Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
In this week’s Nonviolence News, the 3,000 Columbia University teachers ended their historic strike and won several significant gains in their new contract. Meanwhile, 8,000 grocery store workers are on strike across the United States, namely because they can’t afford to buy groceries on their wages. Pakistani women organized a sit-in demonstration protesting lengthy power outages. Migrants and refugees are pushing for their rights and facing police violence, including Haitians in Mexico City, Afghans in Indonesia, and Sudanese in Libya. And the Aboriginal Tent Embassy Resistance in Australia is marking 50-years of continuous organizing for their rights.
Recent climate actions are impressive and uplifting. Serbians turned out in the streets for a 100,000-person strong climate march that shutdown the highway. South Korea’s grandmothers and grandfathers are taking climate action, holding rallies and carrying messages to their grandchildren. In Australia, a bold climate action group hit the emergency stop buttons and scaled enormous coal equipment to shutdown one of their largest ports. Extinction Rebellion’s global newsletter shares other highlights from Finland, Tanzania, Argentina, and beyond.
Our special report 101 Victories for the Earth also inspired this article on how we can practice “nonviolence toward the Earth” in policy and practice, uplifting stories of nonviolent action to stop fossil fuels, divestment campaigns, restoration and regeneration projects, the Rights of Nature, and more. It shows the scope of what’s possible in the world-to-come.
Yours toward a nonviolent future,
Rivera Sun
Photo Credit: 100,000 Serbians shut down the highway during a climate march.
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Solidarity Wins in Columbia Strike Victory: The 3,000 striking student workers didn’t get everything they came for in the tentative four-year contract, but they did wrest significant concessions, including wage increases and child care stipend increases, from one of the wealthiest private universities in the country. Read more>>
Activist Pressure Pauses New Jersey Pipeline: Faced with strident opposition from community and climate activists, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Thursday intervened to stop a vote on a controversial fracked gas power plant in Newark pending further review of the project’s environmental impact. Read more>>
London Jury Acquits Three Extinction Rebellion Activists: Three Extinction Rebellion activists who disrupted a London train during rush hour were acquitted by a jury Friday. ”When a jury hears the truth about the escalating climate crisis, with the depth and seriousness they won’t get from the government or the media, they understand the urgent need to act.” Read more>>
How a Battle for a Piece of Forest in Nova Scotia Echoes the Global War for Our Biosphere: In Nova Scotia, vital ecosystems have been under attack by extractive or exploitative industries for decades. Recently, a hard-fought battle succeeded in stopping the development of a precious piece of land on the eastern shore of the province. It shows that these battles can be won, but we must unite to fight them, and we must do it now before the madness of ecocide ends with the finality of extinction. Read more>>
Three Bird Species Are Bouncing Back In The British Isles: Heralded as conservation success stories, these birds have come back from the brink and offer hope for other rewilding projects. Read more>>
Tohono O’odham Woman Found Not Guilty In Border Wall Protest: A judge ruled that a Tohono O’odham woman is not guilty of criminal action in protesting border wall construction on her ancestral land, saying the prosecution imposed a substantial burden on the exercise of her religion. Read more>>
Where MLK’s Vision Is Starting to Be Realized: Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of a racially integrated America might still be far off. But some cities are finally atoning for past racial sins and enacting policies to dismantle segregation. Read more>>
15,000 Pounds of Powdered Milk Delivered To Cuba: On January 15, 2022, the organizations Puentes de Amor, The People’s Forum and CODEPINK sent a cargo plane loaded with 15,000 pounds of powdered milk from Miami to Cuba. Since the pandemic and the disruption of food supplies it has caused, there has been a shortage of powdered milk in Cuba, which is normally given out by the state—for free—to children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with medical needs. Due to the reluctance of U.S. companies and banks to deal with Cuba for fear of running afoul of U.S. sanctions, Cuba buys imported milk—at an inflated cost. Read more>>
Pakistani Women Protest Against Gas & Electricity Outages: A group of Pakistani women protested against prolonged gas and electricity outages. Blocking the road, holding placards and shouting slogans, they demanded from the government and elected representatives in the area to end gas and power outages. Read more>>
