Rivera Sun's Blog: From the Desk of Rivera Sun, page 12

June 28, 2019

Nonviolence News: Knowledge is Power

How much can you learn from this week’s news?
Nonviolence News: June 23th, 2019

Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun:

This week’s Nonviolence News includes a robust “Knowledge and Reflection” section. These stories reflect the booming field of study around nonviolence. Scholars, activists, journalists, researchers, and movement trainers have been churning out articles that help us understand how and where nonviolence is being used. These kind of articles help us learn from the millions of people experimenting with nonviolence all over the world. They give us ideas for actions. They help us avoid disaster. And, they build a sense of connection between us and our fellow human beings as we apply nonviolence in our lives, communities, and world.

In this week’s news, you can learn about how Fearless Cities are transforming municipal governments to improve the agency and well-being of the citizens. You can learn from the 2015-16 Macedonian Revolution. You can peruse reflections on the turning point of the 1979 Shoreham anti-nuclear protest that mobilized 15,000 people. An article on Japanese protest debunks Western stereotypes about their culture. A book review of a new resistance book offer insights into how principled and strategic nonviolence are more alike than different.

In this and other ways, Nonviolence News is aimed at increasing our literacy around the many dimensions of nonviolence. There’s a lot to learn from the past . . . and from the present campaigns, projects, and movements using nonviolence. Each story in Nonviolence News offers ideas for how best to apply these lessons in our own lives and communities. It’s up to us to study, learn, and put them to good use.

Enjoy! And thank you for sharing this enewsletter with a friend this week. That’s how we build a culture of nonviolence, together.
Rivera Sun, Editor

Photo credit of opening image: Activists run towards the Garzweiler open-cast mine. The protests for more climate protection in the Rhineland continue. (Photo: David Young/picture alliance via Getty Images)

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

Victory! Success Stories
Recent Actions & On-Going Campaigns
Climate Action
Creative Action
Knowledge & Reflection
Learn & Study

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

Ecuador legalizes same-sex marriage. Read more >>

Mass outcry and continuous picket line protests force Russian authorities to release arrested journalist. Read more >>

Court affirms that “Yellowstone is more valuable than gold” and blocks exploratory mining permit. Read more >>

Six smokestacks of a coal-fired Kentucky power plant came tumbling down in a cloud of dust. It was a controlled demolition, and a reminder that the days of coal power are ending. Read more >>

North Carolina denies water permit for Mountain Valley Southgate Pipeline, stalling the massive pipeline.Read more >>

Church works together to clear debt of members. Read more >>

Editor’s Note: Although the article does not mention the role of activists, citizens and employees have long pressured the Bay Area tech giants to be a part of solving the housing crisis in the region. Recently, Google committed one billion dollars to a variety of strategies aimed at resolving the lack of affordable housing. 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.

In Brazil, millions strike against Bolsonaro’s pension cuts. Read more >>

USA soccer star Megan Rapinoe refuses to sing national anthem before World Cup match. Read more >>

At White House gates, hundreds of religious leaders in the US demand Trump and his enablers “repent of their sins”. Read more >>

11,000 airport food service workers consider strike. Read more >>

Swamp creatures appear outside hotel where the governors of US western states met with US Secretary of Interior. The costumes protested the Secretary of the Interior’s support for polluting and extractive industries. Read more >>

#NoKidsInCages Movement demands an end to migrant family separation and immigration reform. Read more >>

Rainbow Ridge blockade activists arrested for trying to protect old growth redwoods. Read more >>

End Mass Incarceration Conference brings activists and celebrities to Atlanta. Read more >>

Christians surprise Pride Parade marchers with signs that apologize for anti-LGBTQ views. Read more >>

95-year old woman US veteran is on hunger strike for the people and children of Yemen, Syria, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela. Read more >>

In the United States, police are still murdering unarmed Black people. The #HandsUpAct seeks to make shooting a person with their hands up a crime … even for police. 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.

Hundreds storm an open pit coal mine in Germany, occupying it and shutting it down for climate justice. Read more >>

Pope Francis declares climate emergency in meeting with Big Oil execs. Read more >>

Indigenous and Canadian climate leaders tell Prime Minister Trudeau, “this pipeline will not be built.”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.

Editor’s Note: This photo was taken in 2016, but is recirculating on social media. Protester returns tear gas canister with tennis racket. Read more >>

Artist puts giant, 10-foot long heroin spoon sculpture in front of Oxycotin maker Purdue Pharma’s headquarters. Read more >>

UK activists disrupt “British Petroleum Portrait Awards” at the National Portrait Gallery in London, UK, with mock awards depicting activists around the world who are fighting the oil company’s extraction, pollution, corruption, and climate destruction. Read more >>

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

Fearless Cities guide offers advice on rooting out corruption and empowering people, protecting the vulnerable, and implementing participatory budgeting in local municipal government. Read more >>

Reflecting on the Macedonian Colorful Revolution of 2015-2016, and assessing what’s next. Read more >>

Editor’s note: This is a story from 2014, and the image is worth a thousand words. It’s a powerful example of nonviolence. This one woman on the Cheyenne reservation – in a wheelchair, no less – found the courage to halt a megaload truck carrying thousands of pounds of extractive mining equipment. Read more >>

The 1979 Shoreham anti-nuclear protest provided a turning point in the movement to stop major nuclear power plant expansion. Here’s what we can learn from the 15,000-person action. Read more >>

How faith and spiritual leaders shape movements for change. Read more >>

Resistance Studies professor Stellan Vingathagen’s book bridges principled and strategic nonviolence and expands its definition. Read more >>

The revolutionary concept of unity in diversity. Read more >>

Understanding Japanese protest and how it dispels popular Western conceptions of Japanese culture. Read more >>

Digging into the US strike wave: private sector worker strikes are still low. Read more >>

Here are some upcoming opportunities to learn more about organizing, nonviolent action, creative tactics, and nonviolent solutions.

Black Momentum, movement-building training August 22-25 in Durham, NC. Apply by June 28th. Learn more >>

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

Training in Restorative Justice by the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding, Gainesville, Florida, June 24-25. Learn more >>

Fierce Vulnerability Seabeck Conference, June 28-July 1st, Washington State. Learn more >>

New Delhi to host international conference on nonviolence education and training, December 2019. Read more >>

About Rivera Sun, Editor

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

About Nonviolence Now

Our sister project, Nonviolence Now, 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

View more on Rivera Sun's website »

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Published on June 28, 2019 14:59

June 16, 2019

Nonviolence News: Hong Kong’s Shield Girl

Plus: Plastic Bags & No Flying Movements Grow
June 15th, 2019

Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun:

This week’s Nonviolence News features a new iconic image of nonviolence. The “Shield Girl” photo comes out of Hong Kong’s recent mass protests against the Extradition Law (to mainland China). A few weeks ago, we shared this story of 53 powerful photos of women in protest. Perhaps they need to add a few images! I’d say “Shield Girl” is #54; along with #55, the “Sudanese Statue of Liberty” in Sudan. They join the images such as the “Girl in the Red Dress” at Gezi Park in Turkey, Ieshia Evans in Baton Rouge facing down a line of cops in a flowing dress to protest for Black Lives Matter, the Indigenous woman kneeling with a feather at the anti-pipeline blockade with Elsipotog First Nation, Bree Newson on top of the flag pole dropping the Confederate Flag, and so many more. These photos capture the strength and courage of nonviolent struggle, evoking a different sense of “power” and the ways in which our human vulnerabilities can become our saving graces in making transformative change.

Nonviolence is full of surprises. Two years ago, hardly anyone would have guessed that the effort to ban single-use plastics would be sweeping the globe. Or that the anti-flying movement might pick up enough steam to impact the European airline industry. Or that Extinction Rebellion would manage to break through the nonsense of climate denialism and silence powerfully enough to make even US Republicans break ranks over the climate issue.

In this week’s news, you’ll find lots of other great stories. US embassies worldwide defied President Trump’s ban on Gay Pride Flags to fly the rainbow proudly. A new study shows that arts education increases compassion, lowers bullying, and improves writing skills. Arizona jurors acquitted an activist who left jars of water in the desert for migrants. Mass protests continue in Haiti, France, and Honduras.

Thanks for sharing these stories far and wide. I hope they inspire you to pick up the many tools and practices of nonviolence and use them in your life,
Rivera Sun, Editor

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

Victory! Success Stories
Recent Actions & On-Going Campaigns
Racial Justice
Climate Action
Women’s Rights
Creative Action
Knowledge & Reflection
Learn & Study

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

Hong Kong’s leader, yielding to protests, suspends Extradition Bill. (Find other stories on this in the Actions & Campaigns section.) Read more >>

Extinction Rebellion’s tactics are working, piercing the bubble of inaction built by climate denialism. Read more >>

A Netflix show helped activists pressure the Central Park Five prosecutorLinda Fairstein. She relinquished her position on the boards of Vassar College and charities. Read more >>

Maine becomes first state to ban styrofoam. Read more >>

Canada bans single-use plastics, joining the growing global movement. Read more >>

Editor’s Note: “Poverty is the worst form of violence,” said Gandhi. Ending poverty, therefore, is an act of nonviolence. As are the many forms of systemic and structural changes it will take to end poverty. In this story, San Francisco lifted off a major barrier for poor people: suspended licenses due to unpaid parking tickets and traffic violations fines. Read more >>

New York City housing rights advocates win best tenants protection laws in 25 years. Read more >> However, wealthy property owners are pushing back against this victory … learn more here.

Arkansas shuts down mega-hog farm to protect the local Buffalo National River & bans future hog farming in the watershed! 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.

