on children’s human rights. Read more > >

The border between Armenia and Azerbaijan is experiencing a lull in violence . . . and some point to Armenia’s recent nonviolent revolution as part of the reason. Read more > >

“Communes” – aka Intentional Communities – are making a comeback for older citizens, lessening isolation and loneliness. Read more > >

Brightly Worker Co-op Franchise shows how worker-owned cooperatives can scale up.Read more > >

Here are a few actions and events requesting your participation.

#FreeJulianAssange August actions are being held globally on Aug 4, 18, 23, 24th. Read more > >

Why Buddhists should rise for Mauna Kea – and 8 ways to take action. (Hint, you can read this even if you’re not Buddhist.) Read more > >

US Department of Arts and Culture calls together artists, community leaders, and cultural creatives to work on the Green New Deal. Read more >>

Rising Tide calls for climate action. Read more >>

Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions September 14-22, 2019, Everywhere. Host or join a march, rally, protest, or other event or action for a culture of peace and active nonviolence. Learn more >>

Sept 20-27th, join the Global Climate Strike. (It’s not just for the kids, any more. Get ready to go on strike.) Read more >>

Oct 5th is a Day of Action Against Domestic Violence. Hold or join a 2-min die-in protest. Learn more >>

Thanks for your kind support! We are currently setting up an independent website for Nonviolence News, but if you would like to make a donation to support this project, you can do so through Rivera Sun’s website. Thanks for understanding and loving us as we grow. Here’s where to make a donation.

Nonviolence News is a sister project to Nonviolence Now, a global campaign that collects and shares true, inspiring stories of nonviolence in action. They place ads in unusual places – like in Newsweek Magazine, online websites promoting violence, and public transit buses – to promote the effectiveness and versatility of nonviolence. Find out more about them at NonviolenceNow.org

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Published on August 05, 2019 11:36

July 27, 2019

Nonviolence News: Puerto Rico Ousts Governor

Photo credit of opening image: Thousands of demonstrators protesting against Ricardo Rossello, the Governor of Puerto Rico July 17, 2019 in front of the Capitol Building in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. The sign reads “Ricky Resign”. (Photo: Jose Jimenez/Getty Images)

Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun:

Highlights of Nonviolence News this week: Puerto Rico successfully forced their governor to resign. Meanwhile, in Oklahoma, USA, migrant justice activists scored a major victory: stopping Fort Sill from serving as a child detention center. Icelandic scientists issued an eulogy for a melted glacier destroyed by climate change. Australian artists have sent 1,400 images of an endangered bird to their politicians to protest the Adani mine. Washington, DC, residents protected affordable housing. South Koreans are boycotting Japanese imports over Tokyo’s unjust export policies. Tennessee, USA, neighbors blocked ICE officials from arresting a father by linking their arms together. Indonesia returned forest management to the traditional Indigenous stewards.

So, what was my favorite story this week? It was hard to pick, but the Syrians who rescued 100,000 seeds from a genebank threatened by the war won my heart. It’s a great example of the unexpected shapes and sizes that nonviolence takes. And, the action possibly saved the future of wheat!

This nonviolence stuff works. This is why I collect these stories each week and put Nonviolence News together. The more we know, the more we put the tools of nonviolence into action. Share this weekly round-up with a friend. We all need a little encouragement as we work for change. Nonviolence News delivers it.

Also, I’m excited to announce that Nonviolence News has a website. We’re keeping it simple right now – there’s no need to duplicate what other news journals already do so well – but this helps us collect the weekly round-ups and send people to a sign-up page. We’re still adding the archives to the site. Who knows? As Nonviolence News grows, perhaps we’ll expand what we’re able to do. We are limited only by our collective ability to envision and create, together. After all, Gandhi’s newspaper, The Young India, was one of the largest circulation newspapers in the world at the time. (Quite a megaphone, eh? He was supported by generous donors – hint, hint.)

Celebrating and learning along with you,

Rivera Sun, Editor

Here’s what you’ll find in this week’s Nonviolence News:

Victory! Success Stories

Recent Actions & On-Going Campaigns

Climate Action

Peace Action

Creative Action

Knowledge & Reflection

Calls-to-Action

Nonviolence News shares recent success stories so we see and remember that nonviolent action is powerful and effective.
400,000 people took to the streets for days of protest and a general strike, forcing the governor of Puerto Rico to resign. Read more >>How Puerto Rico banned coal ash pits. Read more >>

Four days after 1,000 protesters shut down the main Fort Sill entrance, Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe called to halt the plan to detain immigrant children at the fort. Read more >>

Amidst global climate protests, California lawmakers meet with major US automakers and agree to increase fuel efficiency standards by 2026 in order to reduce emissions. Read more >>

Decolonize This Place, War Resisters League and others won the resignation of Warren Kanders (Safariland CEO) from his position as Vice Chairman of the Whitney Museum of Art’s Board of Trustees. The campaign objected to the Kanders’ role in producing tear gas, riot gear, and police and security officers’ gear. Read more >>

Syrian gene bank saves 100,000 seeds amidst war, perhaps saving the future of wheat. Read more >>

DC tenants save affordable housing with community organizing. Read more >>

Divest the War Machine wins a candidate’s promise not to accept campaign donations from war industries. Read more >>

Around the world, people are launching nonviolent campaigns and/or using principled nonviolence to transform their communities and fight injustice. Here are a few recent stories.