‘We Are Not Terrorists’ — Kazakhstanis Oppose Government Corruption With Nonviolent Action: Journalists Sher Kashimov and Colleen Wood shed light on the repression and manipulation of peaceful protest in Kazakhstan. In the first weekend of 2022 gas prices doubled in Kazakhstan as the result of a three-year-long gradual phase-out of state subsidies for fuel. Several thousand drivers in Zhanaozen, a small town in western Kazakhstan, started protesting the rising prices. It led to a mass uprising. Read more>>
In Sudan, Protests Continue To Demand End To Military Rule: The ongoing and well-organized protests are calling for civilian government, for the military to return to its barracks and to withdraw from the political scene. Read more>>
Cambodian Police Allege Casino Protest Was Funded By Foreigners: Cambodian authorities have claimed protests outside a Phnom Penh casino where workers are demanding the reinstatement of union leaders are being funded by foreign and local NGOs and have arrested a senior organizer. Read more>>
#STOPCOPCITY Resistance Continues As Bulldozing Ensures: Police in DeKalb County and Atlanta respond with helicopters, drones as local residents gather to protect land in South River Forest. Read more>>
East Bay Kaiser Therapists Hold Strike, March on MLK Day: Mental health clinicians at Kaiser Permanente’s Oakland and Richmond locations said the health care giant went back on its promise to make MLK Day a paid holiday this year. Read more>>
Oakland Unified Teachers To Stage Another ‘Sickout’ Over COVID Safety: Teachers at several Oakland schools say they will stage another “sickout” today to support students who are demanding more COVID safety measures. Read more>>
Hunger Strike Continues At Rikers Island Prison: Inmates have complained of indifference by officials regarding the risk of COVID-19 spread, inadequate heating during winter, lack of proper hygiene and rising violence inside the prison. Read more>>
Protests In US After White Off-Duty Officer Shoots & Kills Black Man: The fatal shooting of an unarmed African American man by an off-duty white police officer under mysterious circumstances has fueled outrage in a North Carolina town, where residents and relatives of the victim protested. The death of Jason Walker threatens to catapult racism back into the spotlight as Black Americans demand justice over several killings that have highlighted the United States’s struggles with gun laws, police impunity, and racial inequality. Read more>>
Community Caravans Through South LA For Social Justice On MLK Day: Community members and activists caravanned down Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard on Monday in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Read more>>
A Cop Tried To Arrest Him For Hoodie – And That Was Just The Start Of The Harassment: A fraught encounter caught on video between a San Bernardino sheriff and a man walking in his own neighborhood reveals troubling truisms about the continued expansion and abuse of unchecked police power. Watch here>>
Palestinian Rights Campaigners Protest Against Destruction of Homes In Sheikh Jarrah: Campaigners demonstrated outside the Israel embassy in London today in protest against destruction of homes in Sheikh Jarrah, east Jerusalem. Demonstrators called the protest — organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Friends of al-Aqsa, Stop the War, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) among others — “to remind the Israeli government that its recent expulsion of the Salhiya family from their home will not be ignored.” Read more>>
Seniors Join Climate Fight In South Korea, Redress For ‘Dark Side’ Of Economic Boom: Calling themselves 60+ Climate Action, the seniors staged a rally outside the city’s historic Tapgol Park and marched to a nearby plaza in downtown Seoul, wearing green face masks and carrying hand-drawn signs with personal messages to their grandchildren. Read more>>
Summit Strengthens Alliances Against Coastal Gaslink Pipeline: The hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en Nation hosted a Peace and Unity Summit in the town of Smithers on Jan. 15. Wet’suwet’en leaders and representatives of other Indigenous nations gathered to offer solidarity and support in the fight against the Coastal GasLink pipeline. Read more>>
Staff Blow Whistle On UK Environment Agency That ‘No Longer Deters Polluters’: Staff at England’s Environment Agency say it has been cut back to such an extent that they cannot do their jobs and the regulator is no longer a deterrent to polluters. Officers say cuts and operational decisions have made England’s regulator ‘toothless’. Read more>>
Extinction Rebellion’s New Kids On The Block(ade): There has been an amazing array of new groups and campaigns popping up, many using bold tactics and fresh approaches to push nonviolent direct action (NVDA) to new levels. Read more>>
Extinction Rebellion Global Newsletter #60. Resistance Is Fertile: Serbian rebels used massive street blockades against a new lithium mine. Tenacious rebels of Elokapina (XR Finland) got their Environment Minister recently held her first climate crisis briefing to the press and public. Australian activists shut down a coal mine by hanging from immense machinery. And more. Read more>>
