Rivera Sun's Blog: From the Desk of Rivera Sun, page 32

What if animals, trees, rocks, ecosystems are sentient?

Do animals have sentience? How about trees?

What about rocks? Or ecosystems?

In Billionaire Buddha, I tell a story about a man who makes a fortune from trees and then questions the morality of wealth, property, ownership, and an economic system that destroys people and the planet. The central character wonders how humanity can justify their oppression of other species, objectifying and exploiting animals, forests, prairies, oceans, etc. We have caused the extinction of so many species . . . and now we facing the looming threat of our own extinction through a climate-crisis caused by our own actions. At the root of many of our behaviors lies the denial of the beingness – and even sentience – of all living systems. India recently acknowledged the sentience of dolphins, awarding them “Non-Human Personhood” status. How might we live differently on this beloved Earth if we cultivated an awareness of the beingness of all things, and the possibility that all beings have their own forms of sentience?

“The meadowlark, the sequoia, the humpback whale . . . how can humankind maintain its arrogant delusion of superiority when confronted with the truth of every species’ beauty? Our scientists prove the language of the birds, the intelligence of the dolphins, the social structures of the bees, the use of tools by primates, the emotions of the elephants, the alteration of environment by beavers. Nothing sets humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom – except, perhaps, our penchant for folly. At that, our species exceeds all others.” – from Billionaire Buddha, a novel by Rivera Sun

 

Billionaire BuddhaBillionaire Buddha: from fabulous wealth to unlimited blessings, the price of enlightenment may bankrupt billionaire Dave Grant. Emotionally destitute in the prime of his career, he searches for love and collides with Joan Hathaway. The encounter rattles his soul and unravels his world. Capitalism, property, wealth, mansions: his notions of success crumble into dust. From toasting champagne on top of the world to swigging whiskey with bums in the gutter, Dave Grant’s journey is an unforgettable ride that leaves you cheering! Price: $19.99

Growing A Culture of Nonviolence!

Recent Talks & Travels Along the West Coast

Teaching the Two Hands of Nonviolence to a group in Oakland, CA w/ Fr. Louie Vitale, founder of Pace e Bene in the class. What an honor!

With Erica Chenoweth, Dariel Garner, Tom Hastings, Adam Vogal, and the Students United For Nonviolence at Portland State University

Last week, I traveled the West Coast, speaking at several events and offering a few workshops on nonviolent change. With former-CIA intelligence analyst (turned anti-nuke activist) Elizabeth Murray and anti-drone, peace activist Sr. Megan Rice, I spoke about US imperialism and militarism, and the need for pro-democracy movements in the United States.

In Chico, Chris Nelson at Riparia Farm hosted a Seeds of Change Workshop in a barn (yay!). I spent some time at the Metta Center with Michael Nagler and Stephanie Van Hook and friends. Miki Kashtan and I met in person for the first time and I boarded the train to Oregon at 11pm, wide awake with ideas about social change and nonviolent communication (Miki’s speciality). In Eugene, Tom Atlee of the Co-Intelligence Institute gave me stacks of literature and hours of thoughts to ponder. My Occupy Radio cohost, David Geitgey Sierralupe attempted to teach me audio file editing at midnight after a great visit, recording session, and vegan dessert. He woke me up bright and early for his famous pancakes (seriously, they were on the menu of a restaurant for years), which he generously veganized for me. They were, hands down, the best pancakes I have ever had.

The next day, I hopped on the train to Portland, OR, where I met Dariel. Together, we gave a presentation at Portland State University on Billionaire Buddha, income and wealth inequality, and using nonviolent action to change our situation. The students and professors were very attentive, engaged, and offered insightful reflections and suggestions. I was honored to be sharing the afternoon event with Professor Erica Chenoweth, an incredible researcher who coauthored a groundbreaking book, Why Civil Resistance Works. Erica’s presentation created a great framework of understanding for all of us, not just for the day of workshops, but for any changemaking or social justice work we might engage in. This event was presented by PSU’s Students United for Nonviolence, a truly wonderful group who has brought so much knowledge and organizing to their campus!

Speaking at the Beyond Violence event. Photo by Rev. Kate Lore

On Saturday, I spoke on a panel with Rev. Kate Lore and Terri Shofner at the First Unitarian Church’s Beyond Violence event (photo at top of email is from this event, taken by Kate Lore). I will pass on a tip to conference and workshop organizers: the coordinators of this event arranged for small group discussions (with prompts and questions) after the panel presentations and then after the workshop in the afternoon. This allowed participants to speak with one another, express their thoughts, reflections, and ideas on what was said, and engage with the material in meaningful ways. I sat with many of the small groups, listening, and found the discussions fascinating. If you’re ever planning a panel discussion, I recommend this format.

As we flew home, Dariel and I could see snow capping the Sangre de Christo Mountains all the way from Santa Fe to Taos. We are home for a few days, then I travel to Chicago on the train (which I always like to do if possible; the carbon footprint is sooooo much lower than airplanes) to present at DePaul University. (And no, this photo was not taken on the airplane with an outrageously good zoom. It is taken with my little point-and-shoot camera while standing in my driveway here in Taos, NM.)

Books have been flying out the door to readers across the globe. I just wrote in a recent blog post on Life of a Novelist, “As cold rain began to fall across the desert, I took a few moments to write cards to accompany books and novels going out to readers around the world! In New Zealand, I wrote to one person, your season is turning toward summer, while we are nearing winter – how beautiful and astonishing this beloved Earth is! I try to send personal notes to anyone who orders books from my website … since I rail against corporate tyranny, isolation, and dehumanization in my social justice and activism work, writing real notes (in cursive) from one real human being to another is a small act of building a beautiful, humanity-loving and life enhancing world.

