Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun
The climate strikes stole the show for a second straight week. You’ll find the Climate Action section is full of my top picks on stories from the massive actions worldwide. The photo above is in Turin, Italy. This photo to the right is Montreal, Canada, which boasted the largest turn-out (that I’ve heard about) of 500,000 people. Is all this action making an impact? Yes. Last week, we reported on the University of California’s fossil fuel divestment decision. This week, banks worth $47 trillion adopted United Nations-backed climate principles. Amazon (the company) ordered 100,000 electric trucks. Researchers offer evidence that climate activism is shifting climate views in the United States. In other words, keep up the pressure!
But that’s not all that is happening in Nonviolence News this week! Palestinian women held a march against gender-based violence. Anti-government protests have erupted in Georgia, Bali, and Egypt. Brazilians protected LGBTQ rights at the nation’s largest literary event. And so much more!
Never doubt that you can make a difference.
People around the world are doing so, every single day.
Rivera Sun, Editor
Lead Photo Credit: Climate strike in Turin, Italy. A million people marched in cities throughout Italy. Photo by EFE.
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Here’s what you’ll find in
this week’s Nonviolence News:
Victory! Success Stories
Recent Actions
Climate Action
Peace Action
Constructive Program
Knowledge & Reflection
Calls-to-Action
Here are some recent successes brought about by nonviolence in action.
Hundreds of demonstrators at Brazil’s largest literary event, the Rio International Book Biennial, stood up against homophobia and government censorship earlier this month . . . and won. Read more >>
Banks worth $47 trillion adopt UN-backed climate principles. Read more >>
Climate activism may be swaying public opinion in the United States, a hotbed of climate denialism. Here’s the evidence. Read more >>
New York Times apparently listens when you cancel your subscriptions in protest. Editorial Board member Sarah Jeong says it reinforces inside dissenters who have previously been ignored or overruled. Read more >>
In a move toward lowering its carbon footprint, online giant corporation Amazon orders 100,000 electric trucks – the largest order for electric vehicles ever. Editor’s Note: Obviously, there’s so much more work to do. What kind of electricity will fuel these trucks? How will the company decrease the impact of its on-demand, 2-day delivery guarantee? This is a step forward, but it’s not the whole journey. Read more >>
A Bay Area group strikes a deal to buy largest privately-owned sequoia forest for $15 million. Now it needs to raise the money. Read more >>
First gas station in the United States converts entirely to electric recharging. Read more >>
Sandusky, OH, makes Election Day an official holiday – and funds it on their payroll by dropping Columbus Day. Read more >>
UCLA launches an interdisciplinary kindness research institute that studies – and fosters – the connections between acts of kindness, health, and social well-being. Read more >>
Here’s how people are taking action this week for a wide range of causes.
Protest season returns to the nation of Georgia. After a respite in August, anti-government protests have risen up again in Tbilisi. The protesters demand the resignation of the billionaire chair of the ruling party. Read more >>
Protests in Indonesia turn violent, leading to two protesters’ deaths and hundreds of injuries. The youth-led protests oppose amendments to the criminal code that would make extramarital sex illegal and a new law that weakens the country’s anti-corruption body. Read more >>
Hundreds of Brazilians protest after an 8-year-old girl is shot and killed by the police. Read more >>
Palestinian women march against gender violence. Read more >>
Egypt cracks down on fresh wave of protests against President al-Sisi. The government arrested nearly 2,000 people to prevent the protests from growing. Read more >>
Poor Peoples Campaign launches “We Must Do More” Tour in El Paso, TX. Read more >>
Scottish entrepreneurs go on hunger strike against Royal Bank of Scotland, claiming the bank caused their businesses to fail and demand fair compensation. Read more >>
Retail grocery workers call for a boycott of Fred Meyers over unfair labor practices. Read more >>
Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions shares photos and stories from thousands of actions to build a culture of peace and active nonviolence, free from war, poverty, racism, and the climate crisis. Read more >>
Chicago Teachers Union votes 94% to go on strike. Read more >>
1,800 Wilko (home and garden supply chain in the UK) Distribution Center workers announce date for walkout to protest a weekend work schedule that the workers say is unfair. Read more >>
Nonviolence towards the Earth is nonviolence toward humanity. Here are ways people are working to save the planet . . . and our species.