Hong Kong airport staff join protesters in calling for the government to hold violent gang attackers who injured 45 people accountable for their action. Read more >>Mauna Kea telescope construction blockade and protest swells into the thousands. Read more >>

On Mauna Kea, a street university has been established at the protectors’ camp. Read more >>

Sudanese women push for new government to hold perpetrators accountable for rapes and sexual assaults upon female protesters. Read more >>

Resist Rockwool demonstrates at Lowes and Home Depot to stop toxic insulation factory. Read more >>

Editor’s Note: I never enjoy covering bad news around nonviolence, but the US House of Representatives recent support for an anti-Boycott, Divest, Sanctions bill needs to be covered. Not only is BDS one of the few options available for reining in Israeli abuses and securing Palestinians’ rights and freedoms, the anti-BDS bill itself represents legal bans on three major types of nonviolent action. The citizens’ rights to use these types of actions should not be abridged. US House of Representatives passes anti-Boycott, Divest, Sanctions bill. Read more >>

Kathy Kelly reports on pro-Palestinian activists efforts around the globe. Read more >>

Puerto Ricans organizers celebrate . . . and plan next steps. Read more >>

With Japan and South Korea continuing to feud over Tokyo’s controls on exports of chipmaking materials, Japanese companies are increasingly feeling the heat as boycotts by South Korean consumers pick up steam. Read more >>

While anti-fascists are not generally known for their nonviolent tactics, these anti-fascists share their nonviolent strategies and actions on infiltrating and countering White supremacy in Tennessee. Read more >>

Scottish airport workers launch first of six 24-hr strikes over pay dispute. Read more >>

Alaskan ferry workers went on strike for the first time in 42 years. Read more >>

Editor’s Note: this story is a powerful example of nonviolent intervention. Imagine if we were all trained and prepared to engage in actions such as this . . . Hermitage, TN residents stop ICE from detaining father by linking arms and forming a human barricade. Read more >>

5 communities building local resiliency in a time of climate chaos: New York borough, Alaska, New Zealand, India, and Kenya. Read more >>

Remarkable communities implementing systems change in the wake of climate disasters. Read more >>

Scientists write a eulogy to Iceland’s vanished glacier, citing the climate crisis as the cause. Read more >>

Resolving energy poverty in Sarawak: Indigenous solutions to the climate crisis. Read more >>

Indonesia returns forest management to traditional stewards: the Indigenous people. Read more >>

European Investment Bank unveils proposal to quit investing in fossil fuels. Read more >>

Germany unveils zero emissions trains. Read more >>

100 rebels from Extinction Rebellion, Quebec shut down the road outside the prime minister’s office. 26 were peacefully arrested. XR US, meanwhile, superglued themselves to buildings to demand that Congress declare a climate emergency. Read more >> Extinction Rebellion also organized magnificent art-action by XR India, some delicious disruption from XR Belgium, a crop circle protest in the UK, a funeral march in Chile, and riveting creative actions in Munich. You can read about these actions and find GREAT photos in their 26th newsletter. Read more >>

Localizing resistance to effectively counter climate change and foster climate action. Read more >>

After tireless but unproductive advocacy efforts, a small group of young farmers in Uganda are turning to direct action in order to halt deforestation. This year they’ve already impounded 27 truckloads of charcoal. Read more >>

Looking for success stories, effective strategies, and clever tactics for waging nonviolent struggle for environmental justice? Check out this series produced by International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. Read more >>

If we want to see a world rooted in nonviolence, ending wars, waging peace, and dismantling the military industrial complex need to be part of our global movements for change. Here are some people doing good work on those issues.

Divest From War Coalition exacts divestment promises from candidates, office holders, and municipal governments. Read more >>Peace and civil resistance researcher Maria Stephan shares thoughts on how people power can boost the Afghan Peace Process. Read more >>

How nonviolent action, humanitarian policy, and diplomacy can help save lives amidst Libya’s violent war. Read more >>

US peace activists confront 2020 Iowan candidates about drone policy. Read more >>

Nonviolence unleashes humanity’s amazing creativity. Here are a few stories that show how people used a creative approach to work for change.

Puerto Ricans take musical protest to Grand Central Terminal to demand resignation of governor. Read more >>Artists across Australia say they have mailed more than 1,400 artworks of the endangered black-throated finch to key politicians to express their grief over the Adani mine’s approval. Read more >>
Editor’s Note: We reported on this in our Climate Action section, but in case you missed it, Extinction Rebellion’s latest newsletter contains a whole slew of wonderfully creative actions. Check it out here >>

Citizen uses parental controls to block her right-wing parents from watching Fox News. Read more >>

Community rally brings a full mariachi band and taco truck to the front door of a racist white woman who threatened to call ICE on a man for no reason. Read more >>

Editor’s Note: we reported on the success of this campaign … here’s one of the tactics that helped them win. Artists to withdraw works from New York’s Whitney Museum after discovering board member linked to Safariland, suppliers of teargas used on migrants at protesters in Egypt, Gaza, and Puerto Rico, South Dakota and the U.S.-Mexican border. Read more >>

In the field of nonviolence, people around the world are deepening their understanding of how nonviolence works to make change and wage peace.

Two generations before Gandhi, this Maori leader was using nonviolent struggle against the British Empire in New Zealand. Read more >>

“Strategy Web” offers new tool for activists to map vulnerabilities and strengths. Read more >>

Here are a few actions and events requesting your participation.

US Department of Arts and Culture calls together artists, community leaders, and cultural creatives to work on the Green New Deal. Read more >>Rising Tide calls for climate action. Read more >>

Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions September 14-22, 2019, Everywhere. Host or join a march, rally, protest, or other event or action for a culture of peace and active nonviolence. Learn more >>

Sept 20-27th, join the Global Climate Strike. (It’s not just for the kids, any more. Get ready to go on strike.) Read more >>

Oct 5th is a Day of Action Against Domestic Violence. Hold or join a 2-min die-in protest. Learn more >>

View more on Rivera Sun's website »

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Published on July 27, 2019 15:11

July 22, 2019

Nonviolence News: From Algeria to Ecuador, Sudan to Pakistan

Photo credit of opening image: Pakistani journalists take part in a demonstration to denounce rampant censorship, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, July 16, 2019. Pakistani journalists are holding nationwide protests to denounce rampant censorship by the country’s powerful security services, massive layoffs due to budget cuts and months-long delays in payments of their wages. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun:

In this week’s Nonviolence News, you’ll find stories from around the world. People on every continent are rising up for human rights, political freedoms, and environmental protection. Many of them are using nonviolent action in the global quest for rights and justice. Here are some of there recent stories:

Indigenous Hawai’ians blockade the construction of a large telescope. Having successfully reined in the military take-over after a nonviolent movement ousted the former president, the Sudanese are now protesting a paramilitary murder of a civilian. Pakistani journalists took to the streets to denounce censorship. Ethnic Ethiopians are striving for autonomy. Algerians are clearing house of corrupt cronies after the movement succeeded in winning their dictator’s resignation. Ecuadoreans are holding a general strike to protest the government’s austerity policies and demand Julian Assange’s freedom. In Lebanon, university students and professors oppose budget cuts. In France, migrants want justice.

