Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
Bolivia’s use of nonviolent struggle has already reached epic proportions – and they’re at it again. Recently, a million Bolivians marched in La Paz in support of their left-wing government. The action was meant to counter right-wing attempts to destabilize the government and oust the president. If this all seems a bit déjà vu … it is. Bolivians have been thwarting multiple attempts at power grabs by their right-wing. There’s a lot the world can learn from their example.
Meanwhile, in other Nonviolence News, intermodal workers in the United States won big. By going on strike, they doubled their pay (from $40K to $80k per year). In Oakland, California, the longest rent strike in the city’s history ended in victory for tenants. They won more than just necessary repairs or rent control; they decommodified their housing, getting profit-motivated landlords out of the picture altogether. Across many vital sectors of the United Kingdom’s workforce, more than 200,000 people are joining with “Hot Strike Summer”. While teachers and school staff have their hands tied over books bans, students across the United States are finding ways to challenge the laws.
This week’s Nonviolence News includes a lot of stories that pass on hard-won wisdom. One looks at how there’s ‘no place for burnout on a burning world’ and urges self and community care for climate activists. Others dig into how Southern workers and Zoomers are organizing labor justice. You can also take a look at history with pieces on the 1963 March on Washington and the visionary work of Bayard Rustin.
My top picks emphasize thinking outside the box. In one story, scientists spoke in the “language of their listeners” by issuing a scientific paper on the efficacy of civil disobedience and why it’s essential for scientists to take action on climate. In the other, Black Hills citizens who are resisting a uranium mine got clever about it. Instead of fighting an environmental struggle, they’re campaigning to declare the mine a “public nuisance” and use basic zoning laws to block it. Will it work? I’ll let you know.
In solidarity,
Rivera Sun
Photo Credit: Over a million Bolivians march in support of the left-wing government in La Paz.
Los Angeles Is Creating a Model for Fighting Mass Incarceration: Abolitionists and advocates of criminal justice reform in Los Angeles County have amassed some impressive victories, laying out a vision for reducing incarceration and providing care that could have national significance. Read more>>
Global PR Firm Cuts Ties With Bank Over African Oil Project: Public relations giant Edelman and Standard Bank Group are ending their relationship, reportedly due to a controversial oil project—a development that climate campaigners on Thursday welcomed as a win for activism pressuring PR firms to break up with polluters. Celebrating the move, a StopEACOP activist said that “the climate crisis is not only enabled by the fossil fuel companies but those who provide the financing and those that help shape their narrative.” Read more>>
In Vancouver, Indigenous Communities Get Prime Land, and Power: After acquiring some of the biggest and most coveted parcels of land in Vancouver, the city’s three First Nations are becoming players in the biggest game in town — real estate. Read more>>
How Intermodal Yard Workers Doubled Their Pay: What did the strikers win? In the words of Williams: “Everything.” They negotiated a brand new contract, which took effect July 1, 2021. Wages doubled from $18.50 to $37.50. So instead of making $40,000 a year, a full-time worker would now make $80,000.