Millions of Sudanese join general strike in protest of military crackdown that left more than 100 dead. Read more >>

Sudanese suspend civil disobedience in exchange for the release of political prisoners. Read more >>

More than one million marched in Hong Kong against extradition to China law. Read more >> The police used violent repression of the protesters. Read more >> But, a powerful photo of a meditating young woman won millions of hearts and the nickname “Shield Girl” as she sat in front of a row of riot police with plexiglas shields. Read more >>

Massive protests paralyze Haiti, demanding president’s resignation. Read more >>

Youth movement in the Philippines calls for new People Power Revolution style mass actions to stop Duterte’s regime. Read more >>

What’s at the roots of the massive, two-week long (and counting) nationwide strike in Honduras? Read more >>

Using social media as resistance reporting, an Australian newsperson live tweets as Australian Federal Police raid the ABC News’ Sydney headquarters. Read more >>

Seeds of Resistance: Ponca corn planted in the path of the KXL pipeline on land donated back to the tribe. Read more >>

Atlanta, GA plans the nation’s largest food forest. Read more >>

Doctors and nurses demand the American Medical Association get out of the way of Medicare For All legislation. Read more >>

US activist who left water in the desert for migrants on the US-Mexico border is acquitted by hung jury. Read more >>

Wabanaki Water Walkers march from New Brunswick, Canada, to Maine to protect the water. Read more >>

US judge denies Cancer Alley marchers permission to cross bridges into Mississippi as they protest toxic plants. Read more >>

US Net Neutrality advocates protest on the anniversary of the repeal of Internet equality protections. Read more >> They also delivered 3.5 million petition signatures to US Congress. Read more >>

US embassies around the world defied President Trump‘s ban of gay pride flags, raising the rainbow flags and even using light projections to celebrate and support Gay Pride Month. Read more >>

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ plans to colonize space were put on the spot at a space tech conference by an animal rights activist protesting Amazon’s chicken suppliers. Read more >>

Activist walks from Sweden to Palestine to protest occupation. Read more >>

Iraqis prepare a Carnival of Peace as the US prepares for more war. 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.

Banner drops in NYC outside Grand Central Station call for justice for Eric Garner during “show” trial for the cop who strangled him. Read more >>

On Father’s Day, hundreds march to shut down migrant child detention center. Read more >>

Migrant child detention and family separation policy opponents protest at Homestead Detention Center’s hiring event, seeking to cut off access to workers. Read more >>

Chilling replicas of children in cages protest migrant detention and family separation on the streets of New York City. Read more >>

Latino doctor provides medical sanctuary for migrant fieldworkers. Read more >>

Teachers in Rochester, NY, work to divest pensions from private prison and immigrant detention centers. Read more >>

Cheyenne River Sioux tribe forces Trans Canada to leave their nation. Read more >>

Kroger – the US’ largest grocery store chain – agrees to phase out plastic bags, eliminating 6 billion bags per year. Read more >>

Two Greenpeace activists off the coast of Scotland stall an oil drilling rig bound for the North Sea, declaring a climate emergency. Read more >>

India commits to electrify 100% of its rail lines by 2022, paving the way for renewable energy-based rail transit. Read more >>

Anti-flying movement grows large enough to impact European airplane companies. Read more >>

Migrant justice is climate justice: four activists explain. Read more >>

Climate activism pressures US Republicans to break with climate denialism and call for conservative solutions to the climate crisis. Read more >>

Direct action shut down Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline in Minnesota. Read more >>

When people think of Women’s Rights, they think of abortion (see our editorial remarks on that subject in the May 25th issue), but Women’s Rights covers a much wider territory of issues. Here are a few stories on some of those themes.

“No More Stolen Sisters” plan 1200 mile ride to highlight the need for action on Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women. Read more >>

Indigenous communities show the way forward in dealing with toxic masculinity. Read more >>

Women across Switzerland go on strike for equal rights. Read more >>

40 state and local prosecutors say they won’t enforce abortion bans. 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.

British Columbia grocery store prints embarrassing ads on plastic bags to nudge people to choose the non-plastic options. The bags say, “Colon Care Co-op” and “Wart Ointment” to discourage people from wanting to carry them. Read more >>

Study discovers that arts education not only boosts writing scores, it increases compassion and reduces bullying. (Editor’s Note: And, thus, increases nonviolence.) Read more >>

US veteran Rudy Stolfer “drums for a cause” from coast to coast to call attention to the dire need for climate action. Read more >>

This group converts retired school buses into tiny homes for the unhoused. Read more >>

Gaza artist transforms destroyed homes with murals. Read more >>

Father of slain Parkland High School shooting teen creates “Museum of the Incomplete” to show the loss of mass shooting victims. Unsent emails, lost sneakers, lost dreams: the exhibit mourns the tragedy of mass shootings. Read more >>

Faced with a ransom from hackers, the legendary rock band Radiohead instead opted for rebellion, releasing 18 hours of unheard material in an album online and donating the proceeds to Extinction Rebellion.  Read more >>

As the use of light projections as protest increases, so does the repression of them.  Read more >>

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

Nonviolence Radio explores: How does nonviolence work? Is it the opposite of violence? What is the purpose of an ideal in nonviolence? What about skepticism? Find these and other insights and lessons drawn from the theory and practice of nonviolence on this episode. Read more >>

The Paradox of Repression: how violence backfires against the person(s) that uses it. Read more >>

How Oxnard stopped a toxic power plant. Roughly 30 youth activists shut down a California Energy Commission (CEC) meeting in Oxnard by standing up and chanting “No more power plants; we say no,” until officials from the regulator and NRG left the room, local outlet VC Star reported. Read more >>

Why does ritual matter for social change? Read more >>

Freedom Summer of 1964 turned students into revolutionaries. Read more >>

Here are some upcoming opportunities to learn more about organizing, nonviolent action, creative tactics, and nonviolent solutions.

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

How to Create Social Movements: Momentum Training hosted by East Point Peace Academy, June 21-23, Oakland, CA. Learn more >>

Training in Restorative Justice by the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding, Gainesville, Florida, June 24-25. Learn more >>

Fierce Vulnerability Seabeck Conference, June 28-July 1st, Washington State. Learn more >>

Peace Power Training in Greece, July 26th-Aug 24th. Apply by June 10th. Learn more >>

New Delhi to host international conference on nonviolence education and training, December 2019. Read more >>

We appreciate your love. And donations; those help, too. Thank you.
Here’s where to make a donation.

About Rivera Sun, Editor 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

About Nonviolence Now

View more on Rivera Sun's website »

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Published on June 16, 2019 10:56

June 12, 2019

Nonviolence News: Courage in the Face of Danger

June 8th, 2019

Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun: This week’s Nonviolence News contains several heart-wrenching stories about the ways that those who oppose your movement’s goals can arrest, injure, and even kill your supporters. It’s a prevalent myth that using nonviolence means your opponents will use it, too. Unfortunately, that’s not true. Research shows that every movement that starts to succeed is met with repression – often direct, physical violence – but also with arrests, seizure of assets, intimidation and harassment. My heart stands with the brave Sudanese whose nonviolent sit-in to demand a democratic transition after they ousted their dictator recently faced a brutal crackdown by the military that killed at least 100 people.

But, since we’re on the subject of repression, it’s important to understand that even with these massacres, you are more likely to survive a nonviolent revolution than a violent war or armed insurgency trying to achieve the same goals. (To be precise, unarmed struggles have one tenth of the casualties of conflicts in which both sides pick up weapons.) I recommend reading about best practices for countering, managing, and making repression backfire as a movement. We’ll be seeing some of these ideas in practice in the coming weeks as global movements persevere in working for change.

Nonviolence requires courage. Dr. King called it “a way of life for courageous people”. Thank you for having the courage for this work,
Rivera Sun, Editor

PS I’ve launched a series of articles sharing lessons, tips, and best practices gleaned from Nonviolence News’ weekly enewsletter. Check out my most recent one, “Creative + Strategic = Effective Movements for Change“.

Two thumbs up for the kind souls who donated last week to support this endeavor. Nonviolence News is growing rapidly. We’re uplifting hearts and expanding minds from Tehran to Milwaukee, Stockholm to Seattle. We appreciate the love. And the donations. Thank you.
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
Racial Justice
Peace Action
Climate Action
Women’s Rights
Creative Action
Knowledge & Reflection
Learn & Study
Calls-To-Action

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

Finland commits to 100% carbon-neutrality by 2035 in one of the fastest transition targets ever set. Read more >>

Canada bans oil and gas drilling in Marine Protected Areas. Read more >>

British Columbia will ban the sale of gas-powered cars by 2040. Read more >>

Charlottesville, VA divests from weapons and fossil fuels. Read more >>

Vermont resident-owned affordable housing project turns 30 years old, showing that the model works. Read more >>

12 climate wins in the National Environmental Policy Act. Read more >>

The public health approach to reducing gun violence works … and the Bay Area is proving it. In the past decade, gun violence has dropped 30% – and studies show that it’s not due to gentrification. Read more >>

San Francisco, CA, votes to close juvenile jail, moving to alternatives that work better. Read more >>

New report shows that restorative justice for juveniles works better than jail time. Read more >>

The Bureau of Land Management no longer opposes an effort by members of the New Mexico congressional delegation that would ban oil, gas and other mineral leasing within a 10-mile buffer zone around Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Read more >>

In the wake of Round-up bans and cancer court cases, Costco announces that it will not sell Round-up this season. Read more >>

Anti-hate counterprotesters force GOP group to cancel alt-right event in Coeur d’Alene, ID. Read more >>

Citing cancer concerns, Mill Valley (the heart of US tech culture) blocks 5G. 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.