These are just some of the many stories in this week’s Nonviolence News. Scan the round-up. Read some articles. Remember that around the world people like you are dreaming and struggling for shared human goals.

We’re in this together.
Rivera Sun, Editor

PS If you enjoy Nonviolence News and would like to support us, thanks for making a donation!

Thanks for supporting Nonviolence News! If you would like to make a donation to support this project, you can do so through Rivera Sun’s website.
Here’s where to make a donation.

Here’s what you’ll find in this week’s Nonviolence News:

Victory! Success Stories
Recent Actions & On-Going Campaigns
Migrant Justice
Climate Action
Knowledge & Reflection
Calls-to-Action

Nonviolence News shares recent success stories so we see and remember that nonviolent action is powerful and effective.

Activists win decades-long struggle to shut down trash incinerator in Detroit, MI, marking the end of a long-fought battle for a majority Black neighborhood impacted by the constant stream of pollutants and pungent odors of trash. Read more >>

Twitter restores Julian Assange support group‘s account after backlash from users. Read more >>

Maine governor signs Net Neutrality law protecting state Internet users. Read more >>

UNC Asheville becomes first in NC’s university system to divest from fossil fuels. Read more >>

Natural gas pipelines now banned in most new Berkeley buildings. Read more >>

New York passes its Green New Deal. Read more >>

Around the world, people are launching nonviolent campaigns
and/or using principled nonviolence to transform their communities
and fight injustice. Here are a few recent stories.

After years of protest and action, hundreds of Indigenous Hawaiians set-up a blockade to stop the construction of a telescope. 33 were arrested. Read more >>

Sudanese hold night protests to speak out against the murder of a civilian by paramilitaries during a demonstration against the presence of the paramilitaries in the area. Read more >>

Pakistani journalists held nationwide protests Tuesday to denounce rampant censorship by the country’s powerful security services, massive layoffs due to budget cuts and months-long delays in payments of their wages. Read more >>

Ethiopian activists set up signs declaring a new region for the Sidama ethnic group. As the effort launches, movement leaders worry about government repression and wrestle about maintaining commitment to nonviolence. Read more >>

In the lead-up to the Africa Cup of Nations, Algerians mix football (soccer) rallies and protests as they continue to demonstrate for the resignations of previous dictator’s cronies. Read more >>

Puerto Ricans flood streets by the thousands demanding the resignation of the governor. Editor’s Note: As these photos will show you, most of the protesters are using nonviolent action. Violence has occurred between police and some protesters. Read more >>

Citizen in Ecuador began a five-day general strike Monday against the policies of the Moreno administration. Read more >>

Strike shuts down Lebanon’s only public university over proposed budget cuts. Read more >>

New Zealand gun owners turn in weapons for cash. Read more >>

Prime Day protests pressure giant corporation for worker justice and for an end to the company’s support of US authorities’ deportation efforts. Read more >>

Fight for the Future launches nationwide campaign to demand a complete ban on facial recognition software. Read more >>

US bus tour pushes for higher taxes on the rich. Read more >>

Women’s surfing ramps up the struggle for equal pay, bolstered by the US Women’s Soccer team’s outspoken effort. Read more >>

As millions of humans become migrants and refugees from war and climate disasters, the struggle for migrant justice continues to grow.

In France, 200-700 Gilets Noirs, a movement of migrants and refugees, occupy Pantheon in France and demand to speak with the prime minister. Read more >>

In the United States, #CloseTheCamps actions escalate. Read more >>

1000 immigrant-rights activists and Jewish alliesblocked ICE headquarters in Washington, DC to prevent them from rounding up migrants in raids. Read more >>

15 actions you can take to resist the US’ unjust immigration policies. Read more >>

Atlanta kids’ lemonade stand raises $13,000 for migrant kids separated from their families. Read more >>

Chicago’s resistance to ICE raids recalls Northern states’ response to the Fugitive Slave Act. Read more >>

70 people arrested in DC protesting for migrant rights. Read more >>

Amid threats of raids, Queens, NY, prepares to stand up to ICE to protect immigrant community. Read more >>

Extinction Rebellion uses five boats to stop traffic in Cardiff, Glasgow, Bristol, Leeds, and London. Read more >> And, after using the boats, the boats were banned from street protests. Read more >>

Yes Magazine reports on nine styles of climate activism – something for everyone. Read more >>

In the field of nonviolence, people around the world are deepening their understanding of how nonviolence works to make change and wage peace.

From mooncakes to post-it notes, Hong Kong’s anti-extradition bill protesters put creative tactics to powerful uses. Read more >>

How women in Kenya mobilized for peace after surviving violence. Read more >>

What can we learn from the Central American Pledge of Resistance? Read more >>

Dr. William Barber of Moral Mondays and Poor People’s Campaign on building an inter-racial economic justice movement in the United States. Read more >>

George Lakey corrects misperceptions about Gene Sharp, countering claims in a recent Jacobin magazine article on the nonviolent struggle researcher. Read more >>

Here are a few actions and events requesting your participation.