Enjoy the rest of this glimpse into my life here.

I hope this letter finds you all well! It is a beautiful time of year, full of noticeable shifts and changes.  I am enjoying every moment’s uniqueness and deepening in my appreciation of life. Take care, enjoy the harvest, celebrate life, and wage peace!

Love and blessings,

Rivera

PS Chicago Workshop at DePaul University! Thursday, November 5th, A Workshop on Tools for Nonviolent Organizing & Social Change w/ Author & Activist Rivera Sun, 7:00-9:00 PM, DePaul Lincoln Park Campus, Schmitt Academic Center, Room 254 2320 N. Kenmore Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614 Rivera Sun is a novelist and agent for nonviolent change. She is a trainer and social media director for Campaign Nonviolence, the cohost of Occupy Radio, and co-founder of the Love-in-Action Network. Her most recent novels include The Dandelion Insurrection and The Billionaire Buddha. In her lively, invigorating speaking events, Rivera Sun connects the dots between the issues we face, relates stories from historic nonviolent struggles, covers groundbreaking new understandings of nonviolent struggles, and brings a pertinent and timely message to youth, elders, students, and ordinary, extraordinary people everywhere. Presented by the Peace, Justice, & Conflict Studies at DePaul University. For more information on Rivera, visit www.riverasun.com. For questions about the event, email pjc@depaul.edu.

Life of a Novelist … Rivera Sun in the Earthship House in New Mexico

Snow falling on the mountains!

The day begins with the sun rising over the Sangre de Christo Mountains, which stretch from the distant southwest horizon clear to the northeast corner of the round bowl of our sagebrush mesa. Snow clouds gather, grey and heavy, draping a mist over the mountains as the light slides into the glass bottle walls of the earthship house. In this style of architecture, you live with the earth, breathing with the rising sun and wind, opening doors and windows at midday, closing them as the long shadows of sunset draw across the mesa.

My partner, Dariel, and I meditate after he drinks his coffee in the morning. The delicious and bitter aroma of the slow-drip coffee entwines with the scent of the slender stick Japanese aloeswood incense as we sit quietly in front of our altar. The aloeswood is an indulgence for me, an annual birthday or Christmas gift ordered from Japantown in San Francisco. I once modeled for a bronze sculptor and karate master who would light a few sticks to set the focus and intensity of creative concentration … the incense reminds me of the importance of discipline and dedication (rarely my strong suits).

Puerh Tea, poured Gung-fu Style as part of my writing practice.

After meditating, I prepare my gung-fu teaware, sit down in my writing corner on a small wool carpet, sharpen a number two pencil, pull out the stack of scratch paper (left over from proofediting the previous book), pour the first round of dark puerh tea, and empty my mind.

Then the stories come.

The emerging new novel is surprising me.  Sometimes (as with Billionaire Buddha), I write a novel from the opening line to the closing line, with a few insertions of sections or deletion of chapters afterwards. This story unfolds non-linear, mysterious, revealing itself slowly and luxuriously, seducing me with its beauty, stunning me with its threads of metaphors and story lines. It sends me running to the Taos Public Library to thread my way through the stacks searching on intuition for subject matter pertinent to the themes of the book. Every novel and play I’ve written has sent me on many quests to the public library … I’m a fan of such places, and of the whole notion of a common source of information and inspiration. Library Books, a poem in Skylandia: Farm Poetry, tells the story of how my mother raised a cash-strapped family on weekly trips to our local library.

Rivera Sun in the Earthship House, Photo by Nova Ami

Breakfast becomes brunch (a luxury of semi-employed authors; we may eat beans and rice, but we have them on our own time!), a beautiful meal of rice, steamed vegetables, beans. Once, long ago, I began to eat vegan and have never looked back. The cow needs her muscles more than I do.

Today, we scurried around the yard gathering sagebrush kindling as the snow fell on the mountains over Taos. I brought in armloads of firewood for the small evening fire we occasionally light. (The earthship tends to maintain a comfortable temperature without any heating other than passive solar from the south facing wall of windows.) I cleared the graywater ditch of the summer’s accumulation of weeds and grasses, discovering that the wild plum trees and goji berry plant had grown two feet despite my utter neglect. I pulled the mullein plants out of the garden and washed off the dirt … mullein leaves (never the flower!) are good as a tea for winter coughs.

Applesauce, plum jam, pickles, and more!

We’ve been canning applesauce and plum jam from fruit grown at Taos Pueblo. I boil the jars on my wind-powered, electric hot plate. The gas stove would be faster, but someone’s watershed would get fracked and that’s not a price I’m willing to pay for my convenience. Besides, the tempo of the afternoon rolls by at a gentle pace while I listen to the rattling of boiling jars and manage the social media accounts for Campaign Nonviolence, where I share resources and inspiration for making change through the tools of nonviolent action, conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and so much more. Today’s daily inspiration in your inbox from Pace e Bene’s “This Nonviolent Life” quoted Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; but in the expert’s mind, there are few.” So, I applied my beginner’s mind to nonviolence and I also spent a few minutes signing up for the Metta Center’s new 8-week email course, Nonviolence for Beginners.

Billionaire Buddha is flying through the mail to readers everywhere!

As cold rain began to fall across the desert, I took a few moments to write cards to accompany books and novels going out to readers around the world! In New Zealand, I wrote to one person, your season is turning toward summer, while we are nearing winter – how beautiful and astonishing this beloved Earth is! I try to send personal notes to anyone who orders books from my website … since I rail against corporate tyranny, isolation, and dehumanization in my social justice and activism work, writing real notes (in cursive) from one real human being to another is a small act of building a beautiful, humanity-loving and life enhancing world.