Climate Scientists Demand PR Firms Ditch Fossil Fuel Companies: “To put it simply, advertising and public relations campaigns for fossil fuels must stop,” states an open letter to ad agencies and major firms. Read more>>
Kroger Employees in Colorado Have Had Enough — Thousands Are Now on Strike: On Wednesday, January 12, more than eight thousand workers at around eighty King Soopers and City Market grocery stores in Colorado went on strike after declining what the stores’ parent company, Kroger, called its “last, best, and final offer” on Tuesday. Read more>>
Leaked Memo Reveals Kroger Executives Knew For Years That Most Workers Live In Poverty: An explosive new document obtained by More Perfect Union reveals that supermarket giant Kroger has long been aware that its workers can’t afford basic necessities and struggle to survive. “I literally work at a grocery store and can’t afford to eat regularly.” Read more>>
Poor People’s Campaign Readies ‘Massive, Nonviolent’ Effort to Save Democracy: On June 18, the Poor People’s Campaign and its partners in organized labor, the civil rights movement, and religious communities are planning to mobilize their members and allies from across the U.S. to Washington, D.C. for what they hope will be the largest mass assembly of poor people and low-wage workers in this nation’s history. “We are not in this for a moment, but for a movement,” said Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II. “Our deadline is victory.” Read more>>
At Brooklyn Housing Court, the Eviction Flood Gates Open: Eviction defenders tabling outside help at-risk tenants learn their rights, use them.Their four-foot long fold-up table was covered in know-your-rights pamphlets. The sign hanging over the front of the table read, “Brooklyn Eviction Defense: Stay and Fight Evictions! Your neighbors are here to support you!” Read more>>
Women Protest Murder of Lesbian Couple In Juarez, Mexico: Women’s rights and LGBT activists march in protest of Sunday’s brutal killing of a lesbian couple in Juarez. Mexican police deny the murders were a hate crime and said the women were killed because of their “line of work” and the people they were associated with. Read more>>
Salvadoran Woman Jailed For Abortion Is Granted Probation: The Citizen Group for the Abortion Decriminalization (ACDA) explained that the woman, identified as Kenya, was raped at age 17, became pregnant, and suffered an obstetric emergency, which the Police considered an abortion attempt. She had served 9 years of a 30 year sentence. Read more>>
2021 Was A Pivotal Year For Abortion Laws In America: A half century of abortion rights for American women faltered this year. “The trend around the globe is toward liberalization of abortion,” Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said. “If the U.S. takes this step back, we’re just going to have to go forward.” Read more>>
South Dakotans Protest Anti-Trans Bills: several organizations in South Dakota held protests against bills in this year’s legislative session they say are aimed at the transgender community. Read more>>
Afghan Refugees Face Violence From Indonesian Police During Protest: A peaceful protest of Afghan refugees was violently broken up by police on January 17 in Pekanbaru, Indonesia, a city on the island of Sumatra. The refugees were attempting to draw international attention to their years of displacement, mistreatment, and neglect by the Indonesian government and the international community. Police dispersed the protest by beating attendees and striking them with batons. Several attendees were reportedly injured. Read more>>
Police Clash With Haitian Asylum Seekers In Mexico City: They were peacefully protesting in order to obtain some document that would allow them to get a job and rent a house on their own. Read more>>
Libyan Police Violently Break Up Migrant Protests: Libyan security forces have raided and violently broke up a protest sit-in by migrants outside a shuttered UN community centre in the capital of Tripoli, activists and migrants said. Read more>>
Salvadorans Protest Against Bukele In Peace Commemoration: On Sunday, thousands of people took to the streets of El Salvador to remember the 1992 Peace Accords, which were signed in Mexico and ended a civil war that left some 75,000 dead and nearly 8,000 missing. Read more>>
Overwhelming Support For Artists’ Boycott Of Sydney Festival: To date, more than 37 performers have withdrawn and the list grows by the day. The call was made by the Palestine solidarity movement because the Sydney Festival sought and accepted $20,000 from the Israeli Embassy. Read more>>
The US Military Is Poisoning The Water In O’ahu: Native Hawaiians have been leading a drawn-out fight against the US military’s poisoning of the local water supply from leaking petroleum at the Red Hill Fuel Storage Facility in O’ahu. Read more>>
Strengthening Intergenerational Work On Israel-Palestine: Age bias and discrimination are hurting intergenerational collaboration. An IfNotNow workshop offers lessons for bridging the divide. Read more>>
Peace Group Protests Against Raytheon Weapons Corporation: Peace protesters gathered outside the weapon manufacturer Raytheon’s Andover facility Thursday to protest the companies sales to Saudi Arabia, which have been used in the country’s deadly war in Yemen. Read more>>