100 Sudanese pro-democracy protesters have been killed in a brutal military crackdown during a nonviolent sit-in. The movement had successfully ousted a dictator and is currently trying to prevent military rule during the transition to free elections. Read more >>

7 Zimbabweans arrested for attending a workshop on nonviolent struggle. Read more >>

Hondurans march against unemployment on third day of mass protests. Read more >>

March of the Mutilated of injured Yellow Vests protests police brutality in Paris, France. Read more >>

In France, the world’s largest Nutella factory is paralyzed by a labor strike. Read more >>

Students at Iran’s largest university rallied against mandatory hijab rules. Read more >>

US farmer and teacher starts her jail sentence for actions during a #ShutDownICE campaign in support of immigrant and migrant rights. Read more >>

Sports teams and groups of players speak out against Trump and refuse to go to the White House. Read more >>

Tens of thousands of people march against Trump in the United Kingdom. Read more >>

Brazilians take to the streets in mass protests. Read more >>

In the face of rising anti-Semitism, a solidarity campaign to get non-Jewish Germans to wear kippahs launches. Read more >>

Warsaw, Poland plans to hold its first Pride Parade despite hate crimes and anti-LGBTQ actions. Read more >>

North Macedonia holds its first Pride Parade. Read more >>

Rhode Island’s LGBTQIA+ community rallies to repudiate the hate of Bishop Tobin’s recent comments. Read more >>

Wisconsin Governor orders gay pride flag flown over state capital. Read more >>

Students hold sit-in at La Guardia High School to protest reduced focus on the arts. Read more >>

Oakland Public Library joins libraries around the country in ditching late fees, which have been found to disproportionately impact communities of color. Read more >>

Chuck Collins calls upon business grads to refuse to work for billionaires. Read more >>

Everytown for Gun Safety mobilized a Wear Orange Weekend to protest inaction around gun violence. Read more >>

After decades of organizing, a second US city has decriminalized magic mushrooms. Read more >>

Doctors and nurses to march on American Medical Association‘s Annual Meeting to end ‘rotten’ opposition to Medicare for All. Read more >>

Actors Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara march for animal rights. Read more >>

Nearly 100 animal rights activists were freed today, after being arrested by police in riot gear for carrying out a rescue mission and protest that involved 600 activists at the Reichardt Duck Farm in Petaluma, California. 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.

In Mexico, hundreds of Indigenous protesters demand the demilitarization of Zapatista territory. Read more >>

After the success of the #BlackMamasBailout, a Juneteenth (a traditional day of celebrating the emancipation of African-Americans from slavery) #FreeTheDads effort for Father’s Day launches. Read more >>

Milwaukee declares racism a public health issue and unleashes a unique approach to ending it. Read more >>

New York City students rally against school segregation, sitting on either side of the steps of City Hall by school to show that whites go to different schools than Black & Brown youth. Read more >>

Netflix series “See You Yesterday” uses sci-fi and STEM-themes to explore racism and police brutality, featuring two young Black protagonists who invent a time machine in order to save the life of an older brother. Read more >>

Around the world, people are using nonviolent action to de-escalate conflicts, intervene in brewing wars, and wage peace. Here are some of their stories.

On June 5th and 6th, 2019 veterans around the country took action to rally in support of the Veterans Healthcare Administration (VHA) and speak out against privatization and the roll out of the MISSION Act. Read more >>

Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis protest on Quds Day in support of Palestinian rights. Read more >>

Noble Prize winner calls for a boycott of Israeli physics contest. Read more >>

Students in the Philippines have an unusual graduation requirement: they have to plant 10 trees before they graduate. Read more >>

Protesters demand European Union ban public investment in fossil fuels. Read more >>

More than 350 students across the U.S. have signed up to use their graduation speeches as a climate justice call to action directed at lawmakers and older generations, demanding they do everything in their power to solve the climate crisis and protect the planet—but many students are facing censorship as they try to get their message out. Read more >>

“Climate Shenanigans” at California Democratic Party Convention pressure Dems to stop accepting campaign donations from Big Oil. Read more >>

Activists put the pressure on the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipelines in Virginia. Read more >>

Estonia launches global “Keep It Clean” campaign, building off a national success story of mobilizing 50,000 people to clean up garbage in the entire country. Read more >>

As grey whale deaths quintuple, the US declares a wildlife emergency to release funds for scientists to study the causes and ways of preventing future deaths. Read more >>

1000 kids in Humboldt, CA spent a day at the beach picking up trash, removing invasive species and forming a giant “Protect What You Love” sign for an aerial photo. Read more >>

Department of Transportation expands wildflower areas along Connecticut highways to help bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. Read more >>

Beyond Meat vegan foods company sees its shares values surge … this may be good news for climate activists making the connection between greenhouse gasses and animal meat production. Read more >>

#KuToo: Japanese women submit anti-high heels petition. Campaigners urge government to ban employers from forcing footwear on female staff. Read more >>

Muckleshoot Tribe member Rosalie Fish runs track races with a red handprint over face to raise awareness about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Read more >>

200-mile horse ride for Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women ends in South Dakota. Read more >>

In response to the abortion bans, Illinois passes a Women’s Reproductive Health Act. Read more >>

Protesters demonstrate in Times Square for “Abortion Without Apology”. Read more >>

US organizers call for a real strike – not a sex strike – to oppose abortion bans saying, “you want to restrict reproductive rights? Try producing without us.” Read more >>

UN Commissioner calls US abortion bans “extremist hate and torture”. Read more >>

Editor’s Note: Women’s Rights and Men’s Healing are interconnected. This gathering in Juneau, AK makes the connection between bringing together men to work on themselves and working to end violence and support community well-being. 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.

Creative action is the highlight of our recent editorial drawn from Nonviolence News, “Creative + Strategic = Effective Movements for Change“. Read more >>

Sudanese plan to unveil the world’s largest protest banner. It will be nearly 2 miles long featuring messages, art, and portraits of fallen activists. Read more >>

In narrative therapy, Maori creation stories are being used to heal. Read more >>

Italian village uses street art to fight depopulation. Read more >>

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

How one Inuit Community fought big oil and won. Read more >>

Art reveals how children suffering trauma experience war and violence. Time Magazine runs a story with pictures drawn by former child soldiers and refugees. Read more >>

Thanks to Campaign Nonviolence for reposting last week’s Nonviolence News. (If you have a blog or website, you can do the same. Please link back and let us know. Thanks!) Read more >>

Here are some upcoming opportunities to learn more about organizing, nonviolent action, creative tactics, and nonviolent solutions.

Peace In Action – Workshop with Scilla Ellsworthy at Findhorn. Learn more >>

How to Create Social Movements: Momentum Training hosted by East Point Peace Academy, June 21-23, Oakland, CA. Learn more >>

Training in Restorative Justice by the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding, Gainesville, Florida, June 24-25. Learn more >>

Fierce Vulnerability Seabeck Conference, June 28-July 1st, Washington State. Learn more >>

Peace Power Training in Greece, July 26th-Aug 24th. Apply by June 10th. Learn more >>

New Delhi to host international conference on nonviolence education and training, December 2019. Read more >>

Here are a few campaigns inviting your participation.
#

ImpeachTrump Day of Action on June 15th. Read more >>

Gaza Freedom Flotilla on the Chicago River July 18-20. Voices for Creative Nonviolence will join with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s US Boats to Gaza campaign with three days of Chicago actions that will include a Saturday July 20th mini-flotilla of kayaks, canoes and rowboats on the Chicago River. Read more >>

Code Pink peace delegations to Iran and Cuba. Read more >>

Sept 20-23, join peace activists in New York City for the “People’s Mobilization To Stop the War Machine.” Learn more >>

September 20th, 2019, join the global general strike for climate justice. Learn more >>

About Nonviolence Now

About Rivera Sun, Editor

View more on Rivera Sun's website »

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Published on June 12, 2019 14:39

June 8, 2019

Creative + Strategic = Effective Movements for Change

Image by pixel2013 from Pixabay

by Rivera Sun, Editor of Nonviolence News

If you want to make change, think outside the protest box.
It’s easy to get hung up on protests. We’ve heard about them, they’re highly
visible, and they’re relatively easy to pull off. The problem with protests is
that – all too often – they’re easily ignored. Creativity is key to making your
actions meaningful and memorable. Paired with a sound strategy, creative
actions can be unstoppable.

Strategy for nonviolent change is relatively
straightforward: we have to remove tangible support from the problem (think: boycott
the business, go on strike, walk-out of schools and workplaces) while putting
resources into the solution (think: worker-owned cooperatives, restorative
justice, solar panels, local food). Nonviolent struggle offers hundreds
of methods of action. Instead of relying on the same-old protests, perhaps
it’s time to unleash creativity and strategy by thinking outside the protest box.

Here are three campaigns that combined creativity and
strategy to make powerful change.

Rainbow Grandpa
Paints The Town, Taiwan, 2010-2019

Huang Yung-fu was relocated to a military settlement in
Taiwan after the Nationalist Party lost the struggle with China’s Communist
Party. Originally, there were 1,200 inhabitants, but over the years, people
moved away or died, eventually leaving Huang Yung-fu alone. To combat
loneliness, he began to paint colorful images on the walls of the buildings.
After years of painting, the brilliantly colored artwork covered much of the
town.

A decade ago, he learned that the Taiwanese government
planned to demolish the village. A local university got involved and the
students began to paint with Huang Yung-fu. They also developed a social media
campaign to fundraise to support the artwork and prevent the demolition. It
worked. One million visitors flock to the village each year, and the government
decided not to tear it down. Huang Yung-fu is now affectionately called
“Rainbow Grandpa”, is 97 years old, and still lives in his same
house.

Often times, community activists looking to prevent
development stage protests in front of government buildings, form blockades of
construction equipment, and launch boycotts and shareholder actions against the
development company. All worthy tactics, but the story of Rainbow Grandpa
illuminates the strength of a constructive strategy. By using creativity to
make the village unique and tapping into the art-tourism economy, this campaign
was successful in offering the government another – better – option.

Canadian
Artist “Copyrights” His Land to Stop Pipeline, 2014

Oil and gas companies wanted to build a pipeline through
800-acres of land owned by Alberta artist, Peter von Tiesenhausen. So, he
covered the earth with art such as a “a 33-metre-long ship sculpted with
willow stalks, winter ice forms, nest-like structures in trees, statuesque
towers and a “lifeline” or visual autobiography composed as a white
picket fence built in annual sections left to weather naturally”. This move protected his land under copyright
law. It also increased the remuneration for disturbance from $200/acre for crop
loss to $600,000 for a work of art. Peter von Tiesenhausen also started
charging $500/hour consultation fees any time the company lawyers called him.
In 2010, his copyright claim was still holding up in court and the oil and gas
company had backed away.

By using art and creativity, Peter von Tiesenhausen changed
the playing field. Instead of fighting the oil and gas company on its own
terms, he made them dance to his tune. He pulled the legal rug out from under
their feet by protecting his land with copyright law. When we’re facing
overwhelming odds and powerful opponents, the more we can shift the playing
field to serve our advantage and play to our movement’s strengths, the more
likely we are to win.

