Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun
“Another world is possible. She is already on her way. On a quiet day, you can hear her breathing.” – Arundati Roy
Mass protest has won a world unimaginable only a few weeks ago. Major cities are defunding police units, implementing professional crisis response teams, setting up community-led public safety models, and more. Statues of racist historic figures are toppling. Protests for Black Lives Matter were held in 3,000 US towns and cities, a historic high. One neighborhood in Seattle, WA, went even further, ousting their police department and establishing the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone, an area where the police are not allowed.
The changes are the result of relentless, cumulative organizing from Ferguson Uprising in 2014 to today. It’s the result of an ever-widening circle of allies who refuse to remain silent and complicit. It’s the result of courageous, powerful organizing from Black citizens. And the struggle is not yet over. It won’t be until police brutality and racism are dismantled, not just in the United States, but everywhere. In this week’s news, you’ll read how, throughout African nations, many are echoing the cry “I Can’t Breathe” as they connect the racist police brutality in the US and the racist colonialism of their countries. Mexicans rose up against police brutality after a man was beaten to death for not wearing a pandemic mask. In Iraq, Lebanon, France, Chile, and more, protesters have long decried the use of rubber bullets that fracture skulls and destroy eyes.
There is reason for hope. There is reason for sorrow. There is reason to keep striving for change. Read the stories of how people are rising up . . . share them . . . take part in them. This is how change is made.
Photo Credit: Seattle’s Capital Hill Autonomous Zone has ousted the police. But it’s not a lawless zone. It’s filled with citizen-engagement, including a lively street occupation featuring movies, snacks, poetry, and more. Read more >>
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Minneapolis City Council Announces Intent To Disband Police Department: The police department will be replaced with a community-led public safety model. Read more >>
Louisville City Council Passes “Breonna’s Law” And Bans No-Knock Warrants: After protests over the murder of Breonna Taylor, the city ends the policy that lead to her death. Read more >>
Protests Win City Council Votes to Defund More Police Units: In Portland, OR, city council members gave credit to activists for securing long-sought votes to defund police units. Read more >>
Camden, NJ, Overhauled The Police According To “The Consent of the People”: Following the demands and priorities of the people they “protect and serve”, this police department found ways to improve at a time when murder rates were high. If Camden, NJ can do it amidst a murder crisis, anyone can. Read more >>
Netherlands Prime Minister Says Stereotyped “Black Pete” Will Disappear From Christmas Traditions: The blackface character has long been protested as stereotyping and racism. Read more >>
Judge Sides With Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe: The judge affirmed the tribe’s claim to reservation lands after the Trump Administration tried to strip it away. Read more >>
In New Zealand, A Racist Statue Was Removed Amid Maori Protests: As Confederate and Columbus statues topple across the United States and King Leopold’s statue is removed in Belgium, Maori in New Zealand campaigned for the removal of another racist statue. Read more >>
Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon Pause Facial Recognition Software Projects For Police: Citing concerns of racial profiling and privacy rights violations, tech giants pull back from supporting facial recognition software projects. Read more >>
NASCAR Bans Confederate Flags: The racing organization’s step is as significant as the NFL’s statement in support of #TakeAKnee protests. Read more >>
Costa Rica Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage: The country is the sixth Latin American country to do so. Read more >>
Colorado Judge Temporarily Bans Tear Gas Against Protesters: Placing a restraining order on police, the judge says the use of tear gas violates one of the many freedoms the United States was built on. Read more >>
Mexicans Protest Police Brutality: Mexicans gathered to protest the murder of George Floyd and the murder of Giovanni Lopez, who was beaten to death by police for not wearing a mask. Read more >>
Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Clans End Decades of Conflict in Southern Philippines: Conflicts between the followers of two clan leaders for twenty years have impacted a region of over 2 million people. Now, that might start to shift. Read more >>
Palestinian Great March of Return Strategizes For Renewed Efforts: A Palestinian journalist reports on what’s next for the movement. Read more >>
Seattle’s Capital Hill Autonomous Zone: This neighborhood has declared autonomy, occupied the street, and implemented crisis response teams instead of the police (whom they’ve banned from the area). Read more >>
Vandana Shiva Calls Out Elon Musk’s SpaceX Hubris: “There is no Planet B. There is only Gaia and she is dying.” Read more >>
Africa Says “I Can’t Breathe”: African nations know the feeling of the knee on their necks: it’s the knee of white supremacy, the knee of colonialism, and the knee of neoliberalism. Read more >>
Non-Black People Of Color Are Mobilizing for Black Lives: Asian Americans, and other non-Black people of color, are speaking out against their races’ complicity in Black deaths. Read more >>
George Floyd Protests Are The Broadest In US History: Civil resistance researcher Erica Chenoweth and team explain why this matters to the success of social justice efforts. Read more >>
Protests Spread To 3,000 Towns, A Historic High: These actions, in areas that support Trump, are a significant shift and a promising one. Read more >>
