Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
Here’s something to cheer you up after this rough, tough year: when I sat down and reviewed 2,343 stories in Nonviolence News’ 2020 archive, I found a startling surprise. We have 300+ victories and success stories to celebrate!
Over the holidays, I’ll be sending out a series of special reports highlighting collections of wins in four categories: Political Change & Social Justice, Racial Justice, Earth & Climate Justice, Pandemic-Response & Economic Justice.. Remember, these are just some of the vast number of wins for movements worldwide. It’s important to take time to honor and celebrate the achievements of these movements. They’ve worked tirelessly for change, often against great odds. By honoring what has been accomplished, we learn from their stories, and strengthen ourselves in deep and meaningful ways.
What can you do with these special reports? SHARE them!
One of the challenges advocates of nonviolence face is the false perception that these tools don’t work. Nonviolence is seen as weak, ineffective, and taking too long. But the 300 success stories and victories in 2020 tell a different truth: nonviolence is everywhere and it’s working. Share the individual stories that inspire you most. Send the link to this round-up to a friend. Highlight these special reports in your organization’s newsletter. Nonviolence News has a rare and powerful vantage point on what’s happening in our world. Sharing these stories helps others see how nonviolence is literally changing the world.
We’ll start with 50+ success stories in political change and social justice. These include Bolivia ousting the right-wing coupist, Chile winning a citizen-led constitutional rewriting process, the world banning nuclear weapons despite the 9 nuclear nations’ formidable opposition, the Mi’kmaq Nation winning the Lobster War, and more. With strikes and boycotts, protests and blockades, nonviolent action by determined and passionate people brought about these changes. Most of these campaigns used exclusively nonviolent approaches; a few had incidents of violence or property destruction amid vast numbers of people waging nonviolent struggle. We include these latter stories to honor the role of nonviolence in achieving these gains.
In celebration and respect for all those who made these gains possible,
Rivera Sun, Editor
Photo Credit: Chile celebrates the vote to rewrite the constitution, ditching the Pinochet-era laws.
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Former President Evo Morales Returns To Bolivia After Being Forced Into Exile: One year after a right-wing military coup forced him to flee the country, former president Evo Morales is back … and the right wing power-grabbers are out of power. How did it happen? Mass nonviolent action, street blockades, and national strikes. Read more>>
ICAN Makes Nuclear Weapons Illegal – Ban Goes Into Effect on Jan 22: The passage of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is evidence that millions of people across the world believe another world is possible. Read more>>
Chile Celebrates Scrapping Pinochet’s Constitution: After months of protests and withstanding brutal police repression, Chilean citizens won a citizen-driven constitutional rewrite and an end to Dictator Pinochet’s constitution. Read more>>
Female Genital Mutilation Banned in Sudan: In a significant victory for women and girls’ rights in Sudan, the country’s transitional government banned the practice. Now, the sovereign council needs to back it up. Editor’s Note: Remember, the recent nonviolent Sudanese revolution was led by women. Coincidence? I think not. Read more >>
#KuToo Movement Gets Japan Airlines To Ditch High Heels and Skirts: In a victory for the #MeToo spin-off, the campaign calling for uniform reform succeeded in getting a fashion change at the airline company. The required high heels that have been causing the stewardesses pain are gone … and they can choose to wear slacks or skirts. Read more >>
Turkish Women Protect Agreement To Prevent Violence Against Women: When the “family values” faction tried to get Turkey to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention – an agreement that works to prevent violence against women – the public outcry of women postponed the decision. Read more>>
Thanks to Union Organizers, Nearly Half a Million Grocery Workers Received Pay Raises & Health Benefits: The union pushed Kroger’s Grocery to rise to the challenges of these times. Read more >>
German Peace Groups Halt Lego War Toy Sales: Lego planned to release a combat vehicle – German peace groups opposed it and stopped the release. Their campaign pushed Lego to recognize that war and military toys are not “cool” for the children who live in war zones … or for any children, really. Read More>>
Remember the Lobster War? Mi’kmaq Just Won It. Big Time: Mi’kmaq just bought 50% of the shares of the largest lobster fishing fleet in the East Coast – literally becoming the new bosses of the people who were burning their boats and lobster sheds last month. Read more>>
Palestinian 100-Day Hunger Striker Wins Freedom: Imprisoned Palestinian Maher Al-Akhras engaged in a heroic 103-day hunger strike and was recently released. The hunger strike brought the issue of the captive movement and administrative arrests back to public attention. The strike was accompanied by nonviolent action by Palestinian people in numerous locations. Read more>>
Peru Protests Force Resignation of Interim President After Previous President Was Ousted by “Parliamentary Coup”: Peru is in crisis. The week-long regime of interim president Manuel Merino has been brought crashing down in the face of mass protests by tens of thousands of angry protesters. Three people were killed and dozens injured throughout the week when demonstrators took to the streets in Peru’s major cities, including the capital Lima, to protest the ousting of popular president Martín Vizcarra. Read more>>
