Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun
Resistance never goes out of style. It’s a look more and more people are “wearing”. And it’s a good look for these times. We need people to stand up for the planet, for human rights, for equality and justice for all. Take the Extinction Rebellion protester in the photo above, for example. This group of rebels is holding an alternative fashion show as a street protest during “Fashion Week”, highlighting the wasteful consumption of the industry and calling attention to the climate crisis. Protesting – and the many tools of nonviolent action – are rapidly emerging from the margins and becoming more familiar to the mainstream. It’s a sign of the times.
I think it’s a good sign. Nonviolence is like our human immune system – it’s at work in our everyday lives, but it also kicks into hyperdrive when we’re in trouble. In this week’s news, you’ll find stories of Mexican women rising up against femicide, high school and college students pushing for racial justice, thousands of people growing Climate Victory Gardens … and a long list of success stories!
Don’t miss my article on how “Nonviolence Is About Changing Situations, Not Other People”. We often think nonviolence is about “forcing” someone else to do what we want. But in this article, I look at three recent stories from Canada, United States, and the United Kingdom to show how nonviolence is actually about changing ourselves and our communities’ behavior in ways that make other people adapt and respond, too. Check it out here.
Enjoy the news. Share it with friends.
Thanks for being part of this “good sign” of our times.
Gezi Park Organizers Found Not Guilty of Trying to Overthrow Turkey’s Government: In a win for the right to organize and protest, the organizers of the 2013 Gezi Park demonstrations against Prime Minister Erdogan had their democratic right to protest upheld in court. Read more >>
Brazil Court Rules in Favor of Fired Petrobus Workers Who Went On Strike: A regional labor court temporarily suspended Tuesday the lay-off of more than 1,000 workers of the fertilizer factory Fafen-PR until at least March 6, following a collective strike that lasted more than two weeks. Read more >>
Constitution Pipeline Project Scrapped: Decision is a major win for advocates fighting to protect clean water and our climate. Read more >>
Los Angeles County Expunges 66,000 Marijuana Convictions: The convictions date from 1961 to present. The county’s district attorney cited that it was a needed action to bring relief to people of color who are disproportionately impacted by drug laws. Read more >>
Spain’s Women’s Soccer Players Win Historic Change After Going On Strike: Following the players’ strike in November, female soccer players in Spain have won the league’s first ever collective bargaining agreement and league-wide contracts. Read more >>
LA Teachers’ Strike Wins Racial Justice Policy Change: In the wake of last year’s strike by Los Angeles teachers, random searches of students are coming to an end districtwide — landing a blow against racism in schools. Read more >>
St. Paul Minnesota Launches Center For Financial Empowerment: Renters’ rights. Worker co-ops. Housing the previously-incarcerated. Banking the unbanked. At St. Paul City Hall, a small team of city workers will lead all those efforts and more in 2020, spearheading a series of socially conscious initiatives. Read more >>
Seattle Allows Tiny House & Parking Lot Encampments: In a housing justice win, Seattle passed an ordinance that makes tiny house villages and parking lot encampments of up to 40 legal. Read more >>
South African Transport Workers Go On Strike: Citizens and transport workers protested the overburdened metro system, calling for better wages, more trains, and increased commuter safety. Read more >>
Walmart Workers Demand Fair Pay and Hours: Workers held a protest outside Alice Walton’s penthouse, demanding hours and fair pay as the retail giant cuts jobs. Read more >>
Colombian National Strike Committee Calls For Renewed Protests: The Colombian National Strike Committee (CNP) has called for a series of fresh protests over the next couple of months after the far-right government of Ivan Duque failed to reach any sort of agreement with them. Read more >>
Colombia’s Teachers Go On 2-Day Strike: The teachers are fed up with the governments “indoctrination” accusations, assassinations, and threats to teachers’ lives. Read more >>
