Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun
If you watch what’s happening in the United States carefully, you’ll spot a key insight into how nonviolent struggle works. In nonviolent change, we use a model called Pillars of Support to describe how groups, individuals, organizations can prop up a problem or injustice in our world. These may be groups like media, faith, politicians, judges, business, students. They provide resources like money, labor, social permissiveness, laws or lack thereof, physical goods, knowledge, etc. The idea is that, using tactics like boycotts, strikes, blockades, protests, and more, the movement tries to remove the pillars that prop up a problem. Etienne de la Boetie (in the 1500s) articulated this as “the great Colossus” and said:
‘I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break in pieces.’
As you read Nonviolence News this week, take note of how, one by one, the pillars that formerly propped up racism and police brutality are being withdrawn: social permissibility, silence, funding of structural racism, cooperation with police departments, laws that lacked accountability, and more. Minneapolis bus drivers refused to transport arrested protesters. School departments are cancelling school resource officer programs. The NFL stopped tacitly supporting racism by reversing their former stance on #TakeAKnee protests. Some cops laid down their shields, batons, and helmets. National Guard members refused to obey orders to repress protesters. Veterans called upon them and the military to refuse deployment into cities. City councils are defunding police units. Virginia (finally) took down a notorious confederate statue. The US marines banned the confederate flag. The mayor of DC renamed a street to “Black Lives Matter Plaza”.
Is it enough? Let us make it so.
The problem of police brutality isn’t just in the United States. It’s a global issue. Palestinians are speaking out against how Israeli Forces train with US police. Canada – long used to favorable comparisons to the United States – is facing protests over the deaths this week of two minority women at the hands of the police. In Rio de Janeiro, police kill more people in 30 days than the Minnesota police have killed in 20 years – and the killings have disproportionate impacts related to racism, too. Globally, 13% of all the environmental activists studied in 2300 campaigns had been murdered to stop their organizing efforts; police inaction or direct participation in the environmental destruction has worsened this deadly trend. As activists rise up to face the compounding global and local crises of our times, police brutality is an issue that must be confronted. It’s racism must be named and addressed. There are a thousand pillars that prop up this horrific system. We must all be a part of the efforts to erode, transform, and unravel anything that supports racism and police brutality.
Yours in the struggle,
Photo Credit: DC Mayor and Organizers Paint A Street-Wide, Block Long Mural That Reads Black Lives Matter: Angered after Trump used tear gas to clear peaceful protesters out of the street so he could stage a walk and a photo-op to a historic Black church, the mayor of Washington, DC, took action in protest along with organizers. Read more >>
George Floyd Protests Lead To Arrests Of Other 3 Officers And The First Officer’s Murder Charge Upgraded: Without people taking action, none of this would have happened. Read more >>
LA Mayor Defunds $100 Million From LAPD: A participatory budgeting process signaled the demand to reallocate the budget years ago. Amidst protests over police brutality, the city finally made the cut. Read more >>
Charges Against Venezuelan Embassy Protectors Dropped: After activists occupied the Venezuelan Embassy in DC to stall an attempted coup in the South American nation, they’ve been navigating a lengthy court process. This week, all charges were dropped. Read more >>
Judges Strike Down Ag-Gag Laws As Violating First Amendment: These “no filming, no photos” laws have veiled the cruelties of industrial animal agriculture from the public eye. Read more >>
Virginia Governor Announces Removal of Robert E. Lee Statue: The monument has been under pressure from anti-racist activists for years. Now, it’s finally coming down. Read more >>
National Football League (NFL) Condemns Racism and Police Brutality, And Admit They Were Wrong About #TakeAKnee: In two statements, the commissioner and the league reversed prior stances. Editor’s Note: Is this just virtue signaling and window dressing? Maybe. But it’s also a clear signal to the fan base (including those who hated the #TakeAKnee protests) that racism is no longer an acceptable ideology for the NFL. Read more >>
Minneapolis School Department Terminates Contract With MPD: The school department has ended its controversial “school resource officers” program which placed cops in public schools. Read more >>
Portland, OR, School Department Ends Cops In Schools Program: Following on the heels of Minneapolis School District ending the school resource officers program, Portland School District also halted the presence of cops in public schools. Read more >>
US Marine Corps Bans Public Displays Of Confederate Flag By Members: “The Confederate battle flag has all too often been co-opted by violent extremists and racist groups whose divisive beliefs have no place in our Corps,” the marine statement said. “This presents a threat to our core values, unit cohesion, security, and good order and discipline. This must be addressed.” Read more >>
Canadian Police Face Protests, Scrutiny After Deaths Of Two Women: The US is not the only nation facing problems with police brutality; Canada is grappling with their own issues of brutality amidst mass protests in the US. Read more >>
10,000 US Citizens Arrested; 3 Other Officers Finally Charged: Mass protests, ten thousand arrests, heavy police repression of protesters, and a nationwide (even international) uprising were needed before the officers involved in murdering George Floyd were arrested. Read more >>