Nighttime arrives with a howl of coyotes who sing as darkness falls and at moon rise. These incredible silver-furred creatures live just down the ridge from us and remind me to pay attention to the beauty of an impermanent, ever-changing, interconnected world. They have been gentle neighbors, chasing the rabbits out of our garden and enjoying the compost pile treats (such as apple cores from the recent applesauce canning project). They serenade the arrival of night like a mindfulness bell ringing in a distant temple, calling me back to presence with this Earth.

For this, and every moment of this life, I am grateful.

 

Rivera Sun in New Mexico

Rivera Sun is the author of The Dandelion Insurrection, Billionaire Buddha and Steam Drills, Treadmills, and Shooting Stars, the cohost of Occupy Radio, and the cofounder of the Love-In-Action Network. She is also the social media coordinator for Campaign Nonviolence and Pace e Bene. Sun attended the James Lawson Institute on Strategic Nonviolent Resistance in 2014 and her essays on social justice movements appear in Truthout and Popular Resistance. www.riverasun.com

 

Calling All Book Lovers! Billionaire Buddha is here!

Dear Friends,

It’s here! The First Editions of Billionaire Buddha arrived in the mail today … and they’re ready for readers like you! Order a copy through my website and I’ll tuck a special note of thanks into the envelope along with your signed copy of the book. It will take another week (at least) for the novel to be made available through the major online booksellers, so I highly recommend ordering directly from your favorite red-headed authoress.

Inside the First Edition, you will find the incredible, beautiful list of Community Publishers who supported the People’s Publishing Campaign last spring. At the end of the novel, you’ll find an afterword from Dariel Garner, the man whose life inspired Billionaire Buddha. You will also enjoy the reflections of Chuck Collins, a man who gave away a fortune in his youth, and has spent his life working to end income and wealth inequality. He writes about launching a movement for the 100% and inviting our brothers and sisters with wealth to come home to the human family. Powerful words from two men who have walked on either side of the great wealth divide in this country! I feel honored to share the real life stories of these two remarkable human beings who both decided that love and connection was worth more than millions of dollars.

“Rivera Sun has written a work of inspirational and transformational fiction!  Instead of a “rags to riches” story –Billionaire Buddha is a “riches to renewal” journey – reminding us that great wealth doesn’t buy happiness –and is also a barrier to deeper meaning, human connection, and personal liberation. An enjoyable read for one’s heart and soul.”

–Chuck Collins, senior scholar, Institute for Policy Studies, co-founder, Wealth for the Common Good & Patriotic Millionaires; co-author with Bill Gates Sr. of Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why America Should Tax Inherited Fortunes.

Early readers of the book have been sending me messages and emails about how moving they are finding the book. Below are some of the comments.

Carol Ranellone: Sad when I finished reading that I couldn’t continue to spend more time with this “Billionaire Buddha”! Clear and conscience look at our times and its dire need for a real change to heart based living.

Paul Hawley: I’m less than 20 pages from the end of the new book, but in an unfamiliar effect, it’s making me slow down and savor each page even more deeply than what’s gone before. I thought I’d be done days ago, but I truly don’t want it to end.

Rob Garvey: OK, I ordered one of the “early editions” of this. I got halfway through it. I then ordered a couple more for my a pair of friends. I finished the book. Then I re-read it. Yeah. I think the book is THAT significant. Really glad to see it in regular publication now. After reading this book, well, I can’t really look at the world and my place in it quite the same way again … Buy it. Read it. Share it with friends. And go beyond …

You’re invited to join the story! Read the book and send me your thoughts!Here’s where you can order a copy.

Much love to everyone!

Rivera Sun

PS: Here is the line-up of upcoming events! 

October Workshops and Events

Sat, Oct 17th, Creative Nonviolence: Peacemaking in the 21st Century, Oakland, CA, 8:45am-3:00pm, All day workshops with facilitators from around the country, and keynote panel with Sr. Megan Rice, Rivera Sun, and Elizabeth Murray. St. Elizabeth High School, 1530 34th Ave, Oakland, CA (walking distance from Fruitvale BART). Pre-registration $20; at the door $25; no one turned away for lack of funds. Includes continental breakfast and lunch. Questions and registration at oaklandcatholicworker(at)yahoo.com

Sun, Oct 18th, Seeds of Change Workshop, Chico, CA. 12:00pm-5:00pm, Riparia Farm Barn, 2300 Estes Rd., organized by Chris Nelson. Join us in a beautiful, comfortable indoor/outdoor space for an inspiring and connecting afternoon workshop on nonviolent action. This workshop will bring you hope, courage, and practical skills. Drawing from inspiring stories of nonviolent action, you’ll learn how to bring people together, create a plan, and become a vibrant part of the growing Movement of Movements that is sweeping across the nation and into our lives! Bring your friends, neighbors, elders, and students. Together we’ll explore how ordinary people can make extraordinary change! Donations accepted, no one turned away. All welcome. Contact Chris Nelson for location, and with other questions:  530-345-7590.