Sudanese Rally In Support of Army Officers Who Refused to Crack Down on Protests: Police dispersed the crowd of thousands as they demanded the reinstatement of the dismissed officers. Read more >>
Kickstarter Employees Vote to Unionize: This step is considered a huge win for tech workers, everywhere. Read more >>
US Judges Organize to Counter Trump’s Assault on Justice: The Federal Judges Association, which represents more than 1,000 judges across the nation, has called an emergency meeting to discuss and confront President Trump and Attorney General William Barr’s interference in the Roger Stone case and their broader assault upon the judiciary itself. Read more >>
The Longest Strike In History Is Still Going On: Spectrum workers went on strike 3 years ago. Over half of them are still on strike. Read more >>
150 Students Walk-Out of High School To Support Teachers’ Demand For Better Wages: Skipping their final class of the day, the students joined the teachers in calling for fair wages for their teachers. Read more >>
Poor People’s Campaign Puts Spotlight on US Poverty: With a tour and full roster of actions and events, the Poor People’s Campaign pushes forward for economic justice. Read more >>
Rail Blockades Are Becoming an Effective Nonviolent Response: Take a look at the causes, impacts, and responses to recent Canadian rail blockades in support of Wet’suwet’en. These solidarity actions are spreading across Canada. Read more >>
20 Sunrise Activists Arrested at Capitol Protest: Over 150 middle- and high-schoolers gathered to demand senators “stand up or step aside” on the climate crisis. ‘We’re done playing by the rules,’ they say. Read more >>
Extinction Rebellion Round-Up: Rebels in several countries took action this week, including a group that held an alternative fashion show in the streets of Fashion Week. A different group stirred up controversy by digging up the lawn of Cambridge University. Editor’s Note: Was “Lawngate” nonviolent direct action or vandalism? Did it serve the climate justice movement or backfire on Extinction Rebellion? Learn more about it and discuss it with friends this week. Rather than judging, try reflecting on what you can learn for your own efforts in making change.Read more >>
60,000 People in Hamburg, Germany Protested for Climate Action: The size of the student-led action has prompted US citizens to ask: what will it take for us to rise up? Read more >>
Red-state Utah Embraces Plan to Tackle Climate Crisis: In surprising shift, Utah Republicans are supporting a plan that aims to reduce emissions over air quality concerns and global warming. ‘If we don’t think about it, who will?’ they say. Read more >>
South Portland Parents Work to Rein In Petroleum Toxins: The coastal port’s oil tanks emit toxic gases. These parents are organizing to protect their kids and community. Read more >>
Thousands Of People Are Growing ‘Climate Victory Gardens’ To Save The Planet: Around the country, people are growing food to tackle the climate crisis. Read more >>
Climate Activists Sit-In for Change At Rubber-Stamping Regulatory Commission: Activists have long campaigned to get the US’ Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to do its job and deny fossil fuel infrastructure permits instead of rubber-stamping them. Read more >>
Protesters Shut Down the North Brooklyn Pipeline: Environmentalists rallied against National Grid’s ongoing construction of a seven-mile natural gas pipeline under the streets of Williamsburg and Bushwick, with one local activist saying that the community will step up to battle the project if elected officials fail to do so. Read more >>
Marcha das Margaridas: One of the largest women’s mobilizations in Latin America, the Marcha das Margaridas, is led by rural trade unions, together with agrarian and feminist movements. Read more >>
Thai Sex Workers Take a Stand: Thailand’s sex workers are standing up for their rights. They’re not asking for you to approve of sex work, they’re asking for equal protection under the law. Read more >>
Women Throughout Mexico Protest Against Femicide: Dressed in black, with candles and in silence, women demonstrated in the city of Cancun demanding justice for the femicide of Ingrid Escamilla, but also for the 64 murders of women and the 16 murders classified as femicides that occurred during 2019 in the state of Quintana Roo. Read more >>
Thousands March In Minnesota to Protect MMIW: A day of action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women turned out thousands of people. Read more >>