ACLU Demands Probe Into Politically-Motivated Police Attack on Peaceful Protest: The American Civil Liberties Union is demanding a congressional probe into the deployment of tear gas, rubber bullets, and other “indiscriminate weapons” against nonviolent demonstrators in Lafayette Square outside the White House on Monday evening—a use of force apparently approved by President Donald Trump so that he could enjoy a photo opportunity of himself marching through the cleared area on his way to nearby St. John’s Episcopal Church. Read more >>
Facebook Workers Rebel Against Zuckerberg’s Trump-Friendly Approach: When Zuckerberg refused to take down a re-post of Trump’s tweet that incited violence against George Floyd protesters, employees began to speak out. Read more >>
Leading Journalism Groups Demand Law Enforcement Halt Attacks on Working Press: “When you silence the press with rubber bullets, you silence the voice of the public.” (Warning: Graphic Image) Read more >>
Killing of Unarmed Autistic Palestinian Sparks Outrage: “Israel has been on a killing spree,” Palestinian organizers say, comparing their oppression to the Black Lives Matter protests erupting across the United States this week. Read more >>
Campaign Zero Solutions: Here are some of the policy changes demanded by the movement to end police brutality. Read more >>
Defund Police Movement Grows: Gaining support nationwide, the effort to defund police departments makes headway across the United States. Read more >>
International Cities Join George Floyd Protests: Around the world, people took action in protest of the US’ racist police brutality. Rallies, marches, and demonstrations were held in numerous locations, including Milan, London, Berlin, Toronto, and Manchester. Read more >>
In Some Cities, Police Removed Riot Gear To Join Protesters: Laying down shields, taking off helmets, taking a knee beside protesters; police departments sometimes met their fellow citizens in surprising ways. Editor’s Note: In some cases, these actions were welcomed as sincere expressions of solidarity. In others, they were denounced as political ploys – particularly when police followed it up by firing tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters. Read more >>
35 Photos Showing Peaceful Protests: Media headlines are billowing acts of property destruction out of proportion and failing to explain the sequence of events that turned peaceful protests into “riots”. (Namely, the police firing tear gas and rubber bullets for no reason.) These images help reframe what’s really going on. Read more >>
Veterans Call Upon National Guard Members To Refuse To Deploy Against Protesters: In a public statement, veterans have asked National Guard members to refuse orders and stand on the side of justice – rather than participating in violent state repression of citizens demanding their civil and human rights. Read more >>
Far Right Extremists Infiltrate George Floyd Protests: Evidence and information has come out that far right extremists infiltrated protests, destroyed property and incited violence with the express intent of starting a civil war, and trigger police repression of peaceful protests for racial justice. Read more >>
How Latinx People Can Fight Anti-Black Racism In Our Own Community: This work is specifically crucial for the Latinx community, one which, while grappling with its own painful and traumatic relationship with the effects of colonialism. As young Latinos, which represent the most racially and ethnically diverse populations in America and beyond, witnessing and experiencing anti-Black racism is all too common. Read more >>
Asian-American Response to This Era’s Pandemic Violent Racism Must Be Cross-Racial: Looking from one injustice to the next, the connections are clear. Solidarity is the way forward. Read more >>
‘I Took the Helmet Off and Laid the Batons Down’: Michigan Sheriff and Police Didn’t Disperse Their Town’s Protest—They Joined It: “Do I think this has solved the issue between police and unarmed black, human beings? No. But I do believe that this type of leadership is a positive step in the right direction and gives me hope for black men and women around the world and for all of humanity.” Read more >>
United Kingdom Supermarket Giants Threaten To Boycott Brazil To Protect Amazon: Over 40 companies signed the open letter, as well as the Swedish pension fund AP7 and the Norwegian asset manager Storebrand. Read more >>
Guerrilla Grafters Secretly Graft Fruit Bearing Branches Onto Sterile City Trees: Restoring trees, one branch at a time, is a labor of love … especially for self-organized tree grafters working without official support. Read more >>
Globally, 13% of Environmental Activists Are Being Killed: The numbers are shocking. The toll on environmental movements is painful. Read more >>
What If The Earth Is Alive? Earth Jurisprudence Makes Laws For Living Systems: The Earth and non-human beings are treated as objects to possess or exploit by many legal systems. But growing numbers of people are recognizing that the Earth is living, and deserves to be treated as such. Read more >>
#NiUnaMenos, Five Years Later, Femicide Still Plagues Mexico: Campaigners say coronavirus is compounding the pre-existing problems of domestic and gender violence. Read more >>
Living Beyond Binaries & the Power of Activism: Storyteller, activist and co-founder of Black Lives Matter Canada, Janaya Khan aka Future, explains the liberation found beyond binaries and the personal power discovered when fighting for freedom Read more >>
#SayHerName; the Death of Breonna Taylor Calls Out The Need For Gender Intersectionality When Dealing With Police Brutality: The deaths of Black men grab headlines, but activists say women (and trans, non-binary persons) murdered by police need justice, too. Read more >>