Thurs, Oct 22nd, Billionaire Buddha & Nonviolent Action to Address Income and Wealth Inequality. 3:00-6:00pm, Portland State University. Smith Memorial Student Union at PSU, Room 327. 1825 SW Broadway. Presented by Students United for Nonviolence (SUN). Rivera Sun will speak about her new novel, Billionaire Buddha, and lead a session on nonviolent strategies to address income and wealth inequality. This strategy session builds on Prof. Erica Chenoweth’s presentation from 12:00-3:00pm (Please contact PSU for ticket information. There are no tickets needed for Rivera’s session.) Former multi-millionaire Dariel Garner will also speak at the event. Dariel Garner is a recovering member of the o.o.1%, and the inspiration for the book, Billionaire Buddha. This is a full day of incredible speaking, learning, insights, and awakenings! Come join us!

(Personal note: I’m looking forward to presenting at Portland State University along with Professor Erica Chenoweth (pictured to the right), a leading researcher in the field of nonviolent civil resistance, and someone I am honored to call a friend. Erica’s work has deeply informed my own understanding of nonviolent action, and has been a source of excitement and empowerment for thousands of people.  Watch her amazing talk here. )

Sat, Oct 24th Beyond Violence: A Spiritual Journey 9:30am-2:30pm, lunch provided. First Unitarian Church, Portland, Oregon. Join people from all parts of the community for a day of dialogues, skill-building, and inspiration. Participants will envision a world beyond violence, gain practical training in moving beyond violence, explore the spiritual dimensions of leaving violence behind, and engage in small group discussions around violence. All are welcome! Free of charge or by donation. Featured panelists & presenters: Author/Activist Rivera Sun; Rev. Kate Lore, Minister of Social Justice, First Unitarian Church; Terri Shofner, Chairperson, Oregon Fellowship of Reconciliation.

October Travels and Fall Adventures!

Dear friends,

October holds many exciting adventures: workshops, speaking events, sit-ins, and bringing the Billionaire Buddha with me on the road! Oct 15th-ish is Billionaire Buddha‘s First Edition Release, Oct 17-24th there are workshops in the Bay Area and Oregon; Skylandia Farm Poetry is finding friends and fans; and there is also the tantalizing development of Dandelion Insurrection Nonviolent Action online courses.

Below is a schedule of upcoming events. If you’re in another part of the country and wondering how one gets a visit from Rivera Sun . . . it’s easy! Just contact me. I will be in Chicago in November and late January. If any of you are in Michigan and Wisconsin and want to schedule something while I’m around, I’ll consider braving the snow to get you.

Thank you to everyone who is enjoying Skylandia: Farm Poetry! I’ve heard remarkable comments from so many of you about how much you love the poetry, the world of Northern Maine, the tales of growing up on a farm. I appreciate it! If you haven’t read the book yet, you can order a copy of Skylandia here. The proceeds from this book go to support Skylandia Farm. Thank you!

Enjoy the story at the end of this newsletter about where the Billionaire Buddha is being read. It’s quite an adventure. I’m also looking forward to presenting at Portland State University with Dariel Garner, my partner and the inspiration for Billionaire Buddha. He has an amazing story to tell. One that will change our world.

One supporter Rob Garvey wrote: OK, I ordered one of the “early editions” of this. I got halfway through it. I then ordered a couple more for my a pair of friends. I finished the book. Then I re-read it. Yeah. I think the book is THAT significant. Really glad to see it in regular publication now. After reading this book, well, I can’t really look at the world and my place in it quite the same way again … Buy it. Read it. Share it with friends. And go beyond …

The books are being printed as we speak, and we should have them available on or near October 15th through our website. It will take longer for them to become available through the online bookstores. If you’re itching to get a copy, pre-order it directly from me. You can pre-order a copy here.

Much love to everyone!

Rivera Sun

October Workshops and Events

Sat, Oct 17th, Creative Nonviolence: Peacemaking in the 21st Century, Oakland, CA, 8:45am-3:00pm, All day workshops with facilitators from around the country, and keynote panel with Sr. Megan Rice, Rivera Sun, and Elizabeth Murray. St. Elizabeth High School, 1530 34th Ave, Oakland, CA (walking distance from Fruitvale BART). Pre-registration $20; at the door $25; no one turned away for lack of funds. Includes continental breakfast and lunch. Questions and registration at oaklandcatholicworker(at)yahoo.com

Sun, Oct 18th, Seeds of Change Workshop, Chico, CA. 1:00pm-5:00pm, presented by Chris Nelson. Join us in a beautiful, comfortable indoor/outdoor space for an inspiring and connecting afternoon workshop on nonviolent action. This workshop will bring you hope, courage, and practical skills. Drawing from inspiring stories of nonviolent action, you’ll learn how to bring people together, create a plan, and become a vibrant part of the growing Movement of Movements that is sweeping across the nation and into our lives! Bring your friends, neighbors, elders, and students. Together we’ll explore how ordinary people can make extraordinary change! Donations accepted, no one turned away. All welcome. Contact Chirs Nelson for location, and with other questions: 530-345-7590.

Thurs, Oct 22nd, Billionaire Buddha & Nonviolent Action to Address Income and Wealth Inequality. 3:00-6:00pm, Portland State University. Smith Memorial Student Union at PSU, Room 327. 1825 SW Broadway. Presented by Students United for Nonviolence (SUN). Rivera Sun will speak about her new novel, Billionaire Buddha, and lead a session on nonviolent strategies to address income and wealth inequality. This strategy session builds on Prof. Erica Chenoweth’s presentation from 12:00-3:00pm (Please contact PSU for ticket information. There are no tickets needed for Rivera’s session.) Former multi-millionaire Dariel Garner will also speak at the event. Dariel Garner is a recovering member of the o.o.1%, and the inspiration for the book, Billionaire Buddha. This is a full day of incredible speaking, learning, insights, and awakenings! Come join us!