Protect the right to boycott, divest, and sanction (i.e. the right to use nonviolent action). BDS protection bill introduced in US Congress. Sign here to support >>

Meta Peace Team calls for members for unarmed peacekeeping in the West Bank and at US-Mexico Border work. Learn more >>

Rising Tide calls for climate action. Read more >>

Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions September 14-22, 2019, Everywhere. Host or join a march, rally, protest, or other event or action for a culture of peace and active nonviolence. Learn more >>

Oct 5th is a Day of Action Against Domestic Violence. Hold or join a 2-min die-in protest. Learn more >>

Activist/Author Rivera Sun is a nationwide speaker and trainer in strategy for nonviolent movements. She is the author of nine books and novels focusing on nonviolence, including The Dandelion Insurrection, The Roots of Resistance, and The Way Between . For four years, she cohosted nationally-syndicated radio programs on nonviolent struggle. Rivera Sun has worked for Campaign Nonviolence, Metta Center for Nonviolence, and Nonviolence Now, among other groups. Find out more about her work at: www.riverasun.com

View more on Rivera Sun's website »

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Published on July 22, 2019 12:20

July 18, 2019

Nonviolence News: #CloseTheCamps – 7 Ways to Make Change

July 13th, 2019

Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun: In this week’s Nonviolence News, you’ll find stories about how nonviolent action kept libraries from closing in the UK, saved Madrid’s low emission zone law, launched a #metoo movement in Armenia, planted 66 million trees in half a day in India, and turned a night highway road construction sign into a “Global Warming At Work” sign in Houston, TX. If you’re like me, you’re always on the look-out for bright ideas for how to make real change. Nonviolence News delivers these stories.

On Friday, I joined one of the 700 Lights for Liberty vigils in the United States that illuminated the nationwide outrage over the inhumane conditions in migrant detention centers. While I was heartened to see the widespread response, I also realized that the actions recommended – contacting our elected officials, mailing postcards, visiting or sending donations to the border – were just some of the many ways to work for tangible change. In Nonviolence News, I’ve seen powerful examples of how people like us are organizing effective actions and campaigns on this issue. Here are some ideas you can get involved in or organize your own campaign around:

1) Petition the hotel chains to stop acting as back up detention centers, like Marriott just did.

2) Pressure the detention center supply chain companies to stop profiting from family separation and migrant detention, like Wayfair workers are doing.

3) Pressure Amazon to ditch ICE involvement … they’ve got lots of customer feedback sections. Send ’em a note to back-up their employees’ letter. Or, disrupt their offices like these activists did.

4) Pressure your bank to stop investing in private prisons, like Suntrust and three others.

5) Get your town, county, and state to divest from private prisons like New York State recently did.

6) Get your state to ban private prisons like Illinois and five other states.

7) Pressure your mayor to follow the Chicago mayor‘s example and block ICE from using your police databases for immigration raids.

These are all ideas for campaigns I’ve learned through Nonviolence News. Learning and sharing all these excellent ideas is one of the benefits of compiling these stories in one place each week.

On a lighter note . . . what’s my favorite story this week? The determined cockatoo who took direct action against anti-bird spikes in an Australian shopping center, tearing them off the wall.

Good stories are meant to be shared. Thanks for supporting Nonviolence News.Rivera Sun, Editor

Photo credit of opening image: Young protester against migrant detention, The Chestertown Spy, photographer unknown, 2019.

Sign-up here: http://www.riverasun.com/nonviolence-news/

Here’s what you’ll find in this week’s Nonviolence News:

Victory! Success Stories
Recent Actions & On-Going Campaigns
Nonviolence & Children
Climate Action
Peace Action
Creative Action
Constructive Program
Knowledge & Reflection
Calls-to-Action

Nonviolence News shares recent success stories so we see and remember that nonviolent action is powerful and effective.

Suntrust Bank joins wave of banks ditching private prisons in the face of citizen backlash. Read more >>

Madrid citizens win return of low emission zones after 60,000 people took to the streets to protest its scrapping. Five days later, a court reinstated the zone law. Read more >>

Citing water concerns, South Africa blocks major fracking development. Read more >>

Protests save Essex County (UK) libraries from closure. Read more >>

Sydney, Australia city council switches to Round-up alternative after city workers walk-off the job over glyphosate cancer concerns.Read more >>

Conservative Indiana chooses renewables over coal and gas. Read more >>

Following immense public pressure, prosecutors in Alabama have dropped manslaughter charges against Marshae Jones, a 28-year-old African-American woman whose pregnancy ended after she was shot in the stomach by a coworker. Read more >>

National Rifle Association (NRA) loses its top lobbyist and advertising firm. It also shut down NRATV. These changes come in the wake of falling revenue, related in part to outcry about its anti-gun control stance and insensitivity around school shootings. Read more >>

Code Pink campaign succeeds in getting pop star to cancel her performances in Saudi Arabia over the country’s human rights violations. Read more >>

Around the world, people are launching nonviolent campaigns
and/or using principled nonviolence to transform their communities
and fight injustice. Here are a few recent stories.

Gilet Noirs, an undocumented migrant workers collective in France, is taking Paris by storm using nonviolent direct action to protest precarious employment, homelessness and poor housing conditions, and police repression. Read more >>

230,000 protesters march in Kuwloon, Hong Kong, in protest of the extradition bill. Read more >>

Thousands of Hong Kong protesters demonstrate against parallel traders who snap up goods in Hong Kong markets to resell in China. Read more >>

Armenia’s #metoo movement erupts, breaking silence on domestic and sexual violence, triggering a backlash from social conservatives. Read more >>

Former president of Kyrgyzstan holds a 1000 person protest rally and issues a 2-month deadline for the government to step down, vowing to launch more protest actions. Read more >>

Georgia holds its first Pride event after two weeks of delays due to homophobic threats. Read more >>

Minnesota Amazon workers plan 6-hr strike on Prime Day, demanding that temporary workers be made full-time, and that work quotas be eased. Read more >>

Stadium erupts into “Equal Pay” chants as US women’s soccer team wins World Cup. Read more >>

Editor’s Note: This week, we continue our focus on the campaigns to end migrant family separation and child detention centers in the United States.

