Being Water In A World On Fire

Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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