Video Game Writers Win Historic Strike: Twenty-one writers who were contractors that create scripts for the mobile app Lovestruck: Choose Your Romance went on strike on July 15 — a move nearly unheard of in the video game industry. Calling themselves Voltage Organized Workers, the group demanded better pay and workplace transparency. They are the first game writers’ strike to win their demands. Read more>>
Scotland Becomes First Country To Provide Free Period Products: In an achievement for gender equity, Scotland has become the first country in the world to provide free products for women’s (and gender-fluid individuals’) menses. Read more>>
Armenian Protests Over Soldier’s Death Halt Cover-Up: Relatives of an Armenian soldier who died in what authorities called a suicide protested against the claims and succeeded in launching an investigation that led to the arrests of 3 soldiers in the unit, including the son of a powerful oligarch. Read more >>
King County, WA, Will No Longer Incarcerate Youth: They plan to convert the remaining detention units at the county’s juvenile jail to “other uses” no later than 2025, citing a desire to move public funding away from “systems that are rooted in oppression.” Read more>>
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>>
1,000 Acres of Big Sur Land Returned To Esselen People After 250 Years: The tribe will build a sweat lodge and traditional village to conduct traditional ceremonies and teach the public about their culture. There will be no permanent homes or businesses on the land. Read more>>
University of California Santa Cruz Grad Students Win Strike: The university agreed to reinstate 41 grad students, who had lost their teaching appointments, and give them an additional quarter of funding and an employment guarantee for the upcoming academic year. This comes after withholding grades for 5 months and organizing throughout the entire UC system. Read more>>
Amid Protests, USPS Concedes To Suspend Changes Until After Election: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says agency won’t remove equipment or cut hours amid congressional scrutiny ahead of an expected surge in mail-in voting. More protests for restoration of earlier closed boxes and shut-down sorting machines are scheduled for Saturday, Aug 21st. Read more>>
NORCOR (Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility) Ends ICE Contract: After sustained community action, this major prison facility and ICE ended their contract. Activists were upholding Oregon’s Sanctuary Laws as they campaigned to break ties to migrant detention centers. Read more>>
Lebanese Prime Minister and His Entire Cabinet Resign Amid Mass Protests Over Deadly Beirut Explosion: Outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab called the devastating blast a “crime” and blamed it on the “chronic corruption” of Lebanon’s political elite. Read more>>
Argentina Passes Landmark LGBTQIA Employment Law: Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez Friday approved a decree stating that at least 1 percent of public sector jobs must be for transsexuals, transvestites, and transgender people. Only 1 in 10 trans individuals is currently employed. 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 >>
Dictionary.com Updates 15,000 Words To Eliminate Prejudiced Language: Dictionary.com is making major changes to more than 15,000 of its definitions, from capitalizing Black to updating entries about sexual orientation, aiming to foreground people over “clinical language”. Read more>>
$600 Million Settlement For Flint, MI, After Water Crisis: Tens of thousands of families are eligible for compensation. Most of this money will be allocated to children in the city who were exposed to lead-contaminated water in their household pipes. Read more>>
Congress Finally Passes Bill To Address Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women: The bill boosts coordination and data collection between tribal, local, state and federal law enforcement in cases involving missing and murdered Native women. It requires federal agencies to get recommendations from tribes on how to enhance the safety of Native women, and requires new guidelines for responding to these cases, in consultation with tribes. Read more>>
Social Media Giants Agree To Content Reforms After Ad Boycott and Celebrity Blackout: Facebook and Twitter were thrown into turmoil in June when leading UK and US businesses pulled advertising from their social networks, saying the time had come for the companies to clean up hate speech and fake news. The technology groups have now agreed adopt a common set of definitions and reporting standards for hate speech and other harmful content, and open themselves to external audits of their systems. Read more>>
Hootsuite Backs Out Of ICE Deal After Public Backlash: The decision by Vancouver-based tech giant Hootsuite to abruptly pull out of a contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency following internal and public backlash should put corporate leaders on notice — be vigilant about who you do business with, experts say. Read more>>
US Border Wall Construction Stopped By Butterflies: The South Texas National Butterfly Center won a court injunction against Trump’s expanded border wall construction. Read more>>
Brazil’s Soccer Federation Adopts Equal Pay For Men and Women: The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) rocked the world of soccer with the announcement that both men and women will have equal income. Every player will receive equal daily rates and prize money when playing with the national squad. Read more>>