After migrant justice groups delivered 120,000 signatures to corporate headquarters, major hotel chains pledge not to let ICE use rooms as backup detention facilities. Read more >>

Lights for Liberty holds 700 demonstrations against child detention centers on July 12th, drawing thousands of people across the country. Read more >>

Activists disrupt Amazon meeting and block traffic to protest the corporate behemoth’s involvement in ICE. Read more >>

500 Amazon employees pressure company to break ties with Palantir for working with ICE. Read more >>

Ahead of immigration raids, Chicago mayor permanently bans ICE from accessing police databases. Read more >>

Moscow’s lone climate protester persists in standing up for people and planet. Read more >>

Miller canoe maker and fiddle festival organizer cancels 25-year old Canadian fiddle camp to protest clear cuts. Read more >>

In India, over a million volunteers planted 66 million trees in 12 hours, a world record, as part of the country’s commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement. Read more >>

Dutch city transforms bus stops into bee stops by planting bee-friendly plants on bus stop roofs. Read more >>

Extinction Rebellion plans to target five UK cities with civil disobedience in July to pressure politicians to take climate action. Read more >>

7,000+ universities and colleges around the globe declare a climate emergency and unveil a three-point plan for climate action. Read more >>

Doctors organize against the “cancer of climate change”. Read more >>

Climate action group sets up night road work sign with glowing messages such as “Global Warming At Work” on Houston, TX highway. Read more >>

Sunrise Movement unveils 7-week plan to turn up the heat to get Democrats to start treating the climate crisis like the crisis it is. Read more >>

Peace and nonviolence go hand-in-hand. Gandhi said, “means are ends in the making” and nonviolence offers us many ways to wage peace.

US House of Representatives passes bipartisan bill stopping Pres. Trump from launching an unauthorized attack on Iran, and limiting two powerful military powers laws (NDAA and AUMF). Read more >>

Afghan Peace Volunteers create video message about their interconnected dreams for peace and environmental justice. Read more >>

Italian dockworkers who refused to load Saudi Arabia’s weapons ship have a history of resistance … and their strike inspired other actions, with more possibly on the way. Read more >>

Activists occupied the roof of a UK-based Israeli arms factory in solidarity with Palestinians. Read more >>

Eleven international peace activists entered the Büchel Air Base southwest of Frankfurt, Germany on Friday to deliver a self-named Treaty Enforcement Order, telling the base to cease-and-desist sharing nuclear weapons, and declaring that the sharing of US nuclear weapons at the base is a “criminal conspiracy to commit war crimes.” Read more >>

Armed with spray paint, signs and banners, five nuclear abolition activists were arrested at the Faslane Trident nuclear submarine base in Scotland on July 7, the second anniversary of the adoption at the U.N. of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Read more >>

Two nuclear resisters were arrested on July 4 – “Interdependence Day” – after entering the Kansas City National Security Campus which manufactures nuclear weapons. Kabat poured red paint on the main entrance sign “to illuminate the insanity of nuclear weapons”. Read more >>

Here are a few stories about how people are engaging nonviolence and nonviolent action in creative ways for a wide variety of causes.

Cockatoo tears down anti-bird spikes in Australian shopping center. Read more >>

Hong Kong activists continue to protest extradition laws with a sticky note wall. Read more >>

US artist Nan Goldin protests the Sackler wing of the Louvre Museum in France, urging the museum to ditch the donors that profits off the opioid crisis. Read more >>

#AllOutDC use folding fans to drown-out the antagonizing comments of far-right media commentator. Read more >>

Half-submerged head of Donald Trump floats in France to send warning: everything is not fine and the US president poses a serious threat to the world. Read more >>

#RewriteBC revises historic and cultural landmark signs in British Columbia and releases the digital alternatives via social media to cut through colonialism. Read more >>

Artist covers billboards with photos of the landscapes they’re blocking. Read more >>

Church of Stop Shopping reports on creative actions for migrant justice, climate action, and banning glyphosate. Read more >>

Bottle of discolored water with label “Don’t Forget Flint, MI” stuck on store shelf next to bottled water cases. Read more >>

Novelist offers $2,000+ prize for thrillers that don’t feature violence toward women. Read more >>

Constructive Programs and alternative institutions build the strength and resilience of the community while weakening reliance on systems of oppression.

The #BikeReady campaign in NYC encourages bicyclists to organize disaster relief groups in their own communities before a disaster strikes. Read more >>

Performance artist Jaden Smith opens “I Love You” food truck to feed homeless population in LA. Read more >>

Michigan church partners with RIP Medical Debt to pay off the medical debt of 2,000 random families. Read more >>

In the field of nonviolence, people around the world are deepening their understanding of how nonviolence works to make change and wage peace.

“Soldiers Without Guns” film shows the story of Bouganville’s struggle to stop copper mining, militarized violence, and colonialist occupation. Read more >>

How social movements are the “invisible hand” of politics. Read more >>

George Lakey on how movements can use drama to seize public imagination. Read more >>

How US workers can win labor justice. Read more >>

Crystal Geyser bottled water company mistakenly sent an internal email to the press, revealing how community activism and opposition is working to stop and stall a proposed bottling plant. Read more >>

Here are a few actions and events requesting your participation.