(Personal note: I’m looking forward to presenting at Portland State University along with Professor Erica Chenoweth (pictured to the right), a leading researcher in the field of nonviolent civil resistance, and someone I am honored to call a friend. Erica’s work has deeply informed my own understanding of nonviolent action, and has been a source of excitement and empowerment for thousands of people. Watch her amazing talk here. )

Sat, Oct 24th Beyond Violence: A Spiritual Journey, Portland, Oregon 9:30am-2:30pm, lunch provided. First Unitarian Church. Join people from all parts of the community for a day of dialogues, skill-building, and inspiration. Participants will envision a world beyond violence, gain practical training in moving beyond violence, explore the spiritual dimensions of leaving violence behind, and engage in small group discussions around violence. All are welcome! Free of charge or by donation. Featured panelists & presenters: Author/Activist Rivera Sun; Rev. Kate Lore, Minister of Social Justice, First Unitarian Church; Terri Shofner, Chairperson, Oregon Fellowship of Reconciliation.

In September, Activists in DC read Billionaire Buddha for International Literacy Day Read-in!

In the photo to the right, activists outside the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in DC are protesting to stop FERC from issuing any new permits for pipelines. They are engaged in an 18-day, water-only fast, and simultaneously participating in International Literacy Day. As you can see, one activist, Jimmy Betts, is reading my newest novel, Billionaire Buddha. This is an advance copy, and the First Editions will be coming out on Oct 15th. Here’s where you can pre-order a copy.

Dandelion Insurrection Online Courses in Nonviolent Action in the works!

Ask and you shall receive . . . lots of feedback on your question. Hah! A week ago, I posted this on Facebook:

Question: if I organized an online Dandelion Insurrection Study Guide to Nonviolent Action session, would you do it? We would go through the eight sessions of the study guide, have conversations, share thoughts, strategize for your local issues, and build knowledge together.

83 likes, 38 comments, and a week later, the answer is overwhelmingly YES! So, I’m researching platforms and preparing an online course. Given the holidays and my touring schedule, these sessions will most likely begin in January. Stay tuned and read one of my novels while you wait.

If you’re excited already, and want to order novels and study guides, we do offer several Book Club Specials on my website. Sets of 6 or 10 are available and also The Dandelion Insurrection Study Guide to Making Change Through Nonviolent Action. Find them all here.

Dance the Body Possible

Every fifteen minutes, I leave my work behind and dance. For five minutes, I move, stretch, spiral, spin. I shake my body free of the tensions of typing and the linear quality of online work. I release the news, the calls-to-actions, the cries of human suffering. I leave it all behind and dance.

Like a snake shedding skin, the world falls away. For a few minutes, breath replaces thought. Balance rises as a dynamic force. I dance to remind myself of my humanity. It is a simple practice.

“You dance the body possible,” my poetic friend, Aarti Rana, told me long ago.

In motion, I uncover potentiality. In moving, I remember what is possible.

“Dance, dance, otherwise we are lost,” said famous modern choreographer Pina Bausch.

My gaze turns toward the challenges of this world. My eyes swell with tears of compassion. My heart moves into action. We are in troubled times. Our situation is dire. Dance, dance, or else we are lost . . . I weave my dance into my movements for change. Without it, we are lost.

“If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution,” stated Emma Goldman.

My dance knows no steps, no rules, no classic moves, nothing flashy. It is personal and improvisational. It ebbs and flows with the tide of my existence. It turns and tunes into the shifting seasons, the changing times. If I can’t dance the body possible, what good is this revolution?

Dance, dance, my friends. This dance does not belong to me. Movement is your birthright, your body’s gift of being alive. Stand up. Wiggle. Stretch. Feel silly. Confront awkwardness. (Guess what? I do this, too.) Find your body possible. Add your movement to the movement. Come alive to time and space and breath and hope and grace.

With love,

Rivera Sun,

Author of The Dandelion Insurrection

(The photo at right is from my dance and theater days. My red hair is in three foot long dreadlocks. I was so serious then. Hah!)

Rivera Sun Videos on Nonviolent Action

Rivera Sun shares these short ‘n sweet video clips, each presenting a single thought on strategy for nonviolent movements. Enjoy, and find all of Rivera Sun’s videos on Youtube.

 

 

Above: Rivera Sun, author of The Dandelion Insurrection, discusses one of the concepts from strategic nonviolent struggle that helped her craft the plot of the fictional nonviolent movement in her novel, The Dandelion Insurrection. Pillars of Support is a description of power and change making that originates with Gene Sharp and the Albert Einstein Institution. Adapted by War Resister’s International in the Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns, the model is also called “Pillars of Power”. For anyone thinking about how to make change in the world, it is a useful concept to analyze and understand deeply.

 

Below: In this two part series, Rivera Sun articulates a key dynamic of nonviolent movements: participation. In the second video, she shares a little trick to what makes nonviolent movements successful as they mobilize people into action.

 

New Release! Skylandia: Farm Poetry from Maine by Rivera Sun

Dear Friends,

Life is full of surprises . . . including this unexpected, delightful new volume of poetry: Skylandia!  As we eagerly approached the much-anticipated release of Billionaire Buddha, we had an opportunity to feature an afterword from a much-respected researcher and policy advocate in the field of wealth and income inequality. In the spirit of including this insightful message in the First Edition, we decided to delay the release until September 15th. (You can pre-order a copy here.) In the meantime, the wellspring of creativity never stops, and I am happy to share this new offering, Skylandia: Farm Poetry from Maine, inspired from my days on an organic farm located at the tip of Northern Maine.

