Editor’s Note
Rest In Power, John Lewis. The news is full of tributes to congressman and civil rights legend John Lewis, praising his commitment to nonviolence and his lifelong efforts for racial justice. This is a week to remember and to mourn, not just for John Lewis, but for all of the people who have given their lives in support of people and planet. A new report revealed that 2019 was the deadliest year on record for ecological activists around the globe. May they all rest in power … and may we continue their struggles until justice and change are won.
The word “peaceful” has become popular among media covering protests, but “peaceful” protest is always a misnomer. As Dr. King’s writings pointed out, in the pursuit of a peace rooted in justice, our efforts rarely feel peaceful. More often, they feel disruptive, tumultuous, and challenging, as they must be. Positive peace is achieved more by a disruptive protest than by continuing to maintain a negative peace where injustice seethes beneath a quiet surface. Media reported that Portland’s protests were “peaceful” on Thursday after federal agents pulled out. What they meant was that the aggression of the agents, their tear gas and rubber bullets, were absent from the scene. Portland Police Department, constrained upon the mayor’s orders, was also subdued. So, who made sure the court house wasn’t burned to the ground? Black activists on the scene who told would-be property destructors that their actions played into Trump’s hand and weren’t in support of Black lives.
We need people disrupting negative peace. In the United States, millions face the violence of eviction amidst an economic crisis and a pandemic. Anti-eviction efforts are ramping up, including at a New Orleans court house where activists even snatched away the paperwork of landlords seeking to evict tenants. Was this peaceful? The word makes no more sense in this context than it did to describe draft card burning as “violent”.
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Enjoy this week’s Nonviolence News (and make some of your own),
Rivera Sun, Editor
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US Federal Agents Pull Out of Seattle: After demonstrations and public officials’ denouncement, federal agents pulled out of the city of Seattle. Officials demanded their withdrawal after witnessing the violence of federal agents in Portland, OR. Read more>>
Pressured by Climate Activist Groups, Deutsche Bank Ditches Drilling in the Arctic: The bank joins a list of two dozen others that will not back Arctic drilling projects. Read more>>
Black Athletes Donate $100,000 to Help Pay Debts of Former Felons in Florida So They Can Vote in 2020: More Than A Vote, a group founded by LeBron James and others in June to fight against voter suppression, says it will donate $100,000 to help pay the outstanding debts of people who have already served time for their felony convictions but are still unable to vote in Florida. Read more>>
Robert E. Lee High School In Virginia Decides To Change Name To John Lewis: Following the civil rights leader and congressman’s passing, the school decided to make a historic name change. Read more>>
New Mexico Power Utility Embraces 100% Renewable Energy for Four Corners: New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) voted unanimously to replace San Juan Generating Station power with 100% renewable energy when the coal-fired power plant is retired in 2022. This decision will modernize power generation, improve public health, and stabilize the local economy. Read more>>
Eco-Equity? Houston Finally Prioritizes People of Color When Building Flood Protections: The new controversial plan, #HoustonNow, no longer gives funds to the city’s richest neighborhoods first. Read more>>
Thai Protesters Demand Government’s Resignation: Around 2,500 Thai protesters defied a coronavirus ban to gather in one of the largest street demonstrations since a 2014 military coup. Organizers issued three demands: the dissolution of parliament, an end to harassment of government critics, and amendments to the military-written constitution that critics say virtually guaranteed victory for current president’s party in elections last year. Read more>>
Brazilian Food Delivery Workers Strike: The delivery workers are demanding a minimum wage and a fair wage based on kilometers traveled. Read more>>
Bulgarians Block Capital With Tent City In Anti-Government Protest: Protesters set up tents on a major crossroad and in front of the government building early on Thursday, vowing to keep the center of the Bulgarian capital blocked until the government of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov resigns. Read more>>
New Tech Labor Movement Unites Office And Gig Workers: A global pandemic and sweeping protests against systemic racism have brought workers across pay scales, job types, geographies, and companies together in an unprecedented show of solidarity. Read more>>
Bolivians Join Mass Marches For Democracy: Thousands of Bolivians took to the streets this week in mass demonstrations and marches against the coup government’s decision to postpone the country’s presidential election until October, further extending the brutal reign of unelected right-wing President Jeanine Añez as the coronavirus continues to ravage the Latin American nation. Read more>>
