Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
Let’s start with some good news: a landmark case has ruled that Kenya must pay reparations to displaced Indigenous Okiek people. Also, a new report looks at how the Pacific Northwest has defeated 70% of the fossil fuel projects it has confronted since 2012. Germany is returning a goddess statue to Cameroon. California has passed the US’ toughest plastics ban. In the largest land-back agreement in Minnesota and one of the largest-ever in Indian Country, the Bois Forte Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe today restored more than 28,000 acres of land within its reservation boundaries back to tribal ownership.
International solidarity across the global north and south is escalating pressure on fossil fuels companies. One campaign (pictured above) is bringing an anti-crude oil struggle from Uganda and Tanzania to allies in the United States. Another is targeting Deutsche Bank and pushing it to divest. A third blocked the doors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Brazilian workers are striking over a murdered journalist and Indigenous organizer. Tunisian judges are still on strike for a fourth week. Peru’s farmers and truckers have halted work over high fuel and fertilizer prices. As US activists rally in opposition of the Supreme Court’s anti-abortion ruling, their European counterparts are trying to strengthen reproductive rights. Meanwhile, this week’s Nonviolence News also includes an article that looks at how Latin American women have strengthened abortion access – even against steep odds – in Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, and Argentina.
As the United States (where I live) commemorates Independence Day, I’m encouraging friends to set off the fireworks with a bit of nonviolent history. Most people learn that the United States won its liberty with “the shot heard around the world”. But it was really the ten years of robust nonviolent struggle (from 1765-1776) secured the colonies’ functional independence. Learn more here and tell your friends and family.
In solidarity toward a world of peace and justice,
Rivera Sun
Photo Credit: Climate activists demonstrated against EACOP, the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline.
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Indigenous Ogiek Win Landmark Reparations Ruling From African Court: The Republic of Kenya must pay the Indigenous Ogiek people reparations for decades of illegal evictions from their ancestral land in the Mau Forest. That’s according to a ruling from the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The decision, which is the first time the court has called for reparations for an Indigenous community, said that the Kenyan government must pay the Ogiek for both material and moral damages. The case may set the tone for other Indigenous rights cases in Africa. Read more>>
Formerly Incarcerated Women in Tennessee Win Reforms Ending Shackled Births: Advocates for reproductive rights in Tennessee won an important concession — an end to pregnancy in cuffs and chains. Until recently, pregnant Tennesseans behind bars were handcuffed and chained at the belly and ankles during pregnancy, including while in labor or shortly after having their baby. It’s a practice known as shackling … but organizers succeeded in getting the last dignity struck down. Now, only 11 states lack legal protections against the practice. Read more>>
Offshore Wind Installations Surged Threefold Last Year: In 2021, countries connected 21.1 gigawatts of offshore wind energy to the grid, which was triple the amount in 2020, according to a new report from an industry group. The growth in offshore wind is happening as countries adopt clean energy policies to support development and as equipment costs decline, as Maria Gallucci reports for Canary Media. The growth in 2021 brought the cumulative total to 56 gigawatts, less than 1 percent of which is in U.S. waters. China was the leader in new construction last year, while the United States has many big projects in various phases of development, but has yet to complete any of them. Read more>>
The Pacific Northwest Has Defeated Dozens Of Fossil Fuel Projects: New large-scale fossil fuel projects have become mostly unworkable in the Pacific Northwest, with dozens canceled over the past decade due to fierce opposition from local communities. Since 2012, an estimated 55 coal, oil, and natural gas projects have been proposed for the Pacific Northwest — encompassing Oregon and Washington, as well as British Columbia. But more than 70 percent of them have been defeated. Read more>>
Germany Returns Goddess Statue To Cameroon: Germany will return a goddess statue that was stolen from Cameroon 120 years ago, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation said on Monday, part of a growing trend to give back artefacts taken during the colonial era. The female figure, known as Ngonnso’, will be returned to the kingdom of Nso’ in northwestern Cameroon. It was taken by colonial officer Kurt von Pavel and donated to Berlin’s Ethnological Museum in 1903. Read more>>
Bois Forte Band Gets 28,000 Acres of Land Back in Northern Minnesota: In the largest land-back agreement in Minnesota and one of the largest-ever in Indian Country, the Bois Forte Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe today restored more than 28,000 acres of land within its reservation boundaries back to tribal ownership. The purchase of the 28,089 acres in northern Minnesota from The Conservation Fund will restore lands that were sold by the federal government to non-Natives as “surplus” under the Allotment Act, which attempted to break up tribal reservations. Read more>>
Spain Invests in Social Economy: This month, the Spanish government announced that it will be investing an unprecedented $800 million euros into the social economy around four pillars: worker buyouts, boosting digitalization, social economy hub organizing, and the care economy. The hope is that these investments serve as a model for other European countries to make major investments into the social economy. Read more>>
California Passes Nation’s Toughest Plastic Reduction Bill: The Plastic Pollution Producer Responsibility Act, widely considered the “strongest” plastic reduction policy in the nation, requires a 25 percent reduction of single-use plastic packaging and foodware — both by weight and by the number of items — within the next 10 years. Experts say the bill could prevent 23 million tons of plastic pollution by 2032. Read more>>
Frontline LA Physicians Can’t Pay Rent, So They Threatened To Strike & Won Big: Medical residents and interns in LA County have kept their hospitals running while making minimum wage and struggling to pay rent. Then they overwhelmingly voted to strike and won big. Read more>>
Thousands Protest As G7 Convenes In Germany: About 4,000 protesters gathered in Munich as the Group of Seven (G7) leading economic powers prepared to hold their annual gathering in Germany’s Bavarian Alps. Fifteen groups critical of globalization, from Attac to the World Wildlife Fund, have been calling on people to participate in the demonstrations. Their various demands include a phase-out of fossil fuels, the preservation of biodiversity, social justice and greater efforts to combat hunger. Read more>>
One In Five of Workers Plan to Quit In 2022: The Great Resignation, a term coined in May 2021, describes the record number of people leaving their jobs since the beginning of the pandemic. After an extended period of working from home with no commute, many people have decided their work-life balance has become more important to them. This revolution in the world of work appears to be continuing apace, with one in five workers globally planning to quit in 2022. Read more>>
Brazilian Workers Strike Over Murder of Journalist & Activist: Brazilian workers at FUNAI, the government body responsible for the protection and interests of indigenous Brazilian people, have gone on strike. The workers have gone on strike following the murders of Guardian Journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous activist Bruno Periera while reporting illegal poaching and environmental abuse in the Amazon. Read more>>
Jailed Egyptian-British Activist In Danger Zone of Hunger Strike: The mother of jailed Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah says she is worried there could be a rapid deterioration in his health after nearly 90 days on hunger strike, despite some improvements in his prison conditions. Abd el-Fattah, a 40-year-old blogger who rose to prominence with Egypt’s 2011 uprising, has become too weak to do his own washing or climb to look out of a high window in his cell. Read more>>
Tunisian Judges’ Strike Enters Fourth Week: Tunisian judges decided to extend their national strike for a fourth week in protest against a decision by President Kais Saied to sack dozens of them, a joint statement by the judges unions in the country said on Saturday. Read more>>
This Southern Appalachian Town Uses Co-ops To Build New Communities Around Old Industries: The small town of Morganton, North Carolina is home to The Industrial Commons — and a growing co-op movement that is reinvigorating the region’s once-struggling textile and furniture manufacturing industries, refashioning them around egalitarianism and localism. Read more>>
Peru Truckers And Farmers Strike Over Fuel & Fertilizer Costs: Peru’s truckers and some farm groups will go on strike on Monday after failing to reach agreements with the government seeking measures to reduce the impact of steep global price rises of fuel and fertilizer. Read more>>
Congo Oil Workers Plan Hunger Strike & Work Stoppages: Oil sector workers in Congo Republic will go on a hunger strike starting on Monday over low pay and other demands that have been unmet by the government, the workers’ union said. A second phase of the strike starting June 29 will involve stopping work at all offices and industrial bases in Pointe-Noire, while the hunger strike continues at refineries, oil terminals, onshore and offshore bases. Read more>>
How a Brazilian Town Took A Bet On Basic Income: The seaside town of Maricá, Brazil, was struggling, but it had oil revenue. So the local government started a basic income program based on a local alternative currency. Read more>>
Maine Chipotle Workers Walkout: Workers say that they face long hours and understaffing, leading to safety concerns. The union staged a two-day walkout last week to protest against unsafe working conditions after repeatedly being forced to open the store without proper staffing, putting the employees and the customers at risk, they said. Read more>>
Protests Erupt After Brutal Shooting of Jayland Walker In Akron, Ohio: Local officials plan to release on Sunday body-camera footage of events surrounding the fatal police shooting of a 25-year-old man — a death that has rattled the city, prompted the cancellation of July 4 activities and drawn outrage from racial justice advocates. Walker was stopped for a routine traffic violation, fled the scene, and was shot numerous times minutes later. Read more>>
The Farmers Restoring Hawaii’s Ancient Food Forests That Once Fed An Island: Maui is a hub for GMO research, but Indigenous farmers are trying to bring back the abundant and thriving landscapes of their ancestors. The whole island was once a giant thriving food forest until colonial settlers in the 18th and 19th century stole the land, water and labor to create industrial monocrop plantations – mostly sugar and pineapples for export. Read more>>
Miscarriage Of Justice Catalyzed A Movement Led By Asian Americans: Vincent Chin was beaten to death in Detroit in June 1982, by two white auto workers who reportedly said it was because of him that they had lost their jobs. It took protest for big media to pay attention to the murder, and to the broader context of anti-Asian hatred and scapegoating. The effort launched a movement for racial justice for Asian Americans. Read more>>
Award-Winning Short Film Shows The Making Of A Civil Rights Legend: Based on interviews conducted by Clayborne Carson, “When I Get Grown” tells the story of how Bernard Lafayette became a Freedom Rider. Read more>>
People vs. Fossil Fuels Mobilizes Actions Across US: From Maine to Boston to Hawaii climate organizers sent a message that our planet can’t afford any more delays in making dramatic cuts in carbon emissions. The protests were aimed at pressuring President Biden to take real climate action now and stop all fossil fuel expansion. Read more>>
Climate Activists Across the Global South And North Unite To Stop The East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline: As a movement born in Uganda and Tanzania arrives in the United States, activists are drawing strength from lessons of earlier pipeline battles. Read more>>
Pacific Groups Celebrate Ocean Week By Opposing Deep Sea Mining: Various Pacific groups celebrated Ocean Week and Ocean Day on June 8 by calling on officials to reject deep-sea mining (DSM) in the region. Deep-sea mining is the practice of extracting minerals from the ocean floor, which threatens marine life and ecosystems. Grassroots organizations around the pacific organized protests and events to reflect the growing opposition to DSM. Read more>>
From Peru To Uganda, Activists Call On Deutsche Bank To Drop Fossil Finance: Climate activists from Peru to Uganda are descending on Deutsche Bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt this week to call on Germany’s largest lender to stop financing fossil fuel companies. The demand comes as Deutsche Bank markets itself as a lender that firms can turn to as they transition to a greener future, a strategy it views as key to delivering its own turnaround and boosting profits. Read more>>
Kazakhstan Court Frees Eco-Activists: A pair of environmental activists hounded over their opposition to a gold mining company have been let off the hook by a judge in northern Kazakhstan after spending almost a year facing jail time. The decision leaves the two free, in theory, to return to their activism, although authorities in their home village are currently trying to head off that outcome. Authorities are trying to balance the interests of big business with rising community resistance. Read more>>
Indigenous Organizers in Alaska Lead the Way Toward Livable Climate Future: Indigenous organizers say that any just transition for Alaska must be rooted in Indigenous perspectives, because it is Alaska’s Native nations who have lived in harmony with these lands for over 30,000 years, and whose deep connections, encyclopedic knowledge and spiritual interconnectivity will heal the wounds of the past 100 years of colonization and extractive capitalism. Read more>>
Climate Activists Block IMF Paris Office Doors: Climate activists on Monday blocked entry to the International Monetary Fund’s Paris office with some gluing their hands to its doors, demanding
developing countries’ debt be scrapped to help tackle climate change. The Paris protest is part of a “Debt for climate” global campaign calling on wealthy-nation leaders attending the G7 summit in Germany to cancel the debts of poorer and less industrialized countries, known as the global south. Read more>>
Meet The Appalachian Women Facing Down The Mountain Valley Pipeline: Across years and several southern states, these organizers have helped drive the massive gas pipeline to the brink of defeat. “I have met so many people through this fight,” says Nancy Bouldin of Monroe County, West Virginia. “If you look at any benefits of all this, it’s the people and the connections that have been made.” Read more>>
How Latin American Women Are Winning Abortion Rights: Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina have expanded reproductive rights access and abortion access. None of this would have been possible without feminist activism, networks, and demonstrations and public conversations about the autonomy of women. Read more>>
Turkish Police Detain Thousands In Crackdown On Istanbul PRIDE March: LGBTQ activists attempted to hold a march in Istanbul on Sunday in defiance of the conservative government’s ban on Pride events—and they were met with brutal police repression. Read more>>
Driver Intentionally Rammed Abortion Rights Protesters In Iowa: An unidentified male motorist in Cedar Rapids, Iowa intentionally rammed into several women on Friday night as abortion rights defenders peacefully protested the right-wing U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. The motorist was interviewed by Cedar Rapids police but was not arrested despite footage of the attack. Read more>>
Patagonia Pledges To Bail Out Employees Arrested Protesting For Reproductive Rights: In addition to covering travel costs for those who need to go out of state to get an abortion, Patagonia pledged to pay bail for any employee who was arrested while peacefully protesting. Read more>>
400 Planned Parenthood Workers to Unionize in Upper Midwest: Over 400 workers in Planned Parenthood North Central States’ 28 facilities in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska are voting on whether to unionize this month. Both South and North Dakota have legislation that will ban abortion beginning this month. Iowa is also expected to quickly pass a ban on abortion, making this union election critical for many frontline workers. Read more>>
These Queer-Led Groups Are Securing Housing For LGBTQ+ Youth And Elders: Across the United States, there are many organizations working tirelessly to transform this stark reality of anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination by offering safe spaces, long-term housing, and other resources to LGBTQ+ youth and otherwise marginalized communities. Read more>>
The Radical History Of The First Gay-Straight Alliance: In 1972, high school students in New York City formed a revolutionary group that wanted power, not just pride. Read more>>
As a Former Abortion Doula, Here’s How I’m Facing the Dawn of a Post-Roe World: “We will work to create communities of mutual aid and care that can be our buffers against these far right attacks.” Read more>>
Stop NATO Actions Underway Across Canada: Rallies were held against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) from June 24 to June 30 across Canada. The “Stop the Weapons, Stop the War, Stop NATO” actions coincided with the NATO Summit in Madrid, Spain. Rallies took place in twelve cities in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec and were organized by civil society groups under the Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network. Read more>>
24-Hr Rolling Rally For Peace: We held a non-stop 24-hour rolling rally live streaming on a Zoom channel moving west around the Earth from 2 p.m. in England on June 25 to 4 p.m. in Ukraine on June 26. There were videos from protests, demonstrations, vigils, teach-ins, and speakers at their desks. There was music and art. Read more>>
International Organizations Urge the EU to Block Montenegro’s Accession Until it Stops Militarizing its UNESCO Biosphere Reserve: Local and international environmental and human rights groups have urged the Montenegrin government and the European Union to scrap the project to militarize the Sinjajevina highlands and to listen to the demands of local communities living from this territory. Nevertheless, almost three years after its creation, the government of Montenegro still has not canceled the military ground. Read more>>
The Indigenous Food Cafés Transforming Local Cuisine: The modern food system has a huge carbon footprint. These Indian cafés want to change that. Wild edible plants, which have thrived over hundreds of years, are hardier than cultivated crops and tend to be more resistant to changes in climatic conditions. They are also rich in micronutrients and add to dietary diversity, thus helping reduce malnutrition and improve nutritional security. By using ingredients that are foraged or grown locally without chemicals, the cafés also maintain a very low carbon footprint. Read more>>
How One Activist Is Using Art, Culture And Collaboration To Help Heal His Community: Corey Hagelberg is a social justice artist and community activist leading localized regenerative efforts to reconstruct his hometown of Gary, Indiana into a self-sustaining entity. Read more>>
Gaming for a Greener Future: How a game designer creates games to nurture and promote eco-activism. In efforts to make her hope a reality, Ji works with an eco-focused mindset that includes educating young people through gamification. Her feminist enterprise, Springbay Studios, develops interactive children’s games and experiences that aim to engage kids with environmental science. The climate crisis belongs to everyone. But it’s the youth of today whose future is at stake. Ji’s goal is to empower young people to take action toward building a world where humans and nature live in harmony. Read more>>
Organizing Inside Megacorporations: The question of how to organize megacorporations is urgent for everyone who works for justice. Megacorporations are a consolidation of corporate power that threatens all working people and democracy itself. The fight with megacorporations isn’t only about our economy — it is about every aspect of our lives and our politics. It’s no overstatement: reining in these megacorporations is among the most important projects of the 21st century. Read more>>
Confronting Colonial Legacies With Nonviolent Action: This week on Nonviolence Radio we hear about nonviolence confronting colonial legacies with nonviolent actions in Western Sahara and the story of a forgotten Irish Buddhist Monk. Listen here>>
Young And Organized: The pandemic and the gig economy are drawing Generation Z to unions. Historically, younger workers have been less likely to join unions than older workers. But that is beginning to change in the twenty-first century because of the growth of the gig economy, which has ushered in temporary positions, unstable pay, and a lack of benefits. Read more>>
Set Off Fireworks With The Nonviolent Side of US Independence: For ten years prior to the Declaration of Independence (1765-1776), there was a determined nonviolent struggle to throw off the yoke of British colonial power. The colonists used boycotts, strikes, mass civil disobedience of unjust laws, and built alternative institutions and governments. Resistance was so widespread that on July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was not an aspirational statement. It was a statement of fact. The colonies were functionally independent. The revolution had already been waged—and won—by nonviolent struggle. Read more>>
How to Process Our Collective Grief: Before we can even metabolize the grief from one brutality, there comes another. Here, we explore the experience of collective grief, where the final stage of acceptance does not seem appropriate when we are up against violent and unacceptable conditions. Read more>>
Report: The Other Side of the Storm: What do Black immigrant domestic workers in the time of COVID-19 teach us about building a resilient care infrastructure? Read more>>
How Australian Lawmakers Have Used 9/11 To Threaten Civil Liberties: With a dramatic rise in secrecy laws and attacks on journalism in Australia, there are many ways outsiders can support journalists and whistleblowers. Read more>>
‘Nobody’s Coming To Save Any Of Us’ – Lessons From Grassroots Power Building In West Virginia: West Virginia organizers need the resources and opportunity to experiment with different models and strategies and to focus on the long haul rather than the rapid response mobilization that funders all too often demand. Read more>>
Tell Bankers – NO To Mega-Prisons In Alabama: Contact these banks and demand that they stop trying to make a profit from incarcerating Alabamians for decades to come. Write a letter to the bankers who are involved in the deal, and you can use these linked informational graphics to make calls to the bankers as well. Learn more>>
National Abortion Access Fund For Survivors of Gender-Based Violence: FreeFrom is launching a cash assistance fund for survivors who need help in covering the costs to safely get an abortion. Learn more>>
Tell US Congress: Don’t Expand The Military Draft To Women – Abolish It For Everyone: Once again, the US government is considering expanding the military draft to young women as well as young men. Tell senators and representatives to oppose this. Ask them to abolish the draft and draft registration for everyone. Learn more>>
How To Get Involved In The Mass Mobilizations Erupting After Roe Was Overturned: Reproductive justice organizers are urging support for already-existing networks and abortion funds to subvert the Supreme Court ruling. Learn more>>
30 Days of Nonviolence Challenge: This 30-Day Challenge will broaden your sense of possibility while encouraging you to act from a place of wisdom and will help you establish or deepen your daily practice of nonviolence. Learn more>>
#NoWar2022: Resistance & Regeneration, World BEYOND War’s virtual global conference, is coming up this July 8-10! #NoWar2022 will facilitate international solidarity by bringing together speakers and attendees from around the world. As we resist the institution of war worldwide, from crippling sanctions and military occupations to the network of military bases that encircle the globe, how can we simultaneously “regenerate,” building the alternative world that we want to see based on nonviolence and a culture of peace? (July 8-10) Learn more>>
Nonviolence Toward Earth: Acting upon the climate crisis is a growing urgency and OUR responsibility. Now, more than ever, we need to practice Nonviolence Toward Earth. This 6-week course with Merwyn De Mello and Rivera Sun will explore the many dimensions of how we can both practice nonviolence toward the Earth and join nonviolent actions on behalf of the planet. (July 12) Read more>>
Cultural Organizing 101 From Highlander Center: In this workshop, participants will share experiences and learn how to expand the role of art and culture in their organizing and advocacy efforts, activating community members to develop cultural tools that can help bring more interest and energy to issue campaigns. Register now to join us. (July 18) Learn more>>
2-Hr Intro To Kingian Nonviolence: Join us for an overview of Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation. Kingian Nonviolence is an approach to conflict and community leadership that offers values and methods useful for anyone who wants to use conflict constructively in your personal life, in group settings, or in community issues and building a reconciled world. (July 25) Learn more>>
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