Do-It-Yourself
Campaign Stamps Harriet Tubman
on $20 Bill, 2019

In 2016, the US Treasury (finally) agreed to put the Black,
female, slave emancipator Harriet Tubman on the front side of the $20 bill,
relegating Andrew Jackson to the backside of the nation’s highest circulation
currency. But, in 2019, the Trump Administration backed off from the plan.

In protest, an artist, Dano Wall, crafted a stamp of Harriet
Tubman and released the 3D printing design into the public domain, calling upon
citizens to stamp the African-American woman’s portrait onto the $20
immediately. His goal is to stamp 5-10% of the bills in circulation, making it
difficult for the administration to ignore. He has raised $3,000 for charity
through the sale of the stamps and the design can be printed out by 3D
printers, which many public libraries have.

This strategy is a form of direct action, taking matters
into one’s own hands. It is similar to the lunch counter sit-ins of the 1960s.
By taking direct action, we make the envisioned world possible here and now.
This kind of direct action challenges the complacency of the establishment, upends
injustice, and actively asserts the solutions we propose.

The Take-Away

Each week, as the editor of Nonviolence News, I
report on 50+ stories of nonviolence in action. These stories are brimming with
creativity. The capacity of human beings to address conflict with ingenuity,
humor, and out-of-the-box thinking is staggering . . . and inspiring. In the
past month, I’ve covered stories of guerrilla
archiving climate data to protect it from conservative regimes, paddle-out
surfboard protests against Australian offshore oil drilling, and how “The
Ruths” ran a marathon for women’s rights dressed as Supreme Court
Judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg. On the US-Mexico border fence, a group of artists
are painting the world’s longest peace mural. In Sudan, amidst a nonviolent
revolution, activists are about to unveil the longest
protest banner (nearly two miles long) in the world. In Spain, faced with a
ban on street protesting, citizens created the world’s first holographic
projection protest. More recently, a German
circus has replaced live animals with holograms in a major step forward for
animal rights. Hollywood actors mobilized their star power (and checkbooks) to
end Brunei’s death penalty for gay sex by organizing a boycott of the Pacific
island’s hotels.

The stories are endless. When it comes to unleashing
creativity for a cause, nonviolent action is where it’s at. The very best campaigns
combine strategy and creativity in effective movements for social change.
They’re heartening. They’re powerful. They’re a balm for the soul . . . and
medicine for our world.

_________________

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. www.riverasun.com

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Published on June 08, 2019 10:51

June 2, 2019

Nonviolence News: The Student Climate Strikes Are Working

Nonviolence News: June 1, 2019

Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun: Often times, we ask ourselves: are we really making a difference? Does nonviolence “work”? Did anything actually change? The short – and long – answer is YES! In this week’s Nonviolence News, several stories highlight both small and significant changes that have come about because of nonviolent action.

A recent study shows that the student climate strikes are shifting people’s hearts and minds in regards to the climate crisis. Even more importantly, climate action is propelling people to change their behaviors, policies, and practices to more sustainable solutions. After decades of organizing, Washington banned fracking and Oregon’s state senate passed a fracking ban (the bill now moves to the House of Representatives). And Monsanto’s Round-up (glyphosate) is now banned or restricted in 17 countries … and the University of California campuses.

On another note, news headlines gave credit to the #MeToo and #TimesUp campaigns for the recall of the judge who gave a light sentence to rapist Brock Turner. #MeToo and #TimesUp were also responsible for researchers seeing the violence in the United States at a whole different level, propelling the US into the top 10 most dangerous places in the world for women.

And there’s so much more. As Margaret Mead famously said, “Never doubt that a thoughtful group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Pick up the tools of nonviolence. Get involved in a campaign. Organize for change. Practice nonviolence in your personal life. Apply it in your community.

Never doubt that you can make a difference,
Rivera Sun, Editor

Want more Nonviolence News? Support us! Thank you. 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
Peace Action
Climate Action
Women’s Rights
Creative Action
Knowledge & Reflection
Learn & Study
Calls-To-Action

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

Global investment in coal tumbles 75% in three years. (And yes, climate activists have a lot to do with this.) Read more >>

New Zealand passes paid domestic violence leave to support victims in the face of “horrifying” family violence rates. Read more >>

Facing international outcry, Nike cancels plan for “Puerto Rican” shoe design that rips off a Panamanian Indigenous design. Read more >>

#MeToo movement successfully mobilizes voters to recall the judge who gave rapist Brock Turner a light sentence. Read more >>

The climate strikes are working. A new study shows student climate strikes are shifting people’s hearts and minds … and actions. Read more >>

On May 8, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed into law a permanent ban on fracking and came out in opposition to two major fracked gas infrastructure projects in the state. Read more >>

Oregon Senate approves 5-year ban on fracking. (Next stop, the Oregon House of Representatives.) Read more >>

Glyphosate is now banned or restricted in 17 countries around the world. Read more >>

In response to student pressure, University of California announced a temporary, partial ban on the use of glyphosate – the active ingredient in Roundup and other weed-control products – on all campuses. Read more >>

#StopUrbanShield Coalition demilitarizes emergency preparedness program in California. Since 2013, this cross-community coalition has organized tirelessly against Urban Shield — a SWAT team training and weapons expo, that brought together local, regional, and international police to collaborate on, and practice, new forms of military-grade weaponry and tactics of state repression. Recently, they prevented Urban Shield from using disaster preparedness as an excuse to fund militarized police. Read more >>

Facing outcry from family members of Kent State victims and peace activists, CIA veteran Stephanie Smith steps down as chair of Kent State Memorial Committee. Read more >>

New Hampshire ends the death penalty. Read more >>

Communications Workers of America union stops Colorado and Alabama call center jobs from being off-shored. 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.

In Hong Kong, thousands commemorate 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.Read more >>

This community in North London is organizing for the housing it needs. Read more >>

Wave of creative protests threaten Kazakhstan’s elite ahead of elections. Read more >>

Anti-pipeline resisters launch concerted effort to stop the anti-protest laws. Read more >>

Dayton, OH counters hate with city-wide effort as KKK holds small rally at courthouse. Read more >> And when the Dayton rally was held, it had hundreds of counter-protesters to the nine KKK members. Read more >>

Appeals court recognizes that farmworkers have a fundamental right to organize. Read more >>

ADAPT activists protest cuts to Medicaid healthcare services. Read more >> Here are their demands.

In Kansas, protesters calling for Medicaid Expansion were thrown out of the state senate chambers, along with the press, and lawmakers turned off the lights and ignored the demands of the people. Read more >>

Church members pay off medical debts with RIP Medical Debt – a project that grew out of Occupy’s Rolling Jubilee concept. Read more >>

Around the world, people are using nonviolent action to de-escalate conflicts, intervene in brewing wars, and wage peace. Here are some of their stories. 

On Memorial Day Weekend, the US Army tweeted “how has serving impacted you?” Undoubtedly, they were imagining glowing stories. Instead, veterans turned the question into a truth-telling, tweeting back real, painful, and horrifying stories about PTSD, suicides, trauma, injuries, and more. Read more >>

On US Memorial Day, a journal in the UK ran a story about military service members who refused to participate in a massacre of Native peoples. Read more >>

Protection of Venezuela Embassy continues; opposition to US-backed coup builds. Read more >>

700 people attend Venezuela solidarity event in Berlin, Germany. Read more >>

Thanks to anti-draft activists, the US Selective Service is under fire again. Read more >>

With the risk of nuclear war very high, Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese speak to the Kings Bay Plow Shares on Clearing the FOG Radio about their direct action to prevent it and what you can do. Read more >>

ELLISTON, Va. — A grandmother has taken up residence in a tree in Montgomery County to protest the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Read more >>

Yellow Finch tree-sitters hold strong despite police’s attempt at eviction. The activists are blocking construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Read more >>

Hundreds of civil society organizations – representing an estimated 280 million people – came together this week for the International Day of Action Against Chevron. Read more >>

No-Flying Pioneers ask: could you give up flying for the sake of the planet? Read more >>

Food & Water Watch helped organize “March for Our Lungs: No Meadowlands Power Plant,” a youth-led march and rally in opposition to the massive fracked gas power plant proposed in North Bergen Township. Read more >>

The Green New Deal revolution. Read more >>

Although the recent US abortion bans – and opposition to them – have been making headlines lately, Women’s Rights covers an enormous territory that extends far past that issue. Here are a few stories on some of those themes.

US ranked #10 in the world for most dangerous places for women. Researchers say that data revealed by #MeToo and #TimesUp showed horrific problems of sexual assault and harassment.Read more >>

Netflix threatens to pull out of Georgia if abortion ban goes into effect. Read more >>

Feminist tool-kit highlights stories of resistance, resilience, and feminist realities. 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.

Palestinians use traditional dabke dance as protest in the Great March of Return to oppose Israeli occupation. Read more >>

Company creates benches that fold up into shelters and bear welcome signs for the homeless. Read more >>

Jacksonville, FL hosts “Increase the Peace” rap lyrics contest for youth. Read more >>

Rivera Sun speaks about the importance of Nonviolence News, peace literature, and changing the story of our culture on Chico Peace & Justice Radio.  Listen here >>

High percentages of incarcerated women suffer from untreated PTSD. One quickly expanding program is successfully using dance to help them move forward. Read more >>

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

The Bottom Line: Go For the Money. Rivera Sun reflects on shifting from political pressure to financial pressure when working for change. Read more >>

Maria Stephan, coauthor of Why Civil Resistance Works, examines the recent victories in Algeria and Sudan. Listen here >>

Self-care versus Community-care … what do we really need? Read more >>

Bolivia’s Universal Health Care System is a model for the world, says the United Nations. What can we all learn from this? Read more >>

Black women have long championed reparations. Here’s some of that history. Read more >>

Social change requires a multitude of approaches from visionary thinking to creative action to hard-core activism to advocacy and peacebuilding … take a mid-year change-maker assessment and see how you might need to balance out your actions … or even switch roles. Read more >>

Rebecca Solnit on the power of protest. Read more >>

How can movements effectively counter co-optation? Read more >>

Here are some upcoming opportunities to learn more about organizing, nonviolent action, creative tactics, and nonviolent solutions. 