Portland Sees Peaceful Night Of Protests Following Withdrawal Of Federal Agents: Supporting residents’ claims that the agents are the aggressors, Thursday night’s protest passed off without major incident or intervention by the police in the absence of federal officers. Instead, protesters de-escalated any attempts at property destruction or violence. Read more>>
Protesters Arrive at Homeland Security Chief’s House To Demand End of Nationwide Deployment: Marching to the Department of Homeland Security chief’s home, activists gathered outside with signs that read “Resist Trump’s Troops” and “No more teargas, no more tearing families apart.” Read more>>
Striking Shipbuilders Reject Concessions: More than 4,300 shipbuilders at the Bath Iron Works shipyard in Bath, Maine, are entering the sixth week of the largest private-sector strike in the U.S. this year. While they’ve accepted concessions in the past, this time they refuse. Read more>>
Port of Montreal Longshoremen’s Union Launches 4-day Strike Over Working Hours: Longshoremen work 19 out of 21 days due to heavy work flow in the port. Now they’re striking except on certain crucial shipments and safety procedures to gain fairer hours. Read more>>
Hiding In Plain Sight: The Poor People’s Justice Movement: PPEHRC, constituted by poor people organizing themselves, has been once again highly visible, in rising up against the radically increased precarity that COVID has visited on vast populations. Read more>>
Strikes Are An Option To Force Schools To Reopen Safely: The executive council of the American Federation of Teachers has voted to pursue various tactics—including strikes—to keep schools from reopening for in-person instruction without proper safety measures. “If authorities don’t protect the safety and health of those we represent and those we serve, as our executive council voted last week, nothing is off the table.” Read more>>
Louisville BLM Activists Arrested: More than 100 Black Lives Matter protesters were confronted by police after blocking off Market Street in Louisville’s Nulu neighborhood on Friday afternoon and setting up an impromptu block party. Read more>>
Protests For Justice For Breonna Taylor Intensify After Months of Frustration: The three officers that police say discharged their weapons in the incident that killed Taylor remain free and have not been charged with any crimes. Two still have their jobs. Read more>>
Wall of Vets & Grandparents Show Up To Support Black Lives Matter In Portland, OR: Veterans from all over showed up downtown to create a “Wall of Vets” to protect protesters. They showed up in white shirts to support the Black Lives Matter movement. Read more>>
Minneapolis Community Furious With School District For Hiring Private Security After Firing Cops: Behind people’s backs, the school department hired “rent-a-cop” private security. Read more>>
Black Britons Are Calling For Racial Justice: Three demands came up repeatedly among Black Britons at recent demonstrations: decolonizing the curriculum; divesting funds away from police forces in favor of a public health-focused approach to crime; and better representation of black Britons across a wider section of society. Read more>>
NBA Players Kneel For Black Lives, Wear Jerseys With Racial Justice Slogans: The basketball season has started up again … and the message of racial justice is front and center. Read more>>
Global Witness Reveals 2019 Was ‘Deadliest Year on Record’ for Eco-Defenders, With 212 Murdered Worldwide: “Those that defend our land and environment are on the front lines of #ClimateAction. But we are failing them badly.” Read more>>
Climate Activists Applaud Swiss Insurer’s Move to Drop Trans Mountain Pipeline; Urge Other Companies To Do The Same: Climate campaigners and Indigenous activists celebrated the news the Swiss insurance giant Zurich will soon stop providing coverage to the Canadian government-owned Trans Mountain Pipeline, increasing the pressure on other insurers to also ditch the existing tar sands pipeline and long-delayed expansion project. Read more>>
Youth in Erie, PA, held a “Shoe Strike” to Demand Immediate Climate Action: 100 pairs of shoes demonstrated for climate justice, using an evocative and socially-distanced tactic to keep the plight of the Earth in public awareness. Read more>>
African American and Latinx Worker Coop Envisions A Zero-Waste Future: CERO (Cooperative Energy, Recycling and Organics), a bilingual worker cooperative based in Dorchester, picks up organic waste from large commercial enterprises—groceries, restaurants, breweries, colleges and universities, hospitals, large businesses such as Amazon and Google—and delivers compost to local area urban farms. Read more>>
Activists Protest Cargill CEO At Home: Cargill has committed to helping end deforestation, but activists are protesting to make sure they follow through on those promises in a timely manner. Read more>>
Fridays For The Future Announces Next Global Climate Strike Date: On September 25, students around the world will strike for climate justice. Read more>>