Meta Peace Team calls for members for unarmed peacekeeping in the West Bank and at US-Mexico Border work. Learn more >>

Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions September 14-22, 2019, Everywhere. Host or join a march, rally, protest, or other event or action for a culture of peace and active nonviolence. Learn more >>

Oct 5th is a Day of Action Against Domestic Violence. Hold or join a 2-min die-in protest. Learn more >>

Activist/Author Rivera Sun is a nationwide speaker and trainer in strategy for nonviolent movements. She is the author of nine books and novels focusing on nonviolence, including The Dandelion Insurrection, The Roots of Resistance, and The Way Between. For four years, she cohosted nationally-syndicated radio programs on nonviolent struggle. Rivera Sun has worked for Campaign Nonviolence, Metta Center for Nonviolence, and Nonviolence Now, among other groups. Find out more about her work at: www.riverasun.com

View more on Rivera Sun's website »

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Published on July 18, 2019 13:16

July 10, 2019

Nonviolence News: Inspiring Action

Photo credit of opening image: Citizens celebrate in Khartoum, Sudan, Friday after the military council announced an agreement with protest leaders to share power until elections are held in three years. Photo by Marwan Ali/EPA-EFE

July 6th, 2019

Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun:

In this week’s Nonviolence News, you’ll find ten heartening victories! The migrant rescue ship captain in Italy was released this week when a judge ruled that she was not breaking the law. On the heels of that announcement, a second migrant rescue ship challenged the Italian right-wing interior minister by docking a second boatload of rescued migrants. This is a perfect example of why Nonviolence News matters: when we share the true stories of nonviolence, it inspires others to take action, too.

Don’t miss these stories (they’re my top editor’s picks this week): a Yukon First Nation replaced the punitive policing system with an Indigenous alternative. Sudan’s military agreed to meet protesters’ demands to share power with citizens as they prepare for the 2022 elections. Activists stuck fake spears in their backs to protest animal cruelty during Pamplona’s famous “Running of the Bulls”. Americans protested migrant family separation in their Independence Day parades (including yours truly). A Texan teen included a voting registration booth in her quinceañera celebration.

The list goes on. People from Kazakhstan to Hong Kong are using nonviolence in powerful and creative ways. Learn their stories. Share their news. Put their ideas to work for social justice in your own community. The more we use nonviolence, the more we inspire others to try it out, too.

Enjoy and share Nonviolence News!
Rivera Sun, Editor

Here’s what you’ll find in this week’s Nonviolence News:

Victory! Success Stories
Recent Actions & On-Going Campaigns
Nonviolence & Children
Climate Action
Peace Action
Constructive Program
Calls-to-Action

Nonviolence News shares recent success stories so we see and remember that nonviolent action is powerful and effective. 

Celebrations break out in Sudan as military and citizens agree to share power while preparing for elections in 2022. Read more >>

Italian judge orders release of migrant rescue ship captain, says that she was not breaking the law. Read more >>

Kenyan court revokes the license for the Lamu coal plant. The Lamu community has been fighting since 2015 to stop Kenya’s first coal-fired power plant being built. Watch the video >>

Insurance giant “Chubb”ends support for the coal and tar sands after an activist campaign put pressure on the company. Specifically citing the climate crisis, the company announced it will stop underwriting coal mines and no longer offer new policies to businesses that derive more than 30 percent of their revenues from the mining of coal. Read more >>

Citizen activists force Taiwanese plastic polluter, Formosa Plastics, to stop discharging plastic waste into Texas watershed. Read more >>

After two years of citizen action and legal action, Iraqi resident of Albuquerque, NM, who sought sanctuary from ICE in a church can now go home. Read more >>

After more than 15 years of pressure from frontline communities, advocates, market forces, and regulation, PNM (New Mexico power utility) filed to abandon the San Juan Coal Plant today. Read more >>

DC prosecutors, once skeptics, are starting to believe in restorative justice. Read more >>

Protests and controversy lead former governor of Michigan, Gary Snyder, to turn down Harvard position as a senior research fellow. The backlash raised concerns over Snyder’s support for emergency managers and the Flint water crisis, among other issues. Read more >>

Joining Illinois, New York bans private prisons. The state also divested its state funds from private prison corporations and passed a law banning state banks from financing private prisons. Read more >>

Around the world, people are launching nonviolent campaigns
and/or using principled nonviolence to transform their communities
and fight injustice. Here are a few recent stories.

Kazakhstan police detained dozens of protesters who took to the streets of major cities on Saturday to mark the 79th birthday of veteran leader Nursultan Nazarbayev by demanding he cede power. Read more >> Later, police jailed two mothers for harboring and distributing leaflets for protests. Read more >> And if you haven’t been following what’s going on in Kazakhstan, here’s a look inside the movements. Read more >>

Protests against incinerator plant rattle Chinese city. Read more >>

Hong Kong braces for more protests this weekend. Read more >>

As migrant rescue ship captain wins court victory, a second boat defies far-right Italian interior minister‘s attempt to stop the migrant rescue ships by closing the ports to them. Read more >>

Protesters take to the streets of Pamplona with fake spears stuck in their backs to protest the animal cruelty of the famous “Running of the Bulls”. Read more >>

Prague mayor refuses to deport a Taiwanese man, defying China (despite heavy Chinese investment in Prague) in “a rare case of a local politician defying the might of a global superpower.” Read more >>

How one US database is tracking police officers’ racist, homophobic, and sexists posts on social media. Read more >> This has led to the investigation of 25 Dallas police officers. Read more >>

Wikipedia founder called for #SocialMediaStrike actions slated for July 4 and 5th to highlight call for user-controlled data and a more decentralized system. Read more >>

Editor’s Note: This week, we continue our focus on the campaigns to end migrant family separation and child detention centers in the United States.