Thousands Turn-out in Vancouver to Protect Women: The annual women’s memorial march brought out people of all genders to mourn women who were murdered and to demand greater protections. Read more >>
Hundreds March in South Dakota for Transgender Rights: A recent set of laws has left transgendered persons feeling like they don’t belong in the communities they grew up in. Read more >>
#NotAgainSU Students Occupy Buildings To Achieve Racial Justice Demands: Amidst hate crimes, Syracuse University students are pressing for major changes in the institution’s approach to diversity and inclusivity. An earlier campaign achieved 9 out of 12 demands; a fresh effort calls for the remaining and adds a new list to the old. Read more >>
Chicago High School Students Hold Sit-In To Support Students Who Won’t Stand for Anthem: Two students were punished for refusing to stand for the national anthem. The teachers’ response was racist and discriminatory. The students are taking action to show support for the students. Read more >>
High School Students Push Back Against Snapchat Racism: After derogatory posts in a Snapchat group went public, other students held a rally to demand the school take action for racial justice. Read more >>
Interrupting Racial Profiling in San Francisco: A volunteer group is trying to monitor social media and promote community education that interrupts racial profiling. Read more >>
Connecting Economic Democracy and Black Liberation: We all know the economy is rife with racial injustice. Here are ten resources for rewiring the economy for democracy and racial justice. Read more >>
Barber Shops Provide Fertile Ground for Political Organizing: In Black communities, the barber shop is one of the “heart and soul” centers of the neighborhood. Read more >>
Nonviolence Isn’t Just About Changing Others: It’s about changing our own behaviors in ways that challenge other people to adapt and change, too. Read more >>
5 Ways To Show Up For Change in 2020: From listening to youth to imagining the possibilities, this list is practical and inspiring. Read more >>
These Women Made the Montgomery Bus Boycott Possible: Everyone knows about Rosa Parks … here’s the expanded story of the role of women in organizing the historic campaign. Read more >>
The Extraordinary Courage of the Freedom Riders: Facing mob violence, the Freedom Riders persevered in using nonviolent action to achieve bus integration. Read more >>
Saying YES to Noncooperation is at the Heart of Tax Resistance: A war tax resister digs into the philosophy of resistance that inspires war tax resisters to keep going against the overwhelming odds. Read more >>
Should We All Be in the Streets? Let’s Talk About Protest: Direct action and protest scholar/organizer LA Kauffman discusses the many dimensions of resistance. Read more >>
Chris Hedges Interviews Lisa Firth On Fierce, Loving Resistance: Activist and author Lisa Firth has been in the heart of decades of nonviolent campaigns. Read more >>
Are We Done Fighting? Nonviolence Radio interviews author Matthew Legge on building understanding in a world of hate and division. Read more >>
To Stop Trump Shift The Spirit, Not Just Politics: Like all cult leaders, Trump fills a certain void for his followers. Stopping him means providing pathways to sustainable forms of spiritual fulfillment. Read more >>
Best Practices for Fighting Gentrification: From Community Land Trusts to Tenant Buy Options, here is a collection of practical solutions from communities who are countering gentrification. Read more >>
Wet’suwet’en First Nation Pipeline Resistance Camp Supporter Toolkit: Here’s a guide to the numerous ways that you can support Wet’suwet’en and engage in solidarity actions. Read more >>
Earth Day to May Day 2020 Shut Down DC: Direct action campaign united labor and environmental justice and pushes for a Green New Deal. Learn more >>
#NoWar2020, World Beyond War’s 5th Annual Global Convergence, will be held in Ottawa, Canada, May 29-30, 2020, to coincide with CANSEC, Canada’s largest weapons expo. Register to join us this May for nonviolent activism, skills trainings, art-making, panel presentations, rallying, and more, culminating in the #NoWar2020 Conference on May 29-30. Read more >>
Stop Deadly Sanctions: The new Sanctions Kill campaign is organizing to educate and mobilize to stop the sanctions. The first set of actions is March 13 to 15. Learn more >>
Solidarity With Palestine: Palestinians are calling for a global week of solidarity actions March 24 to 30. Find information on how to participate >>
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