Renters Block New Orleans Court To Protest Rising Evictions Amidst Coronavirus: The New Orleans Renter’s Rights Assembly surrounded First City Court in New Orleans on Thursday(July 30) to fight for the security and protection of the hundreds of people being evicted during the coronavirus pandemic. Read more>>
Housing Activists in Philly Launch Major Takeover of Abandoned Public Buildings: Single mothers and their children have started perhaps the most significant housing takeover in the country. Read more>>
Tear Gas Causes Miscarriages & Disrupts Menstrual Cycles: When police violently repress protests, the female body bears the impact. Read more>>
New Workplace Sexual Harassment Law in Mexico Offers Non-Judicial Solutions: First, the law obliges businesses, as employers, to implement—with the participation of workers—a protocol to prevent and redress gender-discrimination, gendered-based violence, and sexual harassment, which must contain an operational grievance mechanism. Second, it establishes a pre-judicial state-based conciliation procedure that provides victims of sexual harassment in the workplace the option to bring their case before a conciliator (mediator) prior to submitting a judicial claim. Read more>>
Top Doctors And Lawyers Condemn ‘Shocking’ Treatment Of Women In Childbirth During COVID-19: An openDemocracy investigation reveals ‘traumatic’ incidents defying WHO guidelines in 45 countries – as experts warn of ‘tens of thousands’ of extra maternal deaths. Read more>>
Seattle Billboards Inform Residents Of Nukes In Their Backyard: The ad seeks to inform citizens in the Puget Sound region of how nearby Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor is one the largest concentration of deployed nuclear weapons in the U.S. Read more>>
Majority of Americans Support Cutting Pentagon Budget: Fifty-seven percent of voters supported cutting the defense budget by 10 percent if funding was reallocated to the CDC and other more pressing domestic needs. Read more>>
Free Trip To Egypt! Healing Divides With Travel & Cultural Encounters: Tarek Mounib made this offer to Americans struggling with deep cultural biases, and documented their transformation experiences in Free Trip to Egypt. Read more>>
Kathy Kelly Pens Protest Article Against Ongoing War in Yemen: USAID’s backing out of relief efforts is yet another death blow to thousands of starving children suffering in the “hell” of Yemen’s war zone. Read more>>
Last Supper For Netanyahu Art Installation Protests Israel’s Prime Minister: A sprawling sculpture of Benjamin Netanyahu gorging on a giant frosted cake, Moët champagne and pink macaroons has irked the Israeli leader, who suggested the Last Supper-inspired artwork was the equivalent of a death threat. Appearing in Tel Aviv overnight, the life-sized pop-up exhibit was made in the wake of a series of protests that have called for the 70-year-old prime minister to resign. Read more>>
#FloodICE Submits Thousands Of Faux Applications To ICE’s Citizen Academy Vigilante Training Program: Flooding the system with fake applications (or tongue-in-cheek ones, anyway), this migrant justice group is giving ICE a headache for trying to rope citizens into their programs. Read more>>
Activists In DC Use Midnight Yoga To Demonstrate & Cope With Police Violence: The protesters, who have been out in the streets over 50 days after being initially sparked by the failure to arrest the officers who had murdered George Floyd and Breonna Taylor (still), have turned to the peace that yoga provides to manage their pain, both physical and emotional. Read more>>
Baltimore Interrupters Stop Violence and COVID-19 Disinformation: Lavar Mullen and his colleagues de-escalate conflict in their neighborhoods. Mullen also delivers relief in a horse-drawn wagon and dispels misinformation about the pandemic. Read more>>
Black Violinists Play In Remembrance Of Elijah McClain: Black musicians and protesters have gathered at violin vigils across the country for Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who died in police custody. Musical vigils bring people together, and helping them grieve and protest. Read more>>
Rev. James Lawson on His Friend John Lewis and the Long Road to Freedom: The civil rights movement’s leading disciple of nonviolent protest reflects on the life and work of the late congressman. Read more>>
Preparing Civil Resistance For A November Surprise: Researchers Erica Chenoweth, Candace Rondeaux, and Maria J. Stephan weigh-in on how to get ready for a tumultuous election. Read more>>
Berta Cáceres In Her Own Words: While much has been written about her as an Indigenous woman and ecological activist, her struggle was not rooted in identity per se, but in her analysis of the legacies of colonial and capitalist violence. Read more>>
The Genius of John Lewis’ Nonviolent Discipline: The civil rights icon’s uncompromising insistence on treating opponents with respect was perhaps his greatest attribute — even if it has not always been understood. Read more>>