Massive US demonstrations against child detention being held in 75 locations on July 12th. Read more >>

20 ways you can support immigrant rights and help end child detention and family separation. Read more >>

170 actions nationwide take place to #CloseTheCamps and end migrant family separation. Read more >>

Jewish Americans shut down an ICE detention center in New Jersey chanting, “Never again means never again.” Read more >>

Bishop walks children across border in protest of Trump Administration’s immigrants policy. Read more >>

Wayfair workers walk-out raises rumors of a consumer boycott. Read more >>

Bristol, VT activists march in 4th of July Parade to protest migrant detention. Read more >>

Editor’s Note: My local activists and I also crashed our 4th of July Parade, marching down the street with a cage with cardboard children cut-outs. Dressed as Lady Liberty, I invited everyone to the upcoming July 12th “Lights for Liberty” vigil. See photos here >>

Activists protest outside Homestead Detention Center in Florida where migrant children, separated from their families, are being held. Read more >>

In an act of civil disobedience to anti-media rules, journalist Joaquin Castro photographs and videos the inside of a migrant detention center and releases the horrific, heartbreaking truth to the American public. Read more >>

Boston traffic halts as hundreds of protesters block the road for migrant justice. Read more >>

World’s largest solar farm starts operation in Abu Dhabi. Read more >>

Greta Thunberg and student climate strikers announce, “the climate crisis doesn’t go on summer holiday, and neither will we.” Read more >>

Barcelona mayor promises to restrict the number of cruise ships allowed to dock in the port and also oppose the airport expansion to stop pollution. Read more >>

Thousands march in Madrid to protest the revoking of a popular low-emissions zone law. Read more >>

Australian Indigenous activists drilled parliament lawns to show politicians what it feels like to be fracked. Read more >>

French activists protest at three Amazon corporate warehouses and offices in France over climate change impacts. Read more >>

10 ways farmers can fight climate change. Read more >>

Ohio plants roadside habitats for bees and butterflies. Read more >>

Peace and nonviolence go hand-in-hand. Gandhi said, “means are ends in the making” and nonviolence offers us many ways to wage peace.

Youth-led progressive US Jewish advocacy group #IfNotNow has launched a new campaign arm with the goal of bringing Israel’s brutal occupation of Palestine “to the forefront of the 2020 elections. Read more >>

Could a George Soros and Charles Koch think tank end “endless war”? Read more >>

Meta Peace Team shares their field report from unarmed peacekeeping efforts at the US-Mexico Border. Read more >>

Editor’s Note: Last week we shared a podcast interview with Patrick Hiller. For those who enjoy written formats, here is an article by him on the same theme. How creative citizen diplomacy can stop a US war with Iran. Read more >>

Constructive Programs and alternative institutions build the strength and resilience of the community while weakening reliance on systems of oppression.

Yukon First Nation dumps colonialism-style policing and replaces it with new method: no weapons, no charges. Find out why this system is making people sit up and pay attention. Read more >>

How Puerto Rican farmers are reclaiming Puerto Rico’s agricultural history by restoring a historic botanical garden to serve as an example of local and sustainable farming. Read more >>

8 principles to guide essential steps for transforming the economy to a life-sustaining economy. Read more >>

This effort brings oral history and personal narratives of those impacted by injustice into the classroom to tell their stories first hand. Read more >>

Texas teen’s quinceañera included a voter registration booth. Read more >>

Man builds Little Free Food Pantry outside his house to feed the hungry. Read more >>

Here are a few actions and events requesting your participation.

Rage Against the War Machine will hold a protest outside the White House on Monday, July 8th to remember the Gulf of Tonkin and call for an end to war. Learn more >>

United States: July 12th is a National Day of Action to Close the Concentration Camps of child detention centers. Read more >>

Fellowships available for designing a civil resistance curriculum for high schoolers. Read more >>

Meta Peace Team calls for members for unarmed peacekeeping in the West Bank and at US-Mexico Border work. Learn more >>

Oct 5th is a Day of Action Against Domestic Violence. Hold or join a 2-min die-in protest. Learn more >>

Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions September 14-22, 2019, Everywhere. Host or join a march, rally, protest, or other event or action for a culture of peace and active nonviolence. Learn more >>

View more on Rivera Sun's website »

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Published on July 10, 2019 13:35

June 29, 2019

Nonviolence News: For the Love of the Children, End Migrant Detention

June 29th, 2019

Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun:

In this week’s Nonviolence News, Europeans are rising up for climate justice. Pashtuns are protesting Pakistan’s war crimes. Czechs are demonstrating against their prime minister. In the United States, reports on the horrific conditions in migrant detention centers – particularly for children – have millions in an uproar. New York City and DC protests featuring children in cages helped to galvanize people into action. Japanese-Americans protested at the site of a former interment camp that is being converted to hold migrants. Employees of a supply company walked out of work in protest of their company’s profiting off human rights abuses. A national day of action (July 12th) has been planned.

Nonviolence News collects this long list of what’s happening in order to illustrate in a single glance (or a rapid scroll) just how much is going on all over the world. If you take a closer look, you’ll quickly find examples of strategic, effective, and creative campaigns. Over the weeks, the enormous scale of how nonviolence is used starts to sink in. In the past three months, we’ve shared over 700 stories!

In internal news, Nonviolence News is growing. This week’s big project is putting together a website. If you have skills with WordPress and some time to contribute, contact me. Not a web programmer, but want to help? Let’s connect. I have a short list of tasks that I’d love some support with! Thank you.

May we all learn and grow, together.
Rivera Sun, Editor

Photo credit of opening image: Families Belong Together March, 2018.
Image by Phil Roeder, Creative Commons License, CC2.

Here’s what you’ll find in this week’s Nonviolence News:

Victory! Success Stories
Recent Actions & On-Going Campaigns
Nonviolence & Children
Climate Action
Peace Action
Creative Action
Knowledge & Reflection
Calls-to-Action

Nonviolence News shares recent success stories so we see and remember that nonviolent action is powerful and effective. 

Illinois becomes the first state to ban private immigrant detention centers. Read more >>

Illinois legalizes marijuana, and, in a much-needed and important step, removes marijuana convictions from 770,000 citizens’ records. Read more >>

After more than two years of widespread debate and intense movement organizing against the power plant, state regulators on Thursday rejected a $1 billion proposal to build a gas-fired power plant in Burrillville. Read more >>

Mayor Deblasio announces expansion of NYC schools programs for social-emotional learning and restorative justice. Read more >>

Somerville, MA bans facial recognition software, becoming the second city in the US to do so. Read more >>

Portland, Maine rallies to show how to welcome and support refugees, immigrants, and asylum-seekers, providing a model for the country. Read more >>

Around the world, people are launching nonviolent campaigns and/or using principled nonviolence to transform their communities and fight injustice. Here are a few recent stories.