6 million people participated in climate strikes worldwide this week. Read more >>
1 million people in Italy turned out for the climate strike. Read more >>
500,000 people march in Montreal for the second week of Global Climate Strikes. A demonstration with tens of thousands was also held in Québec City, and mid-sized cities in the region boasted marches in the thousands. Read more >>
Greta Thunberg isn’t the only young, female climate activist you should know about. For starters, meet Autumn Peltier, Mari Copeny, and Xiye Bastida. Read more >>
Indigenous women travel 3,000 miles to save an Alaskan forest from Trump. Read more >>
Salish Sea Protectors occupy the Washington State Legislative Building in Olympia, WA. Read more >>
Mountain Equipment Corporation shuts all its outdoor gear stores during the General Strike for Climate. Read more >>
Borrowing tactics from Extinction Rebellion UK, US climate activists in DC chain themselves to sailboat blocking road. Read more >>
DC Climate Strike shuts down the capital with cardboard street blockades of flames and fire extinguishers. Read more >>
Australian student is the only person in her coal town to take a stand for the Earth. Read more >>
Climate artivisits paint stunning, blocks-long climate mural on a street in San Francisco’s financial district. Read more >>
Raging Granny locks down to Mountain Valley Pipeline. Read more >>
Peace and nonviolence go hand-in-hand. As Gandhi said, “means are ends in the making”. Here’s some recent peace news.
Report back from People’s Mobilization to Stop the US War Machine and Save the Planet in New York City. Read more >>
To save the planet, cut the Pentagon budget. Read more >>
Veterans for Peace take action nationwide and globally to connect the dots between war and climate. Read more >>
Peace Science Digest issues special reports on nuclear non-proliferation, and refugees and migrants.
In the struggle for peace in Afghanistan, is community engagement the key? This author and on-the-ground researcher thinks so. Read more >>
Constructive Program is a term coined by M.K. Gandhi. It describes campaigns that build new systems and solutions, empowering people to solve problems and build resistance community.
Under a Delhi bridge, this teacher offers school for 300+ poor children. Read more >>
In a new model of environmental cooperation, five countries are working towards the creation of the largest transboundary biosphere reserve in Europe. Read more >>
Herbalists & other plant-loving people are joining together to develop mobile apothecaries. This guide offers an outline on how to set one up. Read more >>
What’s in a seed? Vandana Shiva talks about the connections between peace, planet, and people in the global seed sovereignty movement and how we stop the newest wave of agribusiness assaults. Read more >>
We are fortunate to live at a time when there is so much knowledge about nonviolence available to explore. Here are some articles that invite us to dig deeper.
Beyond coping: how to find the strength to take on climate change by Stephanie Van Hook. Read more >>
Metta Center’s Nonviolence Radio interviews an architect – and reluctant climate activist – on his vision of human belonging, nonviolence, and heart-centered climate action. Listen >>
Going beyond passivity or the absence/avoidance of violence, nonviolence is a force that should be active, engaged, and transformative. Read more >>
10 ways the climate crisis and militarism are entwined. Read more >>
Here are a few upcoming actions inviting your participation and support.
World Beyond War is holding their #NoWar Conference and rally, October 5-6 in Limerick, Ireland. Learn more >>
Oct 5th is a Day of Action Against Domestic Violence. Hold or join a 2-min die-in protest. Learn more >>
Oct 6, DC, Reclaim the Courts protest for gender justice on the one year anniversary of Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation. Learn more >>
Oct 7th is a Day of International Rebellion for climate justice organized by Extinction Rebellion. Learn more >>
Oct 11th, DC, March on the Pentagon rally and actions for peace and against militarism, imperialism, and war. Learn more >>
Oct 17th, join the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict’s free webinar on how people have used civil resistance to survive ISIS, using acts of popular disobedience, non-cooperation, protests and public defiance to improve their lives and defend their values. Learn more >>
Author/Activist Rivera Sun has written many books and novels, including The Dandelion Insurrection and The Way Between. She is a nationwide trainer in strategy for nonviolent movements and her essays are published in journals across the country and around the world. www.riverasun.com