Popular Movements Can Overcome Authoritarian Policing: As federal agents police protests across the US, the movements are still the best way for citizens to push back against authoritarianism. Read more>>
What Indian Country Remembers About Crisis and Survival: Community is central in the Indigenous response. Identify who in our community is most vulnerable and strategize the best ways to protect them. Think about food security, and not in an individualistic sense, but in a collective sense, ensuring that there is abundance to share. Read more>>
Healing Our Hearts; Dismantling Racism: Lessons from the civil rights movement and its leaders point to an important two-track approach to ending the abomination of racism. Read more>>
Safety Without Police: What will stand in the place of the outmoded, harmful emblems and institutions? What can and should new systems look like? What new programs and justice models can replace the police? Read more>>
The Militarized Assault On the Right To Protest: Constitutional lawyer Mara Verheyden-Hilliard speaks about the illegality of militarized repression, and how activists can fight back to protect the rights of everyone to help end police violence and lawless impunity. Read more>>
Understanding Trump’s Game Plan In Portland Could Be Key To Preventing A Coup In November: Defeating Trump’s “law and order” strategy will mean creating a plan to win based on our strengths and his weaknesses. Read more>>
Nonviolence News Happy Hour: Join with others to explore the stories in Nonviolence News. Share your favorite headlines, your burning questions, the most creative tactics, and ideas for taking action in your own community. (Aug 21) Learn more>>
Bracing for the Wave: Eviction Defense Messaging: Join Community Alliance of Tenants, City-Wide Tenant Union of Rochester and Right To The City Alliance to learn more about how to create messaging for eviction defense and blockades. We’ll hear from organizers about how to frame messaging that defines housing as a human right, helps to keep people in their homes, and how to tailor your message to different audiences. (August 4 – Online) Learn more>>
Abolition Action Zaps: Join Showing UP For Racial Justice as they launch five Wednesdays in a row of weekly Abolition Action Zaps. They will take action together on new and pressing campaigns each week to get feds out of cities, #FreeThemAll, #DefundThePolice and ICE, and demand justice as part of Black and people of color led campaigns for collective liberation. (July 29th-Aug 26) Learn more>>
Prevent War, Ban Nuclear Weapons: Participate in one or both of two online meetings focusing on moving toward solutions for the planetary problem of 14,000 nuclear weapons: if we do not abolish them, sooner or later they will be used. (Aug 5 & 6) Learn more>>
Candlelight Peace Action Against Nuclear Weapons: Take action in solidarity with Nagoya, Japan, and cities around the world. (Aug 8) Learn more>>
Ban Militarized Policing In Your Local Area: Charlottesville, VA, banned militarized police. Here’s how you can work to do the same. Learn more >>
#FloodICE With Faux Applications To Their Vigilante Citizens Academy: Thousands have sent in mock applications to bog down ICE’s new program. Learn more>>
Nonviolence Retreat w/ MK Gandhi Institute: Join nonviolence practitioners from near and far to explore the wonders of the world of Nonviolence within, between, and among ourselves. Develop the will to embrace nonviolence by learning about Gandhian Nonviolence, Kingian Nonviolence, and Nonviolent Communication. (Aug 10-14) Learn more>>
Nonviolence In Action: Planning & Strategy Webinar: Join Nonviolence News Editor Rivera Sun to learn how to organize effective actions, powerful campaigns, and movements for change. (Aug 18) Read More>>
Donate to the McDonald‘s Workers Strike Fund: Bay Area McDonald’s workers are on strike for several reasons, including racism and economic injustice. You can support them by donating to the strike fund. Read More>>
Pledge To Move Your Money From Fossil Fuels: Friends don’t let friends bank on fossil fuels. Here’s where you can pledge to move your money, and encourage everyone you know to join you. Read More>>
Campaign Nonviolence National Conference ONLINE: Join nonviolence visionaries, scholars and practitioners as they share their expertise from a wide variety of fields. They will offer concrete pathways to build the transformed world our hearts long for, a world free from the violence of racism, poverty, war and the environmental crisis. Join us in embracing the nonviolent shift, connecting with each other and committing to creating a just, healthy and sustainable world for all. (Aug 6-8) Learn more>>
Hibakusha Remembrance Webinar: In the hour-long session, with time for Q&A, these experts will address the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, the public health impact of nuclear war, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the state of international law and other matters to help us all make meaningful the vow: “Never Again.” (August 6th) Read more>>
Kateri Peace Conference: Bending the Arc: Striving for Peace, Justice in an Age of Endless War: The 22nd annual peace and justice conference will be held online this year. (August 21-22) Learn more>>