Czechs protest by the thousands against prime minister. Read more >>

Coalition of environmental and health groups deliver 150,000 public comments urging the US Environmental Protection Agency to ban cancer-causing glyphosate. Read more >>

2354 (and counting) actions and events planned during Campaign Nonviolence’s Week of Actions, September 14-22, 2019. The campaign rallies people to work toward a culture of peace and nonviolence, free from war, poverty, racism, and environmental destruction. Read more >>

Detroit, Michigan organizes community with 12th annual “Silence the Violence” rally. Read more >>

Editor’s Note: Usually, our “Nonviolence & Children” section is full of creative and heartwarming ways that people teach and practice nonviolence to/with children. This week, we’re running a special section on the campaigns to end migrant family separation and child detention centers in the United States. After recent actions in major US cities showed children in cages and broadcasted audio of crying children, the effort to end the abuses erupted again and has inspired many to take action.

Massive US demonstrations against child detention being held in 75 locations on July 12th. Read more >>

20 ways you can support immigrant rights and help end child detention and family separation. Read more >>

Wayfair employees walk-out to demand that their company cease supporting child detention centers and send all profits from a recent sale of beds to Raices, an immigrant justice group. Read more >>

Interfaith leaders block ICE office in Milwaukee. Read more >>

Highlights Magazine, a longstanding children’s magazine featuring morality and values as well as creative works, takes a public stance against immigrant family separation and child detention centers. Read more >>

People try to donate diapers and toys for children in detention centers. They were turned away. Read more >>

Japanese-Americans protest child detention outside former WWII internment camp. Read more >>

Here’s a list of all the corporations that profit off Homestead Child Detention Center. Read more >>

Germany’s “Ende Gelande” means “Here. No further”. This 5-year-old anti-coal action camp gathers every summer to pressure Germany to quit coal. Watch more >>

On hottest day in history, Paris climate activists tear gassed by police for protesting climate inaction. Read more >>

70 climate activists were arrested for blockading the street outside the New York Times’ office in Manhattan, NY. Part of the global Extinction Rebellion movement, they want the major newspaper to cover the climate crisis like the catastrophic threat that it is. Read more >>

Pink Floyd guitarist raises $21 million for a climate change charity by selling his guitars. Read more >>

Extinction Rebellion’s international climate actions blend visibility, creativity, and disruption for maximum effect. Check out recent events such as the Cannes Lions festival disruption, the Petroleo and Fueliet’ BP Screening action, RCA Fashion action, and the Natural History Museum alternative banquet. Read more >>

Sunrise Movement rallies outside of Democratic National Headquarters in protest of the party’s failure to host a climate change debate. Read more >>

Doctors call for nonviolent direct action over climate crisis. Read more >>

Another protester locks down to excavator equipment to prevent the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Read more >>

Peace and nonviolence go hand-in-hand. Gandhi said, “means are ends in the making” and nonviolence offers us many ways to wage peace.

Pashtuns protest Pakistan’s war crimes. Read more >>

Here’s how the United States can move away from the brink of war with Iran. Read more >>

22 peace protesters arrested by Bath Iron Works (Maine, USA) before warship christening ceremony. Read more >>

At an international gathering, the director of Portland (Oregon) Peace Teams shares key tips about how trust and nonviolence go hand-in-hand when working to de-escalate violent conflict in one’s community. Read more >>

8 peace activists arrested at Hancock Air National Guard Base protesting drone assassinations. Read more >>

What if the new US anti-war movement is right here, right under our noses? Read more >>

Human beings are endlessly creative … and nonviolence helps that creativity shine. Here are some bold actions that tap into art and creativity to make change.

German citizens, hearing that an alt-right festival was planned for their town, bought up the entire stock of alcohol in order to “dry up” the neo-Nazis and show them they were unwelcome. Read more >>

Artists alter junk removal billboard from “We make junk disappear” to “We make children disappear” signed by ICE.  Read more >>

“Refugees Got Talent” TV show aims to shift perspectives and stereotypes about refugees. Read more >>

Knitting website takes a stand against white supremacy . . . including in the Trump Administration. Read more >>

Here are a few recently posted articles that provide insight and reflection on the art and science of waging nonviolence. 

Rutgers University unveils new digital library of resistance manuals. Read more >>

How tech workers and flight attendants resisted immigrant family separation. Read more >>

Lessons from ten years of cooperative organizing. Read more >>

Understanding when repression helps or hurts movements. Read more >>

George Lakey on learning from 50+ years of LGBTQ struggles. Read more >>

Peace and happiness are tied to nonviolence. Metta Center explores the web of connections. Read more >>

Discerning right action on Nonviolence Radio. Read more >>

Here are a few actions and events requesting your participation. 

United States: July 12th is a National Day of Action to Close the Concentration Camps of child detention centers. Read more >>

July 1st, in anticipation of the Fourth of July, Rivera Sun offers webinar on “The Nonviolent History of American Independence”. 8pm ET, free, but registration required. Learn more >>

July 2nd Divest the War Machine organizing webinar. Learn more >>

Fellowships available for designing a civil resistance curriculum for high schoolers.Read more >>

Metta Center announces new online course on Nonviolence and the New Story. Learn more >>

Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions September 14-22, 2019, Everywhere. Host or join a march, rally, protest, or other event or action for a culture of peace and active nonviolence. Learn more >>

About Rivera Sun: Activist/Author Rivera Sun is a nationwide speaker and trainer in strategy for nonviolent movements. She is the author of nine books and novels focusing on nonviolence, including The Dandelion Insurrection, The Roots of Resistance, and The Way Between. For four years, she cohosted nationally-syndicated radio programs on nonviolent struggle. Rivera Sun has worked for Campaign Nonviolence, Metta Center for Nonviolence, and Nonviolence Now, among other groups. Find out more about her work at: www.riverasun.com

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Published on June 29, 2019 14:49

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