Organizing for Social Change course being offered June 3 – 7, 2019, at the Summer Peacebuilding Institute. Learn more >>

Peace In Action – Workshop with Scilla Ellsworthy at Findhorn. Learn more >>

How to Create Social Movements: Momentum Training hosted by East Point Peace Academy, June 21-23, Oakland, CA. Learn more >>

Training in Restorative Justice by the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding, Gainesville, Florida, June 24-25. Learn more >>

Fierce Vulnerability Seabeck Conference, June 28-July 1st, Washington State. Learn more >>

Peace Power Training in Greece, July 26th-Aug 24th. Apply by June 10th. Learn more >>

New Delhi to host international conference on nonviolence education and training, December 2019. Read more >>

Here are a few campaigns inviting your participation.

Sixth annual Ponca Corn Art planting in the path of the KXL Pipeline on June 6th. Learn more >>

September 20th, 2019, join the global general strike for climate justice. Learn more >>

Nonviolence News’ sister project Nonviolence Now is on a roll!

These huge ads hit the streets of Rochester, NY, on public transit buses. The ads will circulate from now through the end of July, delivering a strong, visible message of nonviolence to the community. Nonviolence Now is thrilled to bring its virtual and online work down to the local level. Find out more about the many ways Nonviolence Now collects and shares true, inspiring stories of nonviolence in action at NonviolenceNow.org

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Published on June 02, 2019 12:42

May 26, 2019

On Memorial Day Weekend, Build a Culture of Peace

Can Peace Novels Make a Difference? You bet.
Build peace by helping Ari Ara’s new novel reach
thousands of new readers.

It’s Launch Day for The Lost Heir! It’s also Memorial Day Weekend. The sound of motorcycles rumbles in the distance. The RVs are lumbering up the highway. The barbeques are firing up for the season. And, the war culture is holding its ceremonies in honor of veterans and to glorify war.

To me, the best way to honor veterans is actually to end wars and build peace. One tangible way to work toward a culture of peace is to get a copy of The Way Between and The Lost Heir, give them to your friends, and put them in your local schools and library. Our culture of war props itself up with endless movies and books glorifying violence. Ari Ara offers an alternative. Her novels teach peace, challenge war, and show readers of all ages how to organize for change.

Find the novel and eBook here.

If we want a culture of peace, we have to take these kinds of tangible actions to change the stories we tell … and the stories we live. To do this, Ari Ara needs your help. We’ve been working hard to climb the Amazon ratings charts … and it’s working. Every book sold this week helps us break into the #1 New Release lists on Amazon. People searching for books on war and peace, anti-bullying, teen and young adult civil and human rights will see The Lost Heir. We’ve reached #1 New Release in four categories this week:

#1 New Release in War & Peace
#1 New Release in Teen & Young Adult Bullying Issues
#1 New Release in Civil & Human Rights for Young Adults
#1 New Release in Teen & Young Adult Politics & Government

Can you imagine a better summer read for a young person?
Help Ari Ara’s newest adventure reach more people.
Get a copy for a friend or your library. Leave a review.

Reviews make a world of difference. You are my NYTimes Book Review List. You’re my Siskels & Eberts. Word of mouth is still the #1 way people hear about my books. There’s a lot of competition out there. Books like the Hunger Games or the Divergent series have massive marketing departments working for them. You’re Ari Ara’s version. Your reviews can be short and sweet (1-3 sentences). Reader reviews really do make a difference when other readers are considering picking up my novels! Also, every review posted on Amazon gives us a little algorithmic boost, helping Ari Ara’s novels climb those charts and reach “beyond the choir” of peace activists. So, thank you for taking a few minutes to post a review on Amazon or Goodreads!

And, thanks for getting as excited about Ari Ara’s newest novel as I am. You’ll be tickled to hear that a couple of moms have reported spotting their kids playing “The Way Between” in the backyard. Isn’t that great?

Yours for the unfolding adventures,
Rivera

PS Have you heard about Nonviolence News? It’s my latest project. I collect 30-50+ stories of nonviolence in action each week. It’s amazing. Read this week’s edition here. And, here’s where to sign-up receive the FREE enewsletter of Nonviolence News. Also, I’ve started writing weekly essays, gleaning lessons for making change from the Nonviolence News. You can read this week’s essay, The Bottom Line: Go For the Money here.

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Published on May 26, 2019 13:55

Nonviolence News: Underground Strikes & A Village of Murals

May 25th, 2019

Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun:

This week’s Nonviolence News is a stunning reminder of the extraordinary diversity of what we call “nonviolence”. In Taiwan, a man nicknamed “Rainbow Grandpa” saved a village from being bulldozed for high rise development by painting every single building with murals. In Italy, dock workers refused to load a Saudi weapons ship headed for Yemen, stating that they wouldn’t be complicit in the war. In South Africa, miners are entering day four of an underground sit-in strike for improved wages.

These are all nonviolent actions; as is the halting of a British Columbia ferry to allow a bear to swim past. In Texas, an artist used a SandFest sculpture contest and an opportunity to make a political statement: depicting the Abraham Lincoln Memorial doing a forehead smack, the huge sculpture entitled “Liberty Crumbling” wound up winning first prize.

In other Nonviolence News, this week’s headlines posed an editorial challenge for me: how to cover the widespread nonviolent uprisings against the recent abortion bans passed recently in several US states. You’ll see my reflections in the new Women’s Rights section below.

Thanks for exploring the many dimensions of nonviolence with me,
Rivera Sun, Editor

Here’s what you’ll find in this week’s Nonviolence News:
Victory! Success Stories
Recent Actions & On-Going Campaigns
Racial Justice
Peace Action
Climate Action
Women’s Rights
Creative Action
Knowledge & Reflection
Learn & Study

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

Taiwan’s “Rainbow Grandpa” saves his village from being bulldozed for skyrise development by painting every single building in brilliant colors. Read more >>

Divestment win: Local group ‘Fossil Free Heidelberg” secured a win last Friday. The German city committed to never invest in coal, oil, or gas. Now the group is pressuring the university to follow suit, and developing plans to demand the local savings bank commit to not market funds that don’t comply with sustainability targets. Read more >>

In a move to cut down on global plastic pollution, 187 countries agreed to stop plastic waste from ending up in the ocean. Read more >>

Brazil’s highest court votes to make homophobia and transphobia a crime akin to racism and hate crimes. At least 141 LBGTQ persons in Brazil have been killed this year and mass protests have challenged the homophobia of Bolsonaro’s regime. Read more >>

British Columbia ferry stops to let bear swim past. Editor’s Note: remember the story about the highway that closed for salamander migration crossings? This is similar. Inside a seemingly innocuous story lies a profound shift to a nonviolent worldview: we halt our human schedules, our churning modern culture, to respect the rest of the living world. We save a bear’s life by not running it over with our ferry, because let’s face it: humans need vibrant ecosystems in order to live. Read more >>

Female Nike athletes speak out about lack of paid pregnancy leave. In response, Nike changed its policy. Read more >>

Billionaire philanthropist pledges to pay off all student debt of 2019 Morehouse College graduating class. Read more >>

San Francisco renames school after farmworker rights activist Dolores Huerta.

Social isolation is a public health issue in the United States (and other countries), leading to depression and suicide. This art museum engaged 186 senior citizens in building community and making art to counter this problem. Read more >>

San Francisco becomes the first city to ban facial recognition technology, and other cities may follow suit. Read more >>

100% of Washington State’s energy will come from clean energy sources by 2045, and more states are looking to do the same. 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.

In 2008, Seoul reduced inequality by implementing the Shared Property Tax System. This policy reduces fiscal disparities between the city’s 25 districts by redistributing revenue equally. Read more >>

80,000 Chileans march to legalize marijuana. Read more >>

Sami youth in Finland protest proposed Arctic Railway. Read more >>

Hundreds of Lebanese protest proposed pension cuts.Read more >>

South African miners on fourth day of underground sit-in strike.Read more >>

New Zealand fast food workers go on strike. Read more >>

Ireland bans right-wing US Christian minister who cheered over Orlando gay club massacre. Read more >>

Chicago gang members give peace circles a chance to stop shootings. Read more >>

Along with US teachers, healthcare worker strikes surge in 2019. Read more >>

Rockwool insulation factory resisters hold rally, vow to continue trying to stop the polluting plant from operating. Read more >>

80 people – including dozens of differently-abled persons – were arrested in DC while protesting for access to community-based services. Read more >>

After a year of shootings, Greenwood, South Carolina, forms the Coalition Advocating Nonviolence to help counter the violence. Read more >>

In 2017, a study found that shifting 5% of your shopping purchases could make a sea change on US inequality. Read more >>

Struggles for racial justice are happening around the globe, many of them using nonviolent action to achieve changes in policing, economic justice, clean and safe environments, immigrant and migrant justice, and much more.

First Nation hockey team wear jerseys with anti-racist slogans on them. Read more >>

Immigrants across the country are using hunger strikes to protest inhumane detentions.Read more >>

Burlington, VT Middle-High School students walk-out in anti-racism protest. Read more >>

An activist protesting immigrant family separation policies was arrested near Homestead Detention Center in Florida. Read more >>

Bikers bring 30,000 meals to migrants in detention center in New Mexico. Read more >>

Editor’s Note: This is an older story, but one worth re-circulating at a time when many are searching for ways to counter hate. This Black man convinced 200 KKK members to give up their robes and end their membership in the hate group. Read more >>

Around the world, people are using nonviolent action to de-escalate conflicts, intervene in brewing wars, and wage peace. Here are some of their stories. 