Skylandia, as I say in my new volume of poetry, is a place “located at the crossroads of myth and reality”. It represents the realms of dreams and visions, the fantasies of children and the quiet hopes of adults. Skylandia began as a name for a series of stories my grandfather wrote on his typewriter for his grandchildren. In this looking-glass Kingdom of Skylandia, my cousins, siblings, and I tamed wyverns and rescued popover pans in time for annual festivals, pulled new princess-cousins out of lakes, and sailed on tugboats to study astronomy at far-off observatories. Each child had a counterpart in the mythic land that pulled out inner courage or creativity, and sometimes excelled in subjects that frustrated us in real-life. For instance, I was shy as a child, and my grandfather dubbed me the Lady Rivera, thinker of deep thoughts . . . and also gave me a talent for mathematics that could only be called mythological, given my performance in math class.

This blue flatbed truck is featured in a poem in Skylandia: Farm Poetry from Maine about Rivera’s grandmother, DeLores.

When I was thirteen, my family decided to start an organic farm in Northern Maine. We named the farm Skylandia, and began the muddy, sweaty effort of wrestling possibility from the realms of myths and dreams. We rototilled our first acre of farmland and planted potatoes. Our first harvest was stored in our garage. Over the first decade of farming, we would eventually cultivate ten acres of potatoes, along with another 30 acres in cover crop rotation, as well as tend raspberries and vegetables for our farm stand.

Today, wildness climbs the hills as the journey of our family has taken us far from that soil. This year, it seems many of our orbits are returning north, and new projects on the farm are underway. The time of release and transformation has revealed much about the land. Black bears ramble out of the back woods down to the raspberry slopes and get into mischief in the farm stand when no one is looking.

A beaver pond at Skylandia Farm. Rivera Sun writes about “Walking On the Edge” of a beaver dam in her new book of poetry.

The bald eagles fly from beaver pond in the cedar swamp down to the St. John River looking for fish. The meadow grasses rise tall and fragrant. The ecology shares beauties I never noticed as a hardworking teenager. My long sojourn through Vermont, California, and New Mexico has taught me to experience this land more deeply. Droughts, deserts, and dryness sensitized me to the gift of streams, ponds, humidity, and water that falls from the sky once a week.

Skylandia: Farm Poetry from Maine is a collection of reflections seen through the lens of daughter looking backward, forward, inward, and outward all at once. It is a series of brief, potent, literary portraits of those years. Since the time of harvesting potatoes and swatting at black flies, I’ve lived as a dancer, choreographer, actress, bike messenger, playwright, producer, rock climber, tea pourer, spiritual practitioner, nonviolent activist, novelist, radio host, essayist, social media coordinator, public speaker, and workshop presenter. The poems grow from the fertile ground of these experiences, giving rise to fresh insights and perspectives. They are humorous, sparse, beautiful, and thought provoking.

Visiting Skylandia on the most recent trip to Northern Maine.

The taste of pine forests and summer meadows should linger on your tongue as you read the words. You may find elements of your own journey reaching into the mythic and pulling dreams into hardscrabble reality.

It is an honor to share these personal stories with you, and may the words bring you joy.

Rivera Sun

 

 

Skylandia: Farm Poetry from MaineIn a collection of writings delightfully and aptly referred to as "farm poetry", author Rivera Sun reveals an intimate portrait of her days growing up on an organic farm in Maine. With wry humor and lavish precision, the words of this volume evoke the essence of pine forests, summer fields, cold snow . . . and the authenticity of a farm girl in Maine. Price: $14.99

Revolution’s Matchstick Catches Fire . . .

Dear Friends,

As you know, I am the author of a delightful little piece of fiction, The Dandelion Insurrection, which is winning friends across the nation. It is an eerily prophetic story, one which posited a mass surveillance system in a United States “just around the corner of today” months before our friend Snowden told us the reality of the NSA. The novel contained the line, “The United States is no longer a functional democracy”, before former President Jimmy Carter practically spoke those words verbatim to the international press.

And, The Dandelion Insurrection portrays a hidden corporate dictatorship and the nonviolent movement to end it.

In our real lives, we are witnessing the advance of the corporate coup. The latest slurry of acronyms (TAA, TPA, FTA, TPP, TTIP) spells out the coded story of the rise of corporate power over living, breathing people. The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) is still shrouded in secrecy, but one detail we know from leaked text is that a transnational trade tribunal will have the authority to overturn local, state, and federal laws as barriers to trade.

Gone is our right to clean water and air. (China doesn’t have them, so neither should US citizens – such regulations hamper corporations’ ability to compete.) Gone is the dream of living wages (third world nations don’t have them, and neither should Americans – it gets in the way of corporations finding cheap labor). Gone are consumer protection laws like GMO labeling (what a hindrance to getting consumers to eat the poison!). Gone are regulations on cancer-causing chemicals (having such laws in this country means corporations can’t compete with other countries that allow corporations to murder their citizens).

Gone is our right to self-govern.

Democracy has always been a hollow word in the United States. We have never seen a full constituency of citizens voting in our electoral system. We have never witnessed all of our people voting directly on a single issue that affects our lives. We have never broken free of the prevalence of the wealthy ruling over the poor. We have never experienced real democracy.

But now, let us be clear: a trade court full of corporate lawyers will rule over your life. They will decide how the world works, what laws stand, how our economies and societies will be regulated. The rich will grow richer; the poor will grow poorer. The planet will be destroyed for the profits of the wealthy. War will remain what it is: a way for defense contractors to blow up their inventory and charge taxpayers more money to replace it. This is what corporate rule has always created . . . and we can only expect more of the same.