Antiwar Veterans Call Upon Military To Stand Down: Telling the military to refuse to obey orders to repress protests, these veterans took a clear stand for both racial justice and the right to protest. Read more >>
As Trump Threatens to Send Military Into Cities, Some GIs Refuse to Comply: Two National Guardsmen spoke to Truthout on the condition of anonymity about why they’re refusing orders. Read more >>
China Delivers COVID-19 Aid To Sanctioned Syria: Editor’s Note: This may seem complicated on the geo-political, good guys/bad guys, who’s-side-are-we-all-on, level … but on a human level, this isn’t complicated: deliver medical relief to everyone in a pandemic. Read more >>
China-India Dialogue Seeks To Avert Military Clash Between World’s Most Populous Countries: China and India’s high-ranking military officials are holding a dialogue to solve the most recent confrontation between these nations over the Himalayan border region, after thousands of soldiers took up positions on both sides of the frontier. Read more >>
Black Woman On A Horse At Oakland Protest: Rewiring the narrative, this equestrian showed Black power, resilience, and beauty … and it was all part of her plan. Read more >>
DC Mayor Renames The Street Outside the White House “Black Lives Matter” Plaza: A rally outside the church Trump coopted for his photo-op witnessed the changing of the street sign. Read more >>
Korean K-Pop Fans Flooded the Police’s Reporting App With Fan Videos: Dallas police wanted citizens to report people doing illegal activities amidst protests – but citizens objected to the approach, raising issues about misreporting and false reports. Then Korean pop fans flooded the app with music videos. Read more >>
Sesame Street Holds Town Hall On Addressing Racism: The show has a long history of addressing racism on public television; now, they’re holding a town hall meeting amidst the protests over police brutality. Read more >>
Participatory Budgeting, Housing Control, Land Stewardship, and More Offer Deep Racial Justice Practices: New Economy Coalition’s special report shows how community democracy can support racial justice – and vice versa. Read more >>
Americans Ignore Iraqi Literature — Now Is The Perfect Time To Read It: The coronavirus pandemic has made brilliant Iraqi occupation literature relatable for the first time to a wider American public living in quarantine. Read more >>
Uprisings Drive A Surge of Mutual Aid In Minneapolis and Beyond: Food, water, shelter, healthcare, first aid, donations, economic relief, and more; here’s how people are helping people. Read more >>
Protest Safety In A Pandemic: Wear your mask. Come prepared. Use disinfectant. If you’re at risk, stay home and do other types of actions and support. In addition, here are some other tips to help protect your health and others. Read more >>
Lessons For Resisting Police Violence And Building A Strong Racial Justice Movement: This collection of stories from the Waging Nonviolence archive offers inspiration, tools and other resources for those working to end police violence. Read more >>
26 Ways To Be In The Struggle Without Being In the Streets: From translating documents to making meals to raising funds or providing spiritual support, there’s more than one way to support a movement. Read more >>
Building Intersectional Resistance Alliances During COVID-19: Despite the global challenges presented by coronavirus, activists can use this moment to strengthen solidarity between movements. Read more >>
Black Protesters Wanting To Protest Have To Deal With White People Instigating Violence: Property destruction and violence have often triggered police repression of protesters. And when that happens, those peacefully protesting get hurt or dispersed. Read more >>
If You Are Tear Gassed or Pepper Sprayed, Here’s What To Do: Milk is not the answer (or the best one, anyway). Read more >>
Starhawk – A Nonviolence Trainer For 30 Years – Speaks Up About Calls For Protesters To Be Nonviolent: Trying to stop violence? Start with the police. Read more >>
Rebecca Solnit: Let’s Be Clear About Where The Violence Is Coming From: Structural, systemic, cultural forms of violence, particularly racism, led to this moment. Understanding those puts what’s happening in the street in perspective. Read more >>
Got Provocateur Problems? Here’s How To Deal With Them: Agents Provocateurs have long been a challenge for social justice movements – and we know how to deal with it. (Hint: nonviolent discipline is helpful.) Read more >>
The Paradox of Repression: Here’s how to turn repression around to backfire on the people wielding it – and make major gains for the movement along the way. Read more >>
You Weren’t Imagining It. Reopen Protests Got Too Much Media Coverage: Compared to bonafide mass demonstrations for, say, climate justice, the airtime over-promoted that agenda. Read more >>
Property Damage & Nonviolent Movements: It’s complicated. An anti-nuke activist imprisoned for doing destruction in a campaign offers some guidelines for how property damage can support – or backfire on – the movement. Read more >>
International Summer Nonviolence Institute: Study nonviolence with people from around the world. (July 30-Aug 1) Learn more >>
Awakened Action Webinar: Women leaders speak to the climate catastrophe and pandemic and explore strategies for a sane, just, and compassionate future, online. (June 21) Read more >>
Metta Mentors 2020 Program: How do we not go back to life-as-usual? This program supports personal and social transformation through nonviolence. Read more >>
5 Ways White People Can Take Action Against White and State Sanctioned Violence: Take a stand, be a better ally, build the movement for racial justice. Read more >>
Poor People’s Digital March on June 20th: Shifting a previously planned street march in Washington, DC, online, this action organizes people digitally instead. Read more >>
#GeneralStrike2020 – General Strikes are being organized for the first of each month, including worker, rent, debt, and shopping strikes. Read more >>