Italian Dock Workers refuse to load Saudi arms ship headed to Yemen, saying “We will not be complicit.” Read more >>

In the US, where war is permanent and on-going, activists are calling for a permanent and on-going anti-war movement.Read more >>

Activists to escalate peace action for Venezuela and Iran. Read more >>

Five Catholic Worker peace activists were arrested on Saturday, May 18 and spent the night in jail after an Armed Forces Day direct action at the Des Moines Drone Command Center. Read more >>

Building peace across Chicagoland: Henry Cervantes and the Peace Exchange. Read more >>

Naomi Klein and Bill McKibben endorse the call for a September 20th, 2019 global general strike for climate justice. Read more >>

Over 1600 climate strikes take place all over the world. Read more >>

Israeli and Palestinian teens strike for the planet together. “This is bigger.” Read more >>

Climate strikers cause traffic chaos throughout Melbourne, Australia, as they shut down streets for climate justice. Read more >>

‘Flame over’ for gas: activists blocked the 25th annual Flame gas conference in Amsterdam, which brought together over 500 companies in the fossil gas industry. Using a range of creative tactics, activists (aka gastivists) successfully shut down the reception on the first day: “flame over” for the gas executives. Read more >>

Petaluma, CA declares climate emergency. Read more >>

Patagonia redirects 10 million dollar tax break to climate justice movements. Read more >>

British Petroleum headquarters blocked by Greenpeace. Read more >>

Wabanaki Water Walk starts, headed to the Healing the Wounds of Turtle Island Gathering in Maine in July, raising awareness about natural gas and the need to protect the water. Read more >>

Yurok Nation establishes the rights of the Klamath River. Read more >>

Populist alliances of Cowboys and Indians are protecting rural lands. Read more >>

Faith leaders march in protest of Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Read more >>

Editor’s Note: This week, the headlines about the abortion bans in many US states gave me an editorial challenge. Many (including myself) feel that there’s no way to clearly categorize the abortion debate within the framework of violent or nonviolent. One could make the argument that an abortion is an act of violence. On the other hand, protecting fetuses with abortion bans causes systemic violence to women by denying them autonomy and reproductive health rights.

My editorial take is that the uses of nonviolent action to protect women’s rights to control their own bodies are worthy of coverage. The use of state power to control a human being’s body is an act of systemic and structural violence, akin to torture, slavery, the military draft, and the death penalty. A colleague of mine reframed the abortion debate by asking, “if it were your kidneys, and the state had passed laws mandating compulsory kidney donation, how would you feel about the law?”

I hope you are willing to consider this issue from many angles, and accept that it does not easily fit into the nonviolent/violent framework. So, what are the nonviolent options in the midst of these considerations? Nonviolence News contains an interesting suggestion on this note: a program in Colorado has shown that the best way to reduce abortions is with teen birth control and sex ed programs, not by banning abortions. Could it be that the way out of the abortion impasse involves solutions that both sides of the debate might agree upon?

Colorado proved that if you want to stop abortions, you should offer teen birth control. Read more >>

From Maine to Hawaii, hundreds of protests against recent abortion bans take place. Read more >>

Thousands of Handmaids take action in Canada. Read more >>

“The Ruths” run the Breaker to Breaker Marathon in defense of women’s rights and in honor of Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Read more >>

AirCanada announces direct flights from Alabama to Toronto-area Women’s Clinics. Read more >>

Across Atlanta, Georgia (USA), District Attorneys say they will not prosecute women for seeking abortions. Read more >>

Teen Vogue reports on how to fight back against the abortion bans. Read more >>

Editor’s Note: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women is an intersectional issue, involving the themes of Indigenous Rights, racial justice, women’s rights, colonization, and more. This week, I’m covering it in the Women’s Rights section to remind us that Women’s Rights is about far more than the abortion issue. You may also find these stories under the Racial Justice section.

A “Sea of Red” raises visibility on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Read more >>

Ponca Nation, Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes take the lead on billboard campaign for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. 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.

Nonviolence Now launches giant ads on a fleet of public transit buses in Rochester, NY. See the ads here >>

Rivera Sun releases second in young adult fantasy series featuring a nonviolent youth-led movement for social and environmental justice. Find it here >>

The race is on: In Dunedin, Wellington, and five other cities, organizers staged local ‘races’ where New Zealand’s top banks competed to become the first to go fully Fossil Free. They’re urging the banks’ real-life counterparts to do the same and stop funding fossil fuels. Read more >>

Actress Sarah Jessica Parker and Big Apple bookworms are fighting to save the city’s libraries from massive budget cuts with a creative online campaign that organizes people to post virtual sticky-notes in support of the libraries.  Read more >>

Spain builds gender justice by equality in Home Ec classes, gathering fathers and men to volunteer to teach skills such as cooking and cleaning to young men. Read more >>

With the US Treasury balking on putting Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, an artist released a 3D printable stamp of Harriet Tubman so citizens can stamp her image on the bills themselves. Read more >>

“Liberty Crumbling” sand statue depicting Abraham Lincoln Memorial doing a forehead smack wins 2019 Texas SandFest Sculpture Contest.  Read more >>

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

Vision is on the rise in US movements. Read more >>

Humor and Nonviolent Action: Not Just a Punchline. Article explores how comedy can provide relief and promote resistance in authoritarian environments. Read more >>

The food swap movement that began sprouting a decade ago from Portland to Philadelphia, is once again popping up in new incarnations around the country. Read more >>

High school activism is a thing. Find out some of its history here.

Here are some upcoming opportunities to learn more about organizing, nonviolent action, creative tactics, and nonviolent solutions. 

Organizing for Social Change course being offered June 3 – 7, 2019, at the Summer Peacebuilding Institute. Learn more >>

Peace In Action – Workshop with Scilla Ellsworthy at Findhorn. Learn more >>

How to Create Social Movements: Momentum Training hosted by East Point Peace Academy, June 21-23, Oakland, CA. Learn more >>

Training in Restorative Justice by the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding, Gainesville, Florida, June 24-25. Learn more >>

Fierce Vulnerability Seabeck Conference, June 28-July 1st, Washington State. Learn more >>

Peace Power Training in Greece, July 26th-Aug 24th. Apply by June 10th. Learn more >>

Thank you for supporting Nonviolence News with a donation. Here’s where to do so.

Exciting News from Nonviolence Now! Nonviolence News’ sister project Nonviolence Now has some exciting news! This week, huge ads plastering the sizes of city public transit buses launched throughout Rochester, NY. The ads will circulate from now through the end of July, delivering a strong, visible message of nonviolence to the community. Nonviolence Now is thrilled to bring its virtual and online work down to the local level. Find out more about the many ways Nonviolence Now collects and shares true, inspiring stories of nonviolence in action at NonviolenceNow.org

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Published on May 26, 2019 12:57

The Bottom Line: Go For The Money

by Rivera Sun

It’s rare to hear business magazines admit the power of nonviolent action. As the editor of Nonviolence News, a service that collects and shares 30-50+ stories of nonviolence in action each week, I often see business journals minimizing the effect of activism.

Usually, industry tries to conceal the impact nonviolent action has on their bottom line by chalking it up to market pressures — as with the case of Shell’s Arctic drilling rig. Business magazines credited falling fossil fuel prices with the decision to withdraw from drilling in the Arctic. Beneath that story, however, the reality was that hundreds of kayaktivists in the Shell No campaign blockaded the oil rig all the way from Portland, OR to Seattle, WA, to Alaska, eventually succeeding in stopping the drilling project.

That’s why I was glad to see an honest admission of activists’ impact in Newsweek recently. An article blared the news that a first quarter securities filing from private prison company GEO Group warned their investors that activism poses a risk to their bottom line. Due to widespread resistance to mass incarceration and the school-to-prison pipeline to nationwide outrage over family separation policies, private prisons and detention centers are facing the heat of a (rightfully) outraged public.

GEO Group’s admission offers an important reminder to activists: go for the money. Unlike politicians (whose risks are measured in two-four-six year election cycles), businesses measure their risks and profits every day, and report to financial committees every three months. The knowledge of how activists can impact industry is powerful, especially if used strategically. In Quebec, after learning how much money per day activists could cost a fracking company, an anti-fracking campaign drafted a plan of action, calculated the multi-million dollar price tag, and circulated that information to the press and shareholders. For years, the fracking industry stayed out of Quebec.

Shareholders and investors are particularly important targets for activist groups. Unlike industry professionals, their interest – and loyalty – lies with profit, not the industry itself. Shareholders are fairly responsive to activist campaigns, voting to halt or change company policy to respond to the demands. An on-going, decades-long campaign against Monsanto has Bayer shareholders screaming over the “nightmare” of the Monsanto merger as 500 protesters showed up to demonstrate outside the meeting. Potential investors watch the risks posed by public dissent and often withdraw from a controversial and embattled industry. The Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline led directly to three major banks pulling out the project and triggered a global wave of fossil fuel related divestments.

Divestment campaigns are powerful. Organized among colleges and universities, retirement and public funds, and religious and faith institutions; divestment campaigns pressure organizations to withdraw their investment funds from certain industries (ideally moving the money into more ethical and just investments). In 2015, the Earth Quaker Action Team won a campaign to stop PNC Bank from bankrolling mountaintop removal, getting them to divest from coal mining.

Beyond shareholders and investors, industry also faces myriad pressures from concerned consumers, organized workers, and suppliers with ethical concerns. Italian dock workers refused to load a Saudi arms ship headed to Yemen, stating that they refused to be complicit in the conflict. Tech workers forced Google to drop a major military surveillance contract called Project Maven. Over 6,000 Amazon employees called on Jeff Bezos and the company’s board to adopt a climate plan that will transition the company to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. Across the United States, strikes are on the rise: 2018 was a record-breaking year and 2019 is on track to exceed those numbers.

These campaigns are changing the face of industry far more effectively — and swiftly — than government policy, legislative changes, or regulatory enforcement. Citizens are finding creative and powerful ways to pressure business, target destructive practices, and stop abuses. Using the tools of nonviolent action, people have hundreds of tactics at their disposal. More and more, we’re seeing people put these tools and tactics to use as they strive for real change in our world. The bottom line of all these stories is: go for the money. With divestment, strikes, boycotts, shareholder action, and more, find strategic and creative ways to pressure business into taking more ethical, just, peaceful, and sustainable practices.