Teen Girls Organize 10,000 Person Protest For Black Lives Matter In Nashville: Six teenagers pulled off the region’s largest protest against racism and police brutality in recent memory. Read more >>
New York City Theaters Open Doors As Safe Space For Protesters: With police repression high, theaters are joining earlier reports of individuals who opened their doors to provide sanctuary for protesters. Read more >>
Health Workers March To Expose Racism As A Health Crisis: Thousands of health workers marched in Seattle, WA, for racial justice as a health issue. Read more >>
‘I Raised Hell’: How People Worldwide Answered The Call Of World Oceans Day: From protecting fishing communities to regrowing coral reefs, people share how they’re working to defend the ocean. Read more >>
Charges Dropped Against 22 Wet’suwet’en Land Defenders: The land defenders had been arrested while protecting their land from the construction of TransCanada’s 400-mile, $4.7 billion Coastal GasLink pipeline. Read more >>
#ExxonKnew Activists Targeted By Hackers: In a disturbing assault on US free speech, activists’ campaigns against fossil fuel giant Exxon’s concealment of climate science were targeted by hackers. Read more >>
Inside the Struggle To Stop Fracking In Chaco Canyon: Bull snakes and rattlers driven out from hibernation in the winter? This is just the tip of the fracking iceberg wreaking havoc in the region. Read more >>
Youth Leadership Is Key To Fighting The Climate Crisis: This interview with young climate strikers shows their focus and determination. Read more >>
Luumi Tribal Members Work To Free Orca From 50-Year Captivity: “Our Lummi term for orca is qwe’lhol’mechen, which means our relations under the water,” explained Squil-le-he-le (Raynell Morris), one of the Lummi women involved. “It’s our Xa xalh Xechnging (sacred obligation) to bring our relation out of captivity at Miami Seaquarium, to bring her safely home to Xw’ullemy (the Salish Sea).” Read more >>
COVID-19 Pandemic Brings New Growth To Montreal’s Urban Gardens: Botanical Garden staff converted the Jardin des nouveautés into vegetable gardens. The vegetables will be donated to community organizations. Read more >>
Colombia Peace Talks Restart: Suspended talks have been reinitiated as people demand “no silencio mas” over the 220 assassinated social leaders and guerrilla fighters since the 2016 Peace Agreement was signed. Read more >>
Women Of South Sudan Stand Together: As South Sudanese women continue to advocate for political representation and peace, elevation of their voices is essential. Read more >>
Black Lives Matter Everywhere; Defunding Militarism: Black Lives Matter is an international movement. And defunding militarism is an essential part of protecting Black lives globally and in the United States. Read more >>
Bath Iron Works Could Turn The Corner Into Peaceful Production: Shifting the Titanic of naval shipyards out of the military industrial complex is a tall order … but perhaps it’s starting to happen. Read more >>
Black Lives Matter Transforms Trump’s White House Fence Into a Protest Memorial: Trump put up a new chainlink fence. Activists plastered it with protest signs and memorial posters. Read more >>
1,000 Cyclists Take Over The Streets in Solidarity Ride: In New York City, cyclists organized a critical mass protest in support of Black Lives Matter. Read more >>
Oakland Farmers Band Together To Feed Protesters: As demonstrators gathered around Oakland’s Frank H. Ogawa Plaza on Wednesday evening, more than 100 packaged meals were distributed to protesters on behalf of Oakland farmers supporting their cause. Read more >>
10 Year Old Sends 1500 Art Kits To Kids In Foster Care & Homeless Shelters: While kids are stuck inside during the pandemic, this kid stepped up to help others who were sheltering in place in homeless shelters and foster care. Read more >>
Black Lives Matter Street Murals Are Popping Up All Over: Sparked by the DC Mayor’s street-sized slogan mural, other places are following suit. Here are the photos. Read more >>
How Black Lives Matter Forced Us To Imagine A World Without Police: Momentum organizer Nicole Carty discusses how the movement built consensus on racial justice and the strategy needed to make the goal of defunding police a reality. Read more >>
How a Biracial Protester Stared Down White Fury: He showed up angry, screaming. She was holding a sign that read “Say Their Names”. Tensions rose. But she remembered her father’s words, “No matter who the threat is, no matter what the threat is, you look them in the eye so that they know you’re human.” Read more >>
The World Needs More ‘Agitators’ Like Buffalo Protester Martin Gugino: While Trump lies about the 75-year-old man police shoved to the ground, Martin’s friends know him as gentle, principled and undaunted in his belief in nonviolent resistance. Read more >>
Who’s Causing The Violence At Those Protests? Research says that police violence and aggression is the leading cause of violence at protests. Read more >>
Why Violent Protests And Property Damage May Put Us In Even Deeper Trouble: There are historic precedents and research into how riots, looting, and violent protests don’t lead to success for movements. Even scarier, they sometimes lead to worsening conditions or backsliding toward injustice in the aftermath of the upheaval. Read more >>
Justice After the Grenfell Tower Fire: This podcast explores how they’ve come together in solidarity with others to build greater equity and resilience while they continue their search to find answers, seek justice, and ultimately, to heal. Read more >>
Translocal Strategies For A Just Recovery: A Black-Led Session on Restoring Land, Labor, and Capital to Self-Determined Communities. (June 16) Read 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 >>
International Summer Nonviolence Institute: Study nonviolence with people from around the world. (July 30-Aug 1) Learn more >>