Portland, OR, Community Halts Drone Testing Facility: The Port of Portland announced it would cancel a pending lease with Verizon for seven acres of riverfront property in one of Portland, Oregon’s most diverse neighborhoods. The company wanted to lease this area to test drones on Verizon’s 5G network. “We appreciate the Port responding in support of community members and organizations who organized quickly to oppose this facility,” said the Executive Director of the Portland Harbor Community Coalition. Read more>>
Coal Miners Lift Railroad Blockade A group of Kentucky coal miners who blocked a railroad track for three days over unpaid wages have ended their protest, claiming victory after receiving their paychecks. The group was inspired by last year’s rail blockade by other miners who also successfully won unpaid benefits. Read more>>
German Sea Captain’s Conviction For Rescuing Migrants Overturned: A Maltese appeals court on Tuesday overturned the conviction of a German captain of a private ship that rescues migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. Read more >>
Argentina Bans Hazardous Chemicals In Mining: Argentina’s activists and residents forced the government to reinstate a law that bans hazardous chemicals (including cyanide) in mining activities using 8 days of marches, candlelight vigils, and enormous protests. Protecting water was a major theme in the actions. Read more >>
Canada Bans Assault Weapons: Citing violent misogyny as a problem, the government banned assault weapons following the recent mass shooting in Nova Scotia. Read more >>
Idaho Becomes First State To Take Official Action on MMIW: Designating a Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women is considered the first step in a set of policy changes to address the issue. Read more >>
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 >>
Public Pressure Saves .Org Web Domains: In a move celebrated by advocacy groups across the globe as “a major victory for the millions of nonprofits, civil society organizations, and individuals who make .org their home online,” a body that oversees web addresses on Thursday blocked a takeover of the top-level domain by the private equity firm Ethos Capital. Read more >>
Anonymous Takes Down 10K Child Porn Dark Web Sites: Hacking for a cause, an unidentified hacker associated with Anonymous targeted a dark web server that hosted child porn sites. Read more >>
Dick’s Sporting Goods Is Ending Gun Sales At 440 Stores: The company noticed their business had improved after they announced they would stop selling guns at some of their stores so they’ve decided to end gun sales at 440 more locations. Read more >>
Colorado Abolishes Death Penalty: Colorado became the 22nd state to abolish the death penalty in the United States. Read more >>
Trump Administration Backs Down On International Student Rules: Facing blowback and lawsuits, the Trump administration is rescinding its directive blocking international students from staying in the United States while taking online-only classes. Read more>>
Brazil Court Protects Petrobus Workers Who Went On Strike Against Being Fired: 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 >>
Indigenous Peoples In Argentina Win Unprecedented Ruling: It is beyond doubt that this ruling, which sets a new standard at the continental level, is a first sign of justice for a centuries-old debt to the Indigenous peoples. However, despite its paradigmatic nature, this precedent remains precarious. Read more>>
Supreme Court Upholds Treaty Rights For Native Tribes In Eastern Oklahoma: “Today we are asked whether the land these treaties promised remains an Indian reservation for purposes of federal criminal law. Because Congress has not said otherwise, we hold the government to its word,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion. Read more>>
Thailand’s Cabinet Legalizes Same-Sex Partnerships: This is considered a milestone, and awards equal rights to same-sex partnerships as to heteronormative marriages. Read more>>
Supreme Court DACA Win Shows “Sustained Pressure of Activism” Works: The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled 5-4 against President Trump’s attempt to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Read more>>
Boston Bans Facial Recognition Surveillance: “Boston should not use racially discriminatory technology that threatens the privacy and basic rights of our residents,” council member Michelle Wu said in a statement. Read more>>
Costa Rica Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage: The country is the sixth Latin American country to do so. 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 >>
Facebook Content Moderators Win Mental Health Pay Lawsuit: 11,000 people who sort through pornography, violence, and cruelty on the social media platform won a $52 million lawsuit. These workers earn as little as $28,000/year and have no mental health coverage. The lawsuit helps those with depression, PTSD, and work-related trauma. Read more >>
Princeton Agrees To Equal Pay Settlement: After years of contesting the findings of the federal pay discrimination investigation, Princeton University has agreed to pay nearly $1.2 million — including $925,000 in back pay and at least $250,000 in future salary adjustments — to female professors. Read more>>
In A Historic Win For Working People, Seattle Taxes Big Biz: The Tax Amazon movement claimed “a historic victory for working people” on Monday when Seattle’s city council passed a new tax on big businesses to fund local economic relief. Read more>>
Washington State Law Puts Limits On Facial Recognition Software: Last week, a Washington state law went into effect that requires a warrant for ongoing and realtime facial recognition surveillance. Read more>>
Heartened by these stories? So were we!
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