__________

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. www.riverasun.com

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Published on May 26, 2019 11:47

May 20, 2019

Ancestor Songs – an Excerpt from The Lost Heir

Note: This chapter is excerpted from The Lost Heir: An Unruly Royal, An Urchin Queen, and A Quest For Justice by Rivera Sun. You can purchase the book here. And find the eBook version here.

Hours later,
exhausted and happy to her bones, Ari Ara slipped through the side gate of the
House of Marin with Emir. Her feet hurt from dancing. Her cheeks ached from
laughing. The sound of the fiddle hummed in her limbs. The melodies of the
music jumbled into a medley in her mind, along with two words shouted over and
over by the urchins and orphans: Happy
birthday!

The first
well-wisher had been Rill, hollering it loud enough to cut through the cheers
and turn them into a chorus of chanting. The fiddlers wove the raucous chants
into a song as she struggled to hold back tears of emotion, overwhelmed. The
Fanten didn’t celebrate birthdays for the child, but rather birthing days for
the mother. At the monastery, no one had asked about her
birthday . . . and she wouldn’t have known what to tell
them anyway since she’d never known the exact date of her birth. Even earlier
this day, her duties as potential heir had dampened the fun she might have felt
on her first birthday celebration.

“Thank you
for everything, Emir,” she breathed fervently.

“You’re
welcome,” he answered. “We apprentices of Shulen have to look out for
each other.”

The black-haired
youth smiled and hugged her shoulders. A chill slip of wind ran through the
empty courtyard. Ari Ara tugged the edges of her black Fanten cloak tighter
around her frame. The sliver of moon emerged like a silver scythe between the
autumn clouds. At the door of the House of Marin, a member of the guard nodded
to them, his eyes sliding toward a glowing window near the training sands. Emir
followed the man’s gaze.

“Shulen’s
still awake,” he noted.

“Probably
worrying,” Ari Ara sighed.

Emir shook his
head.

“Don’t
forget how much he lost on this night.”

Ari Ara flushed,
chagrined to have forgotten. The heavy, mournful ceremonies earlier that day
had focused on the death of Queen Alinore, but Shulen’s wife and child had been
murdered on the same day by the mercenaries seeking the queen and unborn heir.

“I’ll stop
by and let him know we’re back,” she promised, thanking Emir again and
giving him a shove toward bed.

She crossed the
flagstones toward the lit window. The shutters had been left open and the
curtain flung back so Shulen could see them arrive. The glowing lamp
illuminated his room while the black night cloaked her, so she peered in.
Shulen’s quarters in the Capital were as sparse and tidy as at Monk’s Hand
Monastery. His lacquered trunk sat in the corner. A row of books lined a small
shelf. His battle armor hung on a wall next to a long painted scroll. A soft
blue rug covered the polished wood floor. A propped-open door revealed a room
with a sleeping mat. A fire blazed in the main room, and Shulen sat near it
with –

Malak.

Ari Ara blinked
in surprise. The Desert Hawk Keeper and Shulen conversed in low tones,
slouching in the manner of long-standing familiarity. The dark, angular man
leaned forward on his elbows and shook his head at whatever Shulen had just
suggested. The candlelight carved his bronzed features into a mask of
intensity. He rose and, to her alarm, crossed to the window. She ducked down,
leaning flat against the wall and holding her breath.

“I’m letting
in some fresh air,” she heard Malak say above her.

“Just mind
your words, the yard has ears,” Shulen cautioned.

“There’s no
one out there,” Malak answered, his voice muffled as he returned to the
table.

“There are
enough rumors circulating this island already,” Shulen grumbled.

“Ah
yes,” Malak agreed in a tone that rasped with dry irony, “I’ve heard
that you’re putting an imposter on the throne and that the desert demons you’re
in league with will be rising up any day.”

“Nonsense,
all of it,” Shulen dismissed.

“Not all of
it,” Malak answered with a chuckle, “but even without the rumors, I doubt
those nobles will confirm her.”

Ari Ara blinked
under the window, stung by the confession.

“It’s sheer
obstinacy,” Shulen grumbled. “Everyone can see she’s the spitting
image of Alinore and – “

” – Tahkan,
yes,” Malak interrupted, “and that’s exactly why the nobles won’t
confirm her. They’d never put his real daughter on the throne. That’s why we
have to be prepared to get her out of Mariana.”

Ari Ara’s jaw
dropped.

“You can’t
just whisk her away,” Shulen cautioned in a hushed tone. “The
Marianans will accuse you of kidnapping her.”

“She is
ours!” Malak retorted hotly. “If Brinelle had listened to Tahkan’s
message, she would be in the Desert now.”

“There’s no
point in trying to catch the river once it’s past,” Shulen answered
calmly.

“Maybe the
water workers should put credence to those rumors and rise up . . . just
to teach them a lesson,” the Hawk Keeper threatened.

“Don’t
unravel all the work your people have done in Mariana all these years,”
Shulen warned him. “If you must act, use the Way Between, not violence.
Even if you take her to the Desert, she is still the daughter of Alinore as
well.”

A stony silence
met his words. Shulen sighed.

“It’s
late,” he said to the Hawk Keeper. “You should rest.”

“Neither of
us will shut an eye until she’s back,” Malak refuted, shrugging his wiry
shoulders.

Shulen grunted in
agreement.

“Let’s go up
on the wall and keep watch for her,” he suggested.

Ari Ara heard the
sound of a chair being shoved back. Before she could be caught eavesdropping,
she rolled to standing and lunged to knock on the door. Her heart thundered in
her chest and her mind spun with what she had just overheard . . . an
uprising? The Desert People stealing her away? She scrubbed her face with her
palms to wipe away the shocked expression hanging on her features.

Shulen answered
the door with a worried scowl.

“I’m
back,” she said, squinting in the light and trying to look like she’d only
just arrived. “Emir said to stop by and tell you. Thank you for letting me
go, and . . . is that Malak?”

She blinked in a
show of innocent surprise as the man hovered behind Shulen’s shoulder.

“Let her in,
Shulen. The light draws attention,” Malak suggested softly.

Ari Ara scooted
through the doorway as they stepped back. Shulen shut the door and latched the
window.

“What are
you two doing?” she asked, hoping they’d include her in their confidences.

The two men
exchanged long looks. Shulen shook his head slightly. Ari Ara bit back her
groan. She knew that look; her mentor wouldn’t tell her anything.

“We’ve been
catching up on old times and painful memories,” Malak answered when
Shulen’s silence grew too long. “The Great Warrior and I knew each other
before the war, in happier times. I joined him tonight to keep vigil for the
lives lost on this night.”

She noticed the
altar set on the mantle above the crackling fire. Bright autumn leaves had been
laid out over a piece of fine desert silk. A portrait of two women leaned
against the wall. A row of candles flickered in front of the frame. The wax
pooled as the wicks burned low. Light flickered in gasps, sending the shadows
darting about the room. Each one, Malak explained, had been lit in memory of
the departed as he and Shulen passed the night.

“Is that my
mother?” she asked, pointing to the painting.

“Yes, and
Rhianne,” the men answered on the same breath.

The Fanten
Grandmother’s daughter stood beside a tall young Alinore. Ari Ara realized that
the beautiful white dress that fell to her ankles had been designed to reach
her mother’s knees. Rhianne, sleek and black-haired like all the Fanten,
reached only to her friend’s shoulder, petite as a child with a gleam of humor
and secrets in her dark eyes. Alinore hovered on the verge of a smile. A long
dark brown braid hung over her shoulder. The two stood on a ridge looking east
and west with shaded eyes. A burning sunset lowered over dunes and black
mountains.

“Looking forward, looking back,
two friends of the east,
came to the lands of the west.
There they met love and started life.
Where they walked,
the water flowed,
and green grass grew in their footsteps,” Malak sang.

For a moment, Ari
Ara saw the women treading across the sands, flowers and birds following in
their wake. Then a dry wind rode the desert man’s sorrow and swept the images
away, leaving only the scouring sands. Tears stung her eyes.

“Come,”
Shulen urged, “light a candle for your mother, and join us in remembering
something beautiful or true about her.”

He handed Ari Ara
a small wax candle.

“I don’t
remember her,” she confessed in a quiet voice. “She slipped into the
Black Ancestor River even as I rode its crosscurrents into this world. I’m
sorry.”

She turned to
give the candle back, but Shulen caught her hand.

“She loved
you, even if she barely saw you – and the Fanten Grandmother says she did,
holding you for a moment before she slipped away. Your coming was anticipated
and celebrated by all of us: Tahkan Shirar, Alinore de Marin, Rhianne, and myself.
We hoped for a girl who would be a friend for our daughter, but it was not to
be.”

Shulen’s eyes
deepened with sorrow. Ari Ara lit the wick from the flickering flame of the
candle on the end of the row. The light blazed. The wax glowed. Another small
gleam rose up to illuminate the portrait.

“Will you
tell me the stories of these other candles?” she asked the two men.

They exchanged
startled looks. Then Malak smiled.

“If not us,
then who, Shulen?” he murmured before turning to Alinore’s daughter.
“I will tell you what I know, and more than that, I will sing our desert
songs about her so you will see through the eyes of our ballads.”

Shulen nodded. He
pulled a third chair over and gestured for her to join them as he swung the
blackened kettle over the fire for a fresh pot of tea. The embers on the hearth
gleamed blue-black and hissing orange. Malak tossed a fresh log on. The wood
crackled. A shower of sparks leapt up. The dark-bearded man stared at the
hungry threads of flames. The steam entwined its pale fingers through the
silver-gray smoke rising from the wood. Silence settled on the room like a
frost, etched with unspoken words. Ari Ara shifted on the chair, sensing the
ancestor spirits gathering on the chill edges of the night. The row of candles
shivered. She thought she sensed the weightless touch of a spirit’s hand upon
her head. Malak closed his eyes in his carved face and drew breath.