When President Obama signs the TPP trade agreement, he is handing our lives and our nation over on a silver platter. When the politicians in Congress passed the FTA (Fast Track Authority), allowing them to renege on their sworn duties, they behaved as shamefully as all sell-out politicians who sign the agreements with tyrants, invaders, coup d’état regimes, and dictators. Think deeply on this betrayal.

The TPP may be signed this fall, and the TTIP (its Atlantic counterpart) will follow thereafter. This is the end of the United States. Our colonizing nation has been colonized by corporations and rich people – many of whom identify as transnational entities. Sovereignty has sold to the highest bidder. We, the people, are indentured to the power holding elite.

These may sound like strong words, but remember: politicians speak in forked tongues. A soft coup slides into place to the singsong assurances of the empowered. Truth, by contrast, is harsh, startling, shocking, and sometimes frightening.

But, truth is also liberating, empowering, invigorating. And the other side of the truth is that we have options. We can rebel. We can resist. We can do what people have always done in the face of tyranny: we can overcome it, overthrow it, end it.

Here are a few recommendations:

1. At the risk of blowing my own horn, but in light of the human need for inspiration, adventure, and courage, read The Dandelion Insurrection. The story is rather prophetic about corporate tyranny, as well as invigorating in regards to the courageous, spirited resistance of ordinary, extraordinary people like you. Which means . . .

2. Study nonviolent civil resistance. This type of strategic, soulful work has occurred all over the world. Let us become versed in the knowledge our brothers and sisters have gained. I’ve put some of this into The Dandelion Insurrection Study Guide to Making Change Through Nonviolent Action, and there are excellent downloadable resources from the Albert Einstein Institution: here.

3. Withdraw your support from tyrannical corporations. Why are we paying our oppressors to oppress us? Take off their labels. You aren’t cattle; you don’t need to bear their brands on your backs. Support Mom & Pop, community thrift stores, local business, local farms, your community members. When Gandhi struggled for Indian independence from British Rule, he literally had to get his fellow citizens to tear the British cloth from their backs and wear Indian spun fabric instead. Likewise, we must support people, not corporations; communities, not tyrants.

4. Join the growing Movement of Movements. Sign up for Popular Resistance’s free Daily Digest so you can follow the people-powered efforts that are already occurring. It will bring you knowledge, courage, and inspiration. Prepare yourself to boycott, strike, march, divest, and yes, go to meetings, get on conference calls, talk with people, and openly oppose business as usual.

5. Take time for reflection and deepening your understanding of how all of our issues are connected. Stop looking for the silver bullet and learn to see the whole system, lock, stock, and barrel, hand, body, person, factory, mine, transport, laws, economics, and societies.

6. Join the effort to block or overturn these trade deals. Right now, you can join the weekly National Resistance Calls. Thank you.

And lastly, as we say in The Dandelion Insurrection,

“Be kind, be connected, be unafraid.”

With love (and revolution from corporate tyranny),

Rivera Sun

Alligators & Nonviolent Action – Rivera Sun Spreads Seeds of Change on Florida Tour

Rivera Sun spots her first-ever alligator! Gainesville, FL

Author/activist Rivera Sun kicked-off her 40 city speaking tour by traveling through Florida for ten days, teaching nonviolence workshops, speaking about Campaign Nonviolence and building a culture of active nonviolence, connecting with local organizers, and reading from her novel, The Dandelion Insurrection, which depicts a nonviolent movement in a fictional United States. At each of the cities she visited, Rivera listened to local organizers describe the challenges and success stories of their efforts. Find out where Rivera will be next here.

In St. Petersburg, Bruce Wright, Green Shadow Cabinet member and co-director of the My Place In Recovery Drop-In Center, and organizer James Jones explained how the center’s eleven low-rent homes and drop-in facility provide a housing-first model that aids people in moving out of addiction and homelessness. The center and houses are run through the shared efforts of the occupants who cook, clean, organize, attend daily meetings, and run the affiliated thrift store. Rivera spoke with the community about Campaign Nonviolence’s three practices of nonviolence: to oneself, to each other, and to the whole world through the nonviolent movements for justice.

“This is a group who intimately understand the culture of violence – especially the systemic forms of violence that keep people in debilitating poverty,” Rivera observed, “and they are working together to create a refuge where the work of recovery, healing, and change can occur.”

In St. Pete’s, Rivera also spoke about strategic nonviolent action and how to build a culture of active nonviolence at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg campus, presenting a lecture to students in the morning and a public presentation in the evening.

Rivera Sun greets the Gulf in St. Petersburg, FL

In Tampa, Green Party organizer, Anita Stewart, arranged for an evening reading and book-signing event. Rivera Sun read from her novel, The Dandelion Insurrection, discussing the factual parallels to the fictional story and also contemporary movements for change. The next afternoon, she facilitated a workshop on Creative Nonviolence using exercises from her newly published study guide to nonviolent action, emphasizing the importance of what Gandhi called “constructive programs” in strengthening nonviolent movements. Held in the welcoming and friendly, Sacred Grounds Coffee House, this workshop engaged community members and local organizers in tools for taking action.

In Sarasota, the Peace Education and Action Center at the Fogartyville Media and Arts Center invited Rivera to kick-off their sixty-day Season for Nonviolence with an evening talk on Campaign Nonviolence and what a culture of active nonviolence would look like. The next morning, Rivera facilitated a three-hour training in “Social Media for Social Justice”, bringing the tools she uses to support Pace e Bene and Campaign Nonviolence online to a group of community members in Sarasota. Arlene Sweeting organized both events, and has been a long-term supporter of Campaign Nonviolence, hosting an Engage Study group, participating in the 2014 Week of Actions, and inviting John Dear to speak in Sarasota last year.