How Nonviolent Action Is Protecting The Earth: Nonviolence toward the Earth is neither a lofty dream nor a utopian vision. It is practical, necessary and our only choice. Read more>>
50 Years of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy Resistance: The Aboriginal Tent Embassy will mark Australia’s longest running site of continuing resistance — 50 years. As Eatock said in 2012: “The Tent Embassy would live on in our hearts, we said, and you can’t take that away from us. We said to the authorities: whatever you do you cannot win.” Read more>>
Inequality Kills – Unparalleled Action Needed: The unparalleled action needed to combat unprecedented inequality in the wake of COVID-19. A special report from Oxfam on inequality and solutions. Read more>>
How To Get A University To Divest: “We educated thousands of students, inspiring them to sign petitions, attend rallies and meet with their faculties and administration. We asked the faculty to speak up against investments their employer might make that would spell the end of our species. We also drew media attention with press releases, interviews and direct actions, including the construction of a fake pipeline through the main campus.” Read more>>
How Did Kazakhstan Shut Down The Internet? When Kazakh authorities pulled the plug on the internet during unrest last week, they were following a tried and tested play from the authoritarian rulebook. They often choke the internet during protest rallies. But this was unprecedented. The state-run provider has offered customers a discount for January. Read more>>
How Indigenous Grandmothers Stopped A Gas Pipeline: Alton Gas finally abandoned a project that would have pumped 10,000 cubic metres of brine into the mouth of the Stewiacke River in the middle of Nova Scotia, leaving behind subterranean caverns where the company planned to store natural gas. For seven years Mi’kmaq grandmothers worked to stop the plan. They succeeded. Read more>>
How The Pandemic Threw Fuel On The Growing Housing Justice Movement: From Santa Fe to Los Angeles and beyond, the pandemic showed that housing justice was a siloed issue. It was a life-saving necessity entwined with dozens of other issues. Organizers and activists hope the pandemic has changed how America thinks of housing for good. Read more>>
Organizing 101: How To Be A (Powerful, Soulful, Effective, and Nonviolent) Activist: Have you ever wanted to be an effective organizer? Or more soulful, creative, caring [insert your favorite word here] activist? In this new 6-week course, Pace e Bene trainers Henry Cervantes and Rivera Sun will explore the heart and soul of what it takes to be a talented organizer. From nuts and bolts to nuances and subtleties, this online course will cover a range of highly-useful skills for making social change. (Feb 2-March 9) Learn more>>
Tell Citibank To Stop Funding Fossil Fuel Expansion: Citibank is the world’s second-largest funder of fossil fuels. Since the Paris Agreement, it has loaned more than $238 billion to the corporations most causing the climate crisis. But we’re anticipating a new climate plan from Citi any day now. Send them a message>>
Embodying Nonviolent Communication: Learning Nonviolent Communication offers one avenue for engaging deeply with ourselves and one another so we’re better equipped to keep doing the work of building a future that works for all. Join us for five weeks of online exploration and practice in Nonviolent Communication through thought, speech, and embodied practices. (Starts Jan 27) Learn more>>
1-Year Anniversary Of Int’l Ban On Nukes: The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons reached the required 50 states parties for its entry into force, and it became law on January 22, 2021. Let’s celebrate the 1-year anniversary of nuclear weapons being banned on January 22nd. Learn more>>
Reducing the Threat of Nuclear War – Rebuilding a Broader Movement: With Congress appropriating funds for new and upgraded nuclear weapons and delivery systems, the need to counter these misguided policies has become acute. The 2022 Conference will follow the general pattern of previous conferences, but with increased emphasis on coordinating efforts of advocates, and expanding outreach to organizations and constituencies outside the world of nuclear disarmament advocates. (Jan 29) Learn more>>
Third Harmony Book Club: In this intimate, participatory book club with the author, dive into the startling new understandings of nonviolence articulated in Michael Nagler’s book, The Third Harmony: Nonviolence & the New Story of Human Nature. Facilitated by Veronica Pelicaric, this 4-session, weekly book club will unpack the scientific and spiritual underpinnings of nonviolence, looking at the personal, interpersonal, and global applications.(Wednesdays in Feb) Learn more>>
Voluntary Simplicity: From Gandhi to Thoreau to Thich Nhat Hanh to Wally and Juanita Nelson, voluntary simplicity runs through the heart of nonviolence. In this 6-week course, we will examine how—and why—simplifying our lives supports nonviolence as a way of life. (Starts Feb 22) Learn more>>
