Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
In this week’s Nonviolence News, thousands of Indonesians are protesting high fuel prices. Puerto Ricans are flooding the streets in objection to power outages from the partially privatized electric utility. XR UK superglued themselves to the floor of parliament for climate action. Iranian women’s rights activists are facing renewed attacks online. Russian soldiers are resisting the war in Ukraine. In Southeast Asia, alternative schools are offering education for liberation and social change.
Meanwhile, Chile held a nationwide vote on the new proposed constitution – but it did not pass. Some chalk that up to relentless negative campaigning from the center left and right wing factions. Others view it as part of a real democracy process, revising a proposed constitution until there is agreement on it. However, the mandate to craft a new document – won through massive protests in 2019 – remains in place. The story continues to unfold.
Across the world, the backbone of society is on strike: teachers, nurses, childcare workers. It says something about the world that these vital professions, each so integral to raising the next generation and caring for people, have to push for fair wages, decent hours, and reasonable support from their administrations. They are part of a rising labor movement that sweeps across industries, including coffee shops, delivery workers, warehouse packers, farm laborers, truck drivers, and many more.
Here are a couple interesting tactics that caught my eye. First, Greenpeace has been dropping boulders emblazoned with celebrity and politician names into the English Channel to create an underwater barrier reef to stop ocean trawling. Second, Starbucks workers across the United States held “sip-ins” over Labor Day Weekend, encouraging patrons to stop by, get a coffee, and talk with workers about why unionizing is important.
Dig into a bit of nonviolent history and don’t miss the story about how a trio of loggers in Canada became unlikely protectors of old growth forest after they stumbled into a grove of the biggest trees they’d ever seen. You may also enjoy the article on the 1970s Youth Liberation Movement that organized for communities outside the structure of the nuclear family, living in harmony with nature, abolishing juvenile detention centers and mental institutions, freedom from economic dependence on adults, and the right to their own “new culture.”
In solidarity,
Rivera Sun
Photo Credit: Indonesian students join unions in protesting high fuel prices.
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Court Blocks Oil Exploration and Underwater Seismic Testing Off South Africa’s ‘Wild Coast’: A judge found that Shell and Impact Africa had failed to engage in a “genuine, bona fide substantive two-way process” with Indigenous tribes “aimed at achieving, as far as possible, consensus.” This ruling comes amidst a grassroots campaign to stop the seismic testing. Read more>>
Signal Names Google Walkout Organizer As President: Whittaker is a technology researcher who became widely known as one of the organizers of a mass walkout at Google in 2018 in protest of the company’s handling of sexual harassment allegations against top executives. Within Google, she also became known for her advocacy for ethical AI and co-founded the AI Now Institute at NYU while still employed by the company. Read more>>
US Men’s & Women’s Soccer Teams Sign Deals For Equal Pay: With bipartisan handshaking, impassioned speeches, ceremonial signatures, the US Men’s and Women’s Soccer Teams signed new contracts. The two, separate deals champion equal pay through identical economic terms, including commercial revenue sharing and equal World Cup prize money. Read more>>
Portraits Of Disappeared Activists Paraded In Downtown Bangkok: To mark International Day of the Disappeared on August 30, a dozen people affiliated with the Mok Luang Rim Nam student activist group gathered at Ratchaprasong Intersection in downtown Bangkok. A small parade was held by activists in Siam Square to raise awareness about forced disappearances. The marchers carried portraits of abducted activists, some of whom were later found dead. Read more>>
Police Repress Protest in Puerto Rico as People Continue to Demand End of Contract with LUMA: Puerto Ricans are protesting constant power outages after their electrical grid was partially privatized. They are demanding that the private electric company, LUMA, have its contract canceled. In response, they have faced repression and police brutality. Read more>>
Chileans Reject Draft of New Constitution: The center left and right campaigned heavily against the progressive new constitution. The mandate to create a new constitution remains in place. A new draft will be made. Read more>>
Chilean Students Disrupt Metro With Protests In Wake Of Constitution Defeat: Chilean students protested in several subway stations in the capital on Wednesday, demanding reforms to the education system days after voters rejected a proposed constitution that had roots in student demonstrations three years ago. Read more>>
Community Groups And Activists Pivot To Mutual Aid Amid Ongoing Water Crisis In Jackson, Mississippi: With 150,000 residents still lacking safe drinking water, grassroots organizations are scrambling to address a crisis decades in the making. Read more>>
Dutch Farm Minister Resigns After Protests Over Pollution: The Dutch agriculture minister has unexpectedly resigned, telling reporters he wasn’t the right person for the job following a tumultuous summer of protests by farmers over pollution regulations. The country’s lucrative agriculture sector has been in crisis since a 2019 court ruling forced the government to slash emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia, which livestock produce. Thousands of farmers have staged protests, blockading cities with tractors and burning hay bales along highways. Read more>>
Harm Reduction Advocates Demand Action On International Overdose Awareness Day: In New York City, hundreds rallied and nine were arrested in an action calling for the authorization of overdose prevention centers statewide. Read more>>
Workers Speak Out As UPS Continues Retaliation Against Union Activists: On September 1, workers and allies began to congregate at the steps of the Metro Queens UPS facility. The rally built on two-days of tabling, where dozens of coworkers posed for solidarity photos and encouraged coworkers to sign a petition defending “all fired activists.” Read more>>
“Billionaires Have Got to Go” – Labor Activists March to Bezos’s New York City Penthouse: Labor activists marched between the Manhattan penthouses of top Starbucks and Amazon executives in a Labor Day protest on Monday, demanding recognition for unionized workers and an end to anti-worker union-busting practices at both companies. The march ended in New York’s Times Square, which one speaker said is the “heart of capitalism.” Read more>>
Protests Across Indonesia As Anger Mounts Over Fuel Price Increase: Thousands of people rallied in Indonesia’s biggest cities on Tuesday, demanding the government reverse its first subsidized fuel price increase in eight years amid soaring inflation. Read more>>
700 Nursing Home Workers Striking in PA: Across Pennsylvania, nearly 700 nursing home workers are on strike at 14 different facilities statewide run by a variety of employers. In July, the state of Pennsylvania passed a budget that included more than $600 million for long-term care facilities. However, several workers have reported many nursing homes have refused to increase wages, which has contributed to understaffing. To improve the quality of care for patients, workers say they have little choice but to strike. Read more>>
Kaiser Mental Health Strike Enters Day Three With Picket Line Moving To Maui: Across the state, Kaiser Permanente mental health care workers, represented by the NUHW union began the strike Monday with picket lines in Honolulu and other locations on Oʻahu. According to the union, Kaiser Permanente employs 57 mental health care workers, including nine on Maui. With 266,000 subscribers across Hawai’i, the NUHW says the ratio is not enough, “resulting in dangerously long wait times that far exceed clinical standards.” Read more>>
Dollar Store Workers in the South Have a Labor Movement. Just Don’t Call It a Union. Dollar stores have expanded across the country and complaints about work conditions and safety have grown with them. Over the past year, workers have been organizing, protesting and striking for better workplaces. Read more>>
Australian Early Childcare Workers Take Action To Address Staff Shortages, Low Pay: Early childcare workers are taking strike action across the country on September 7, to demand better pay and conditions and action be urgently taken on staff shortages. Childcare centers are struggling to operate, due to a lack of staff, with many failing to meet essential staff-to-child ratios. Read more>>
NSW Nurses And Midwives Strike Again Over Patient Ratios, Pay Rises: Thousands of New South Wales Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) members went on strike on September 1 to push for safe nurse-to-patient ratios and a pay rise. It was their third strike this year. The NSWNMA said the state’s health system “is at breaking point” as public hospitals struggle to cope with rising patient admissions, without the corresponding rise in staff. Read more>>
Don’t Pay UK Has The Right Idea – But It’s Not Enough: Don’t Pay’s campaign ask is simple: pledge not to pay your energy bill and, if a million other people sign up by 1 October (when the new energy price cap comes into force) and the government still hasn’t taken action, cancel your direct debit. No one ever won rights by asking nicely. But refusing to pay bills has risks that need to be mitigated. Read more>>
The Longest Starbucks Strike: A blue tent, a few folding chairs, a cooler with water and energy drinks, colorful hand-painted signs. That’s what the ground operations look like at 874 Commonwealth Ave., a Boston Starbucks location that’s currently leading the longest strike in the company’s history. The strike has kept the store shuttered for 45 days as of Aug. 31. “The bottom line is, we’re gonna stay here as long as it takes,” says Isabel Beaudry. Read more>>
Heed Us … Community Organizing Works – Even Against Amazon: How Northern Virginia activists and community members are organizing to prevent one of the biggest corporations in the world from taking over the civic, social and political life of Northern Virginia and beyond. Read more>>
6,000 Seattle Teachers Strike as Strike Wave Fall Grows This Fall: In Seattle, more than 6,000 teachers and members of the Seattle Education Association went on strike today as they continue to negotiate a contract with the Seattle Public Schools. The teachers are calling for lighter caseloads, more pay for extra work, and more respect in work environments that they say can often be toxic. Read more>>
Appalachian Resistance Comes To DC: Yesterday 600 people joined together outside the U.S. capital to call for an end to Manchin’s dirty pipeline deal! Under the banner, Appalachian Resistance Comes to DC, they were led by frontline organizers, Indigenous water protectors, and climate activists who traveled from all corners of the U.S. Together through art, music, testimonials, and calls to action, they left capitol hill with the resounding message: no sacrifice zones and stop the dirty deal! Watch the livestream here>>
‘Gas Is Green … Washing’ – Greenpeace Disrupts Industry Conference In Milan: Greenpeace Italy staged the peaceful protest at the Milan Fair, creating an atmosphere of “climate hell” with fumes, sounds, and lights at the venue’s entrance, illustrating what scientists say is the fate we face if we continue to burn fossil fuels, on September 5, 2022. Read more>>
Parent Participation in Climate Justice Efforts Is on the Rise: A couple decades ago, there were few, if any, family-focused environmental organizations, let alone the kind of parent-led climate justice groups now confronting polluters and the systems of racism, colonialism, patriarchy and extractive capitalism that enable them. Now, parents worldwide are organizing around a shared rallying cry: We love our children. We won’t let you wreck their world. Read more>>
Are Transition Towns Our Key to a More Beautiful Future? “The Transition Town movement has given me hope where I could not find any before. I’m referring to a network of grassroots community groups that aim to increase self-sufficiency, resilience and localization to reduce the effects of climate/environment destruction and economic instability.” Read more>>
Extinction Rebellion Enters UK Parliament, Supergluing Themselves: Extinction Rebellion (XR) UK burst into parliament in protest. Members superglued themselves to the Speaker’s chair to challenge the lack of action by the government and corporations on the climate catastrophe. XR say that parliamentary democracy isn’t working, and that people should instead form “citizen assemblies”. Read more>>
Racial Justice Protests Led To BIPOC Photographers’ Exhibit At Art Museum: Frustrated by the lack of BIPOC photographers featured in news coverage of the 2020 George Floyd Protests, a group of artists complained to the local art museum. To their surprise (and to the museum curator’s credit), she invited them to design an exhibit showing their artistic perspective on the protests. In dialogue, their ideas grew from a wheat-pasted show on the outer walls of the building to a main exhibit inside. Read more>>
Food Co-op Counters Systemic Racism: The African Heritage Food Co-op(AHFC) was formed so that Black communities in Western New York State, including Niagara Falls and Buffalo, can take ownership of their food system, create jobs and use resources to improve the health and well-being of residents. For too long, the economic and political structures have failed Black residents creating little or no access to supermarkets, banks and political representation. AHFC is working to change that by overcoming systemic obstacles, empowering inner city neighborhoods and reversing systems of oppression and discrimination. Read more>>
Black Activist Struggles With Pregnancy During Incarceration: Her charges are outrageous – 4 years for shouting at police during a Black Lives Matter protest. She’s now fighting for a shorter sentence so she can give birth to a healthy baby. Read more>>
“White Privilege” Cards Lead High School Students to Stage Walk Out in Frustration: When the students of Charles Page High School returned for the school year, they were greeted by a number of other students handing out “white privilege cards” in the hallways. According to Fox23 News, the BIPOC students who were fed up with the nonsense hosted a walk out in protest of the racism. Read more>>
How To Fight Mass Incarceration And Win: Ongoing organizing efforts have made important gains both before and after mass protests captured the spotlight. And there are few better places to see such organizing in action than Los Angeles County. While their work has gotten little national attention, organizers in L.A. have amassed some impressive victories. Read more>>
We Need Socialist Feminism. Join Bread and Roses to Fight for It. Join “Bread and Roses” — part of an international grouping of socialist feminists in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Mexico, France, and more who have been on the frontlines of struggles against exploitation and oppression across the world — to build the fight in our workplaces, schools, and in the streets here in the U.S. to defend our rights and fight for a future that’s ours. Read more>>
Iranian Women’s Rights Activists Face New Online Threats: Flooding social media accounts with fake followers and then mass reporting the accounts is a regular tactic used by state forces to silence rights defenders in Iran. Read more>>
Defending The Rights of Homeowners And Renters: For over a decade, the AFSC Atlanta Economic Justice Program has helped people defend their homes—from stopping evictions to preserving affordable housing to opposing gentrification. Our new “How to Defend Your Home” manual helps people in their campaigns to stop evictions and keep their homes. Read more>>
‘Affordable’ For Whom? Around 90 people gathered in Burnside Park in Providence, Rhode Island on Sept. 1 to protest a development plan for so-called “affordable” housing. The plan would give millions in government subsidies and tax breaks to a private real estate developer to convert The Industrial National Bank Building into luxury apartments. Like the rest of the country, Rhode Island is in the midst of a statewide housing crisis where truly affordable housing is almost impossible to find, and evictions and rent hikes run rampant. Read more>>
Austin Struggles To House Its Homeless After Voters Restored Camping Ban: Police have had to eject hundreds of people from encampments. They still struggle to tell many of them where to go. But a new investment in permanent housing for the unhoused may soon begin having an impact. Read more>>
Nonviolent Resistance in the Face of Hostility – Walking towards Conflict with Care for All: A longtime nonviolent communication and conflict mediation trainer found herself in the midst of a rocky dispute around a dilapidated rental house. Here’s how she’s navigating the conflict. Read more>>
Antiwar Activists Decry Saudi Arabia’s “Sportswashing” Golf Tournament: Peace activists on Friday challenged what they called Saudi Arabia’s “sportswashing” of war crimes in Yemen and domestic human rights abuses by protesting outside — and over — a Massachusetts golf tournament funded by the repressive kingdom. Read more>>
Putin Faces An Anti-War Movement Within The Ranks Of His Own Military: The critics within the military are using a variety of tactics—from online campaigns to desertion—to make their voices heard. And although Russia has tried very hard to hush up refuseniks in the army, news has leaked out. Read more>>
Ethiopian Diaspora Groups Prepare To Protest West’s Support For TLPF: The Ethiopian diaspora across the Western world is condemning the United States and the European Union for “emboldening” the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which resumed war in the northern part of the country on August 24, ending the truce initiated by the federal government in March. Demonstrations and rallies were held in Washington D.C., and other cities in the United States. Read more>>
Peace Literacy Is Education for Life: What if all our schools required training in skilled, non-violent conflict resolution as a form of peace literacy and moral awareness for their students. Would that not be one of the most useful education skills for life that we could give them? Read more>>
Exploring Alternative Schools In Southeast Asia: These four cases from Southeast Asia provide a material foundation for dynamic learning processes that amplify the central role of communities in developing emancipatory pedagogies attuned to their situation, context, culture, histories, and capacities. Their ground-based undertakings dare to challenge the mainstream educational paradigm extremely influenced by market and capital. These cases question where knowledge is truly generated, and how far have communities been recognized as the producers and builders of knowledge. Read more>>
Greenpeace Blocked From