In Gainesville, Rivera spoke at the Civic Media Center on the theme of “Love In Action For the Times We’re In”. This event was cosponsored by the Civic Media Center, RealLife Scripts, and the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding. Afterwards, Rivera spent time with Heart Phoenix and Jeffrey Weisman, listening to their powerful work using inter-personal nonviolence to break down barriers between youth and law enforcement in their community.

Rivera Sun with Rich Hillwig, Orlando Light Brigade, Miguel Adams, Speak Up FL, and Beni Balak, Punkonomics Radio Show.

In Orlando, Rich Hillwig of the Orlando Light Brigade and Miguel Adams with Speak Up Florida worked with Rollins College economics professor Beni Balak and City Commissioner Regina Hill to present several workshops on nonviolent action to students and the general public, as well as hosting an Open House at the Speak Up office, and a two hour radio interview on the Punkonomics Radio Show. There is already conversation happening about a return visit for a weekend intensive in the fall. On-going statewide connections and collaborations were also fostered by Rivera Sun’s “Seeds of Change” tour and the Campaign Nonviolence network.

The final stop was in Coral Springs, a surprisingly multi-cultural suburb of Miami that participated in the 2014 Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions with their beautiful Silent Peace Walk organized by Piero Falci. This once-a-month event has been held for nine years, bringing people together and sparking numerous dialogues, initiatives, and

Rivera Sun with Maria and Piero Falci and Elizabeth Velez in Coral Springs, FL

public events for peace and understanding. In Coral Springs, Rivera participated in the Silent Peace Walk and inter-faith breakfast and dialogue. She also facilitated a transformative workshop on the three practices of nonviolence, emphasizing the connections between interpersonal nonviolence and the systems of structural violence that thrive on isolation, separation, and fear.

“My experience in Florida revealed that we are a culture in crisis – or perhaps a culture on the verge of necessitated breakthroughs and major transformation,” Rivera said, reflecting on the criminalization of the homeless, increasing poverty, student debt, police brutality, mass incarceration, income inequality, labor struggles, the formerly incarcerated who are denied equal access to voting rights, housing, employment, and social services; and also the rising sea levels that threaten to submerge much of the state of Florida, despite the political denial of climate change.

“The good news is that there is a rapidly growing willingness to connect the dots between our issues and work together. Creative responses to our predicament are erupting left and right. By the end of the ten days in Florida, I wasn’t telling stories of Gandhi and King. I was talking about what people in St. Petersburg are doing to break cycles of homelessness, or what the folks in Gainesville are doing to build bridges between police and youth. The movement is growing . . . and we’re learning from one another.”

Rivera Sun Dandelion Insurrection reading at Sacred Grounds in Tampa, FL

In every city, the organizers said increasing community participation would help their efforts. Each organizer could use another 10 organizers and another 100-1000 active participants.

“We spoke a lot about how to reach into the local community and build a culture of active nonviolence, a culture that does nonviolence as a way of life, not a response to a crisis,” said Rivera. “We spoke about how to excite, engage, and mobilize people. We also discussed how to develop and implement organizer training programs that take our friends and fellow activists and give them the skills they need to help organize for social change.”

Currently, the Florida organizers are working together to hold a statewide meeting in Orlando, FL sometime during 2015 to discuss strategies, solutions, and ways to collaborate. Initiated by David Gibson, a Campaign Nonviolence promoter, the gathering would give organizers that invaluable face-to-face time that can strengthen connections and collaborations. To find out more about the timing and details, please contact David Gibson at peacehome.campaigns(at)gmail.com

Rivera Sun will continue touring to an ever-expanding list of 35+ cities this spring, promoting Campaign Nonviolence and speaking about nonviolent action and her novel, The Dandelion Insurrection. To find out more about her tour and how you can join in, please visit her page.

Piero Falci and Rivera Sun swap a hug after the Silent Peace Walk in Coral Springs, FL

The following organizations and individuals were invaluable to the success of Rivera Sun’s visit to Florida: Campaign Nonviolence and Pace e Bene, David Gibson, Bruce Wright, James Jones, My Place In Recovery Drop-In Center, University of South Florida, Sacred Grounds Coffee Shop, Karen Lowman, Anita Stewart, Michelle and Joann Dalnoky, Arlene Sweeting, Peace Education and Action Center, Fogartyville Media and Community Center, Burt Kempner, Heart Phoenix, Jeffrey Weisman, Civic Media Center, Wild Iris Books, RealLife Scripts, the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding, Rich Hillwig, Orlando Light Brigade, Speak Up Florida, Miguel Adams, Sue Thompson, Global Peace Network, J.B. Callahan Community Center, Beni Balak, Rollins College, Punkonomics Radio Show, the Orlando Quakers, Piero and Maria Falci, One Planet United, Silent Peace Walk, Royal Palms Christian Church, Craig Watts, all the workshop participants, talk attendees, and many more.

Rivera Sun facilitating a strategic nonviolent action workshop in Orlando, FL.

Rivera Sun is the author of The Dandelion Insurrection, Billionaire Buddha, and Steam Drills, Treadmills, and Shooting Stars, the cohost of Occupy Radio, and the cofounder of the Love-In-Action Network. She is also the social media coordinator for Campaign Nonviolence and Pace e Bene. Sun attended the James Lawson Institute on Strategic Nonviolent Resistance in 2014 and her essays on social justice movements appear in Truthout and Popular Resistance. www.riverasun.com