Malak began to
sing a haunting and eerie tune. The scales of the desert songs wove in forgotten
half-notes and chords the riverlands had ignored for centuries. The melodies
played the harp strings of Ari Ara’s heart so evocatively, they snuck like
thieves through the dark night and robbed the breath from her chest. She
blinked as a shape moved on the air. Shulen noticed her widening eyes and
nodded, pointing to an image that flickered in the corner as Malak sung the
first words of a saga ballad and the shifting desert sands rose visible. Ari
Ara gasped in startled wonder. The story in the songs came into sight, full of
shifting colors like the embers of a dying fire. Figures strode out of the darkness
for a flash of a second then dimmed as a new image emerged. Her mother rose,
young and beautiful, on the day she had first met the Desert King. Ari Ara’s
heart clenched in a tight knot as unnamable emotions swept through her wiry
frame, rattling her to the bones.

One ballad
threaded into the next in a never-ending saga, sung masterfully by Malak. He
lifted the melodies with great humility and reverence, as if he felt blessed to
have the songs play the instrument of his voice. Ari Ara stared at him, awed by
the sweeping mastery of the Hawk Keeper’s singing. His voice was not the
pitched perfection of the songstresses that performed at Brinelle’s evening
receptions. It was an expressive, utterly human voice, laden with subtlety and
humor, rich with emotion, captivatingly expressive, as if Malak had seen into
the soul of humanity and drunk the water of life, itself.

By dawn, Ari Ara
had seen visions of her mother journeying to the desert, falling in love, and
marrying. She’d witnessed the beauty of her two peoples coming together in
peace. She saw Shulen, too, whose hair had been as copper as hers, not gray as
it was now, and Rhianne, strange and different in her Fanten ways amidst the
nobility of Mariana and the fiercely proud Desert People. She saw Shulen’s
child, the one who had died along with her mother at the Battle of Shulen’s
Stand. The girl was laughing in the arms of her parents. Ari Ara’s shirt grew
damp with tears, yet her heart rose with the sun. She understood, at long last,
the beauty and the truth of their lives, not just the sorrow and grief of their
loss.

“A person who is remembered in Desert Song is never lost,” Malak said quietly as they bid her farewell. “We of the Desert have little in the ways of the material world, but we have riches of the spirit few here can even imagine. Go now, Daughter of our King, sleep, and dream in the songs of your mother.”

The Lost Heir - First EditionFirst Edition with Author Q & A. With all the fun of a sword-swinging adventure, but without the violence, The Lost Heir spins a spectacular story with strong female characters and powerful social justice themes. Young Ari Ara has been discovered to be the Lost Heir, the double royal daughter of two nations. When she learns that her mother's people have forced her father's desert people to sell their labor in exchange for water, she sets out on a quest for justice, 'armed' with nonviolence and love. Quantity: Price: $19.99

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Published on May 20, 2019 14:55

The Lost Heir Q & A with Author Rivera Sun

Rivera Sun’s novel, The Lost Heir: an Unruly Royal, an Urchin Queen, and a Quest for Justice, is now available in print and eBook formats on her website and all other online bookstores, including Amazon. Thanks for spreading the word! The following Author Q & A appears in the end matter of the First Edition version.

Q: Where did the idea for this book come from?

A: Where does any story come from? It’s a deep mystery. Mostly, I sit down and listen until an idea flashes past like a lightning bug on a dark night. Then I follow those little winking glimmers of inspiration until the dawn of a new novel arises.

The Lost Heir is a sequel, so I knew two things: Ari Ara would go to Mariana Capital . . . and she’d make trouble there! Beyond that,I was – and always am – fascinated by how people organize to transform injustice. As Ari Ara stepped into the world of the nobles, it was inevitable that she’d run into some issues around class, wealth, hierarchy, and exploitation. She’d be in a tricky position as the Heir to Two Thrones. Everyone would be both judging her and fighting to control her. But you know Ari Ara! She doesn’t respond well to being controlled. The thread of the water workers was a surprise development in the writing process.

Q: Why did you choose to make the water workers more like migrant laborers than slaves?

A: All forms of economic exploitation need to be critiqued, challenged, and transformed. In our contemporary times, we are grappling with the ways in which economic injustice propels immigration. Many are trying to turn back migrants at the borders without acknowledging or dealing with the systemic inequalities that fuel immigration. War, violence, and poverty are the drivers of immigration. Until we address those, people will always need to seek refuge in other countries than their original homes. By framing the water workers in the context of migrant laborers forced to exchange work for water, it helps us see the real life parallels that are happening in our world today. In the novel, the Marianan nobles sought to profit from cheap labor by forcing the Desert People to work for water. This, in turn, causes ripples of injustices that end up hurting the Marianan workers and fueling hatred and tension between the two groups. In order to resolve the conflict, both sets of workers have to understand the underlying causes of their conflict and find ways to address it, together.

Q: The Water Exchange forces Desert People to work for water. Where did this idea come from?

A: Water privatization is a rising issue in our world. People around the earth are mobilizing to stop the extraction for profit, and to protect the water. I chose to weave this into the plot to highlight how water is a human right and it causes cascading injustices to try to profit off water while denying people access to it. So many courageous communities are standing up to remind us that water is life, el agua es la vida, mni wiconi. In this fictional story, I wanted to draw attention to the importance of water as a social justice issue.

Q: In The Lost Heir, why is fashion such an important social justice issue?

A: Confession: I love movies with amazing costumes. But the fashion industry is full of sickening injustices. The ways our clothes are made are shocking. So, while I creatively invented a “language of fashion” for Mariana Capital, I also wanted to bring up some of the ways our love of clothing can create terrible working conditions for those who make our clothing. Ari Ara is a shero with a purpose, after all, and as she deepens her understanding of the Way Between, she discovers other ways to put it to use righting wrongs and ending injustice.

It’s important to question where
everything in our lives comes from. As much as possible, we should choose
things that treat people and planet with respect and care. Making these changes is not easy, but it can
be very powerful. When Gandhi was struggling for India’s independence, the
movement spun their own cotton, wove their own cloth, and wore it in a
traditional style. This provided economic employment for poor people, built
solidarity between the rich and poor, and deprived the British of a lot of tax
money and profit they were making on imported cloth. Fashion is often full of
injustices, but with some consciousness, it can also become a form of right
livelihood for many. This is exactly the shift that Ari Ara and her friends
encourage among the Marianans.

Q: The concept of honor, called harrak by the Desert People, offers guidance to Ari Ara as she’s navigating conflict. Will you explain that a bit more?

A: Yes. The Desert People have a word, harrak, that means honor, integrity, and dignity all rolled into one. To them, it is the most important thing to “have”, far more important that riches or nice houses. It is a guiding principle for their culture. We all have core principles – things like courage, love, honesty, respect – and they can give us strength and purpose as we take a stand for change. As Ari Ara learns about harrak, she integrates it into her understanding of the Way Between. These ideas give her guidance on how and when to stand up for what’s right even when it’s hard or when doing what’s right will get her into trouble. Harrak offers her a way to stay honest and humble while still lifting her head up with pride. It’s a powerful idea for all of us. All core principles are.

Q: Where did you get the idea for the tension between the street urchins and water workers?

A: Scapegoating is incredibly common in our world. We’re taught to hate other groups of people rather than look for creative solutions to our conflicts. The street urchins and water workers are both suffering from the Water Exchange, but instead of understanding that the nobles’ policy has driven the Desert People into Mariana, the street urchins fall into the trap of fighting with the water workers, who they see as having taken their jobs. Dr. King had a strong principle of nonviolence, to fight injustice, not people. I think it’s an excellent reminder that our “enemy” isn’t people, it’s their actions, behaviors, beliefs, and policies that are terrible. In so many of our conflicts, if we can learn to see past our prejudices to the root problems, we can find ways to work with unlikely allies to resolve the conflict in a way that works for everyone.

Find out more about Nonviolence Now at www.NonviolenceNow.org

Q: Why do you feel it’s so important to write about social justice issues?

A: All fiction deals with social justice issues. It’s just a question of who the author is writing for: the status quo or the leading edge of change. We need to learn to read with a critical gaze and to recognize that all stories are teaching us lessons. Those lessons may lead toward the exploitation of others; or they may lead us into action on behalf of equality, justice, and peace. A novel about a handsome prince is about class issues; generally, it tells the story that inequality is acceptable, even praiseworthy. I choose to challenge notions like that. Any time I set up an inequality in my books, you can almost count on the characters challenging those structures and world views.

Q: Which leads us to the last question: what’s coming next for Ari Ara?

A: No spoilers! I can only say that her adventure continues – and that she turns thirteen in the desert. Democracy, cultural understanding, women’s rights, and warrior cultures vs. peace cultures all show up as themes in her next book. (Wink)

If you
enjoyed The Lost Heir, spread the
word!

Most
of Ari Ara’s readers find her stories through word-of-mouth. You can help
friends and new readers connect to these great books in these ways:

Tell your friends.
Post about it on social media.
Review the book on your blog or favorite online bookstore.
Write a blog post about it.
Recommend it to your book group.
Suggest it to teachers and students.
Thank you!

Find the eBook version here.

The Way Between - Second EditionNote: This is the new cover version of the beloved book! Between flight and fight lies a mysterious third path called the Way Between, and young shepherdess and orphan Ari Ara must master it . . . before war destroys everything she loves! She begins training as the apprentice of the great warrior Shulen, and enters a world of warriors and secrets, swords and magic, friendship and mystery. She uncovers forbidden prophecies, searches for the lost heir to two thrones, and chases the elusive forest-dwelling Fanten to unravel their hidden knowledge. A wonderful story for our times! Kids, parents, grandparents, teachers, peacebuilders and activists all love The Way Between! Quantity: Price: $19.99

Stories of the Third BrotherThirty weeks, thirty original short stories by Rivera Sun AND a free print or ebook version when we publish the whole collection of 30+ tales. The Stories of the Third Brother are fictional folktales about Alaren and the Way Between. Inspired by true stories of active nonviolence and waging peace, each tale is enjoyable for people of all ages. Delivered once a week in a serialized e-format, these stand-alone stories are also great companions to Ari Ara's stories. Each folktale comes with a "real-life inspiration" referencing a piece of nonviolent history that lifts fiction off the page and into our lives! LEARN MORE>> Price: $25.00Price: $30.00

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Published on May 20, 2019 12:23

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