They went from having no pension to a pension where the company contributes $9.50 an hour (plus an employer-matched 401k). An expensive five-tier health insurance plan was replaced by free, fully covered health care and dental. Read more>>
How Oakland Tenants Forced Their Landlord To Turn Over the Keys: The city of Oakland’s longest rent strike has ended in victory for tenants. They didn’t just win necessary repairs or rent control; they decommodified their housing, getting profit-motivated landlords out of the picture altogether. Read more>>
California Moves Toward 100% New Zero Emissions Vehicles By 2035: On Aug. 25, California regulators adopted rules that would ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars and light trucks by 2035. The states are joining New York, which passed a similar law last year banning the sale of gasoline-powered cars and light trucks by 2035, and then expanding the ban to cover heavy trucks by 2045. Read more>>
2,000 Communications Workers Win Strike: For the past week, roughly 2,000 telecom workers at Frontier Communications in Southern California have been out on an unfair labor practice strike. As part of the settlement, Frontier agreed to adhere to a limit on subcontracting as set in the collective bargaining agreement. The company will also post job requisitions for a hundred cable-splicer openings and work with union members to backfill positions with qualified applicants, creating union jobs rather than depending on contractors. Read more>>
Teachers Union in Ohio Went on Strike for Students—and Won: “More than 4,000 of our members stood strong on the picket line, our community joined the fight, and we won victories” on multiple issues, said a Columbus Education Association spokesperson. Read more>>
Plants By School Playgrounds Protect Kids From Road Pollution, Study Finds: A new study finds that planting vegetation between school playgrounds and roads can go a long way to protecting students from traffic-related air pollution. Editor’s Note: I love how this story shows a different kind of nonviolence, one anchored in preventing harm by working with nature. Read more>>
The United Kingdom’s Hot Strike Summer: Organized labor has coordinated a long, hot summer of strikes across the United Kingdom, with close to 200,000 workers from vital sectors fighting for decent wages and fair working conditions. Many are also opposing cuts to pensions, the introduction of grueling working hours, and compulsory layoffs. Dubbed “hot strike summer,” this recent wave has set the scene for some of the largest walkouts in decades — and it shows little sign of fizzling out soon. Read more>>
Over One Million Bolivians March In Defense of Democracy: On Thursday, August 25, under the banner of ‘March in Defense of Democracy and Economic Reconstruction’, over one million Bolivians mobilized in support of the government of President Luis Arce and Vice President David Choquehuanca and its socialist economic policies. Workers from diverse sectors, peasants, students, and members of various Indigenous organizations and social movements from all nine departments of the country arrived in capital La Paz to ratify their support for the national government of the ruling Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party. Read more>>
How Teens Are Pushing Back On Book Bans: “Teachers are afraid of losing their jobs. Principals only have so much that they can do in the face of school boards. But students can protest. Students can speak out.” Read more>>
Defund the Police Algorithms: Law enforcement is increasingly turning to software to surveil and anticipate crime. But a grassroots movement is emerging to resist algorithmic policing. Read more>>
As Students Go Back To School, Staff Strike For Better Pay And Conditions: Widespread staffing shortages, burnout and large classroom sizes have spurred strikes at schools and campuses across the country. Read more>>
Rural Tennessee School Bus Drivers Strike in Franklin County: In rural Franklin County, Tennessee, school bus drivers have gone on strike after not receiving a raise in more than 10 years. Earlier this year, the Franklin County school director requested that the county commission approve of a $10,000 a year raise for all bus drivers, but the commission did not approve of the request. Read more>>
Nine For-Profit Nursing Homes Pull A Simultaneous Strike: One thousand workers at nine for-profit nursing homes in Western New York held one-day strikes July 12 and 13. It’s the first time that 1199SEIU (United Healthcare Workers East) has held a coordinated strike across different nursing home employers in the region. The nursing homes had a common contract expiration date, April 30, and the workers have common demands. They want a $15 starting wage for food service workers, laundry workers, and housekeepers. Read more>>
There’s No Place For Burnout In A Burning World: Climate activists can start to build a stronger culture of care by taking burnout seriously and understanding its root causes. Read more>>
The Salish Sea Is Under Grave Risk From the Trans Mountain Pipeline: Years from now, Liberty will look back on this decision with remorse if they continue to support the status quo of corporate power instead of listening to the communities who seek nothing but clean air, food to eat, clean water to drink, and a healthy climate. Read more>>
Activists To Rally Against Renewed Logging: Community, environmental and tribal activists opposed to renewed logging in the Jackson Demonstration State Forest plan to rally in the forest Sunday and warn of potential civil disobedience in the future. The notice comes in response to a Cal Fire announcement that tree cutting would resume as early as this week on at least one of four incomplete timber harvest plans in the Mendocino County forest. Those plans were recently revised to halt removal of the largest trees. Read more>>
Climate Activists Demand More Federal Action At Jackson Hole Conference: Climate activists gathered Thursday outside the lodge hosting the annual Jackson Hole central banking conference in Wyoming to air their demands that the Federal Reserve do more to move the U.S. economy away from fossil fuels. Several dozen stood in a designated area to the side of the lodge entrance holding signs and chanting. Their demands, the activists said, include pressing the U.S. central bank for faster action requiring banks to guard against natural disaster vulnerabilities and potential disruptions related to the green energy transition. Read more>>
Americans Are Convinced Climate Action Is Unpopular. They’re Very, Very Wrong: Support for climate policies is double what most people think, a new study found. Researchers at Princeton and Indiana University Bloomington surveyed more than 6,000 Americans last spring, asking them to estimate the percentage of people that would support the following policies: instituting a carbon tax that would return revenue to Americans, mandating 100 percent renewable energy by 2035, putting renewable projects on public lands, and adopting a Green New Deal. All the estimates barely topped a third. In fact, at least two-thirds of Americans support all of these policies, according to polling from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, and some policies, like renewables on public lands, have the support of four-fifths of the country. Read more>>
Living Energy Farm – A Community Free of Fossil Fuels? Living Energy Farm is an intentional community of a dozen people who have achieved an impressive level of energy and food autonomy thanks to low-tech. Their mission is to prove that a fulfilling and comfortable life is possible without fossil fuels. Read more>>
Doing #LandBack Right: There’s a common trend among conservation groups looking to return land to Native stewardship. The land comes with a lot of imposed rules and regulations that were not designed by Indigenous Peoples. How would you like to be given a house, but not the ability to repaint the walls or move the furniture? When returning land, sovereignty and trust need to be part of the deal. Read more>>
North Birmingham Boycotted, Petitioned, Organized To Stop Environmental Racism: Toxic plants have contaminated North Birmingham, AL, where Black residents were forced to live in the most dangerous areas. Read more>>
Esther Jackson, 105 – Her Life Reflected the 20th Century Struggle for Equality: Her central roles in the Southern Negro Youth Congress, the Civil Rights Congress, the Committee to Defend Negro Leadership and Freedomways Magazine have cemented her role in history. Read more>>
NDN Collective Featured On CNN’s ‘United Shades of America’ To Discuss LANDBACK: Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective President and CEO and Krystal Two Bulls, NDN Collective Director of LANDBACK Campaign discuss the LANDBACK movement with W. Kamau Bell, sociopolitical comedian and host of ‘United Shades of America.’ The CNN segment follows Bell as he explores communities across America to understand the unique challenges they face. Read more>>
They Won Their Homes Through Struggle. They Refuse To Leave Them Now: Forty years ago, residents of Philadelphia won a subsidized housing community in the area known as Black Bottom after fighting the discrimination and displacement being used to clear the way for University City. Now the city is allowing that community, 72 residences called University City Townhomes (UCT), to be sold for gentrification. Clearing the FOG spoke with Rasheda Alexander, a resident of UCT, and Sterling Johnson of Philadelphia Housing Action about their efforts to protect UCT and stop the wave of evictions and displacement that primarily target low income black and brown people. Read more>>
In Oakland, CA, Tenants Demand Repairs, Declare Rent Strike: Tenants of 180-unit Oakland apartment building Merritt on 3rd are collectively refusing rent Sept. 1 until the landlord meets demands related to chronic habitability issues. The Merritt on 3rd Tenant Council and Tenant and Neighborhood Councils (TANC) present speakers and banners at a rally to address building deterioration, mismanagement, and high rent imposed. Read more>>
The ‘Green Tide’ Feminist Movement Is Rising in Latin America: U.S. has much to learn from new feminist movements that spurred Argentina, Colombia and Mexico to dump traditional abortion laws. Now powerful women’s movements in Mexico, Argentina and Colombia have won access to the right to choose. Read more>>
Grapevine Students Walk Out In Protest Of ‘Transphobic’ Policies: More than 100 Grapevine High School students walked out of class Friday morning in protest of new district policies that limit how teachers talk about race, gender and sexuality, impact which bathrooms transgender students can use and give trustees a greater say over what books are available in libraries. The teenagers left class during third period as a stand against ideas they decry as transphobic and amount to a “gag” on teachers. Read more>>
Femme-Led Protest Disrupts Barr’s Keynote At Far-Right Catholic Church Conference: The Napa Institute platforms organizations who have been deemed hate groups and utilize this conference as a key organizing and strategy-building moment for those who are anti-Black, anti-LBGTQIA2+, pro-life, opponents of critical race theory, and are actively fighting to protect the heterosexual nuclear family ideology.The peaceful disruption consisted of a caravan of vehicles parked on a public street outside of the venue space where William Barr was speaking. A banner was draped over the side of a truck that read, “Fascists Not Welcome Here! This Church = Colonial Control”, while protesters utilized a PA system to issue an eviction notice to conference attendees. Read more>>
How A Feminist Ethic of Care Can Inform Feminist Foreign Policy: While a feminist ethic of care opens up space for attentiveness and responsiveness to others’ needs, it also centers an analysis of power relations at all levels of human interaction, resisting domination and guarding against one’s exploitation in the course of caring for others. A feminist foreign policy animated by this productive tension can be especially potent at creating necessary change and limiting violence. Read more>>
How Kiwi Soldiers Ended A War With Guitars, Not Guns: The riveting journey of soldiers as they land unarmed into the heat of a 10 year civil war using only the weapons of Music, Maori Culture and Love to create peace. This radical idea of sending soldiers without guns was condemned by the media because they felt the soldiers would be massacred given the first 14 peace attempts had failed. This film shines a light on the untold story of unsung heroes and their “mission impossible.” A story that inspires humanity. Read more>>
2022 War Abolisher Awards to Go to Italian Dock Workers, New Zealand Filmmaker, U.S. Environmental Group, and British MP Jeremy Corbyn: World BEYOND War’s Second Annual War Abolisher Awards will recognize the work of an environmental organization that has prevented military operations in state parks in Washington State, a filmmaker from New Zealand who has documented the power of unarmed peacemaking, Italian dock workers who have blocked the shipment of weapons of war, and British peace activist and Member of Parliament Jeremy Corbyn who has taken a consistent stand for peace despite intense pressure. Read more>>
Palestine Action Sets Up Camp: Palestine Action have set up camp outside UAV Engines Ltd, the Israeli drones factory that has rightly been a prime target for extensive direct action as part of the #ShutElbitDown campaign. Activists confirm they plan to hold their ground, and will not leave until Elbit have left Shenstone, a sleepy English village near Lichfield. The factory produces engines and other components used to make drones such as the Hermes 450 — these are lethal munitions that have maimed and killed countless Palestinian men, women and children for decades. Read more>>
Uvalde Parents Protest, Play Audio of Their Children Outside of Abbott’s Mansion: Parents and family members of children who were killed in the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, demonstrated in front of Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) mansion early on Saturday morning, demanding that he call a special session of the legislature to address gun violence. The family members, joined by members of the gun reform organization March for Our Lives, gathered around 5:15 am on Saturday to protest the governor’s inaction. Some of the parents held portraits of their children who had been murdered. They also played audio of their children laughing and playing over a loudspeaker, pausing at times to shout the names of their children. “Our kids are going back to school and asking, ‘Will I be next?'” one victim’s father said. Read more>>
New Scientific Paper Urges Civil Disobedience: A new scientific paper argues that direct action “by scientists has the potential to cut through the myriad complexities surrounding the climate crisis in a way that less visible and dispassionate evidence provision does not.” Read more>>
Small-Town Citizens Get Creative In Black Hills Uranium Mine Fight: A budding national reputation for healing mineral waters spawned this town of 3,400 in the early 1900s. Appreciative of that source, today’s area residents have fended off proposed radioactive uranium mining in the aquifers for more than four decades. This summer of 2022, they scored a breakthrough. They collected enough signatures to obtain a ballot measure that would declare the activity a “nuisance” in Fall River County. Read more>>
How Zoomers Organized The First Chipotle Union: Chipotle workers in Lansing, Michigan, formed the fast food chain’s first recognized union in the U.S., voting 11-3 on August 25 to join Teamsters Local 243. It’s the latest in a string of new organizing breakthroughs at prominent national brands, from Starbucks to Apple to Trader Joe’s to REI. None of the members of the organizing committee at the Lansing Chipotle have any direct union experience. They relied on friends who had organized at Starbucks and at a local library for advice on their campaign. Read more>>
How Southern Workers Are Teaching Each Other To Organize: Facing wage theft and armed robberies at Dollar General stores, these workers are training each other to organize for a range of demands. Read more>>
A Tale Of Two Revolutions In Iraq: Nonviolence Radio interviews interdisciplinary sociologist Ruba Al-Hassanni discusses the current political crisis in Iraq and how contrasts with the October Movement from 2019. Read more>>
Organizers Have Fought For Debt Cancellation For Over a Decade — And Their Work Is Far From Finished: Biden’s new plan to cancel student debt is a major movement victory, but there’s much more to be done for those hardest hit by the crisis. Read more>>
You’ve Been Lied To About the 1963 March On Washington: The March on Washington was 59 years ago today. It’s popularly remembered as a moderate demonstration where MLK “had a dream” — but in fact, it was the decades-long culmination of a mass, working-class movement against racial and economic injustice. Read more>>
Remembering The Genius Of Bayard Rustin: Thirty-five years after his death, the man who mentored Martin Luther King Jr. still has much to teach movements about harnessing the power of ‘people in motion.’ Read more>>
There’s A New World Coming – Highlander Homecoming: Highlander’s 90th Homecoming is just one month away – register today to join us at our hybrid celebration Sept. 30 – Oct. 2, 2022! Registration ends Sept. 14, and we’re limiting in-person attendance to 500 guests, so please register now to ensure your participation. Learn more>>
Southern Workers Power Program: The Southern Workers Assembly invites you to join the Southern Workers Power Program, an upcoming webinar series starting Sept. 5 at 7pm ET and continuing every Monday through Oct. 31. Register here. Led by Communiversity, an educational partner of Black Workers for Justice, the series will explore and discuss the nine points of the Southern Workers Power Program, centering the role and demands of workers as we speed toward the 2022 election cycle and exploring SWA’s Worker’s Power Program as a viable platform for workers in the South to collectively build and consolidate worker’s power. Learn more>>
What We Fight For Is What We Get – Disabled Workers On the Solidarity Economy: Solidarity economy tools like co-ops and community land trusts are owned and governed by their members. How can disabled communities, and our allies, use these tools for our mutual self-help? Join us to hear from disabled activists about stories of cooperation and access failures and successes, identify ways disabled knowledge of interdependence can support building an abundant world where all needs are met, and share your experiences practicing cooperation across differences. (Sept 14) Learn more>>
Blame Wall Street: Wall Street continues to provide tens of billions of dollars for new oil, coal, and gas projects that will only make the climate crisis worse. That’s why, Stop The Money Pipeline is launching a new campaign ― Blame Wall Street ― calling for escalated actions to hold the funders of climate chaos accountable for the extreme weather events that are harming communities. Learn more>>
A Third of Pakistan Is Underwater – Here’s How You Can Help: More than one million homes have been damaged or destroyed by the flooding. The scale of the human suffering currently taking place in Pakistan is unimaginable, but luckily there are some ways those of us in non-affected areas can help. Here’s a list of organizations currently taking donations to help with Pakistan flood relief. Learn more>>
Dollars and Dissent – How Donors Can Support Grassroots Organizing and Nonviolent Movements: Drawing from his forthcoming ICNC special report, Dollars and Dissent, in this webinar Benjamin Naimark-Rowse will outline trends in donor support in the 2010s, and detail how donors’ values, organizational structures, and perceptions of risk affect their support for grassroots organizers and nonviolent social movements. (Sept 13) Learn more>>
Indigenous Peoples’ Day Curriculum Teach-In: The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) and Teaching for Change will host an online teach-in on Indigenous History, pipeline protests, Native heritage and identity in the Caribbean and Central America, and more. (Sat, Oct 1) Learn more>>
Teach Central America Week: Teach Central America Week was launched to encourage and support teaching about Central America during Latinx Heritage Month. Teaching For Change has collected lessons, booklists, biographies of noted historical figures, and readings for free use by classroom teachers. (Oct 3-9) Learn more>>
RSVP for the #NoTechForApartheid Day of Action: Next week, this campaign is turning up the pressure in solidarity with tech workers by holding direct actions at Google and Amazon offices across the country to demand they stop doing business with apartheid and cut their $1.2B contract with the Israeli government and military. If you live in San Francisco, Seattle, or New York City, RSVP here to join a No Tech For Apartheid action next Thursday, September 8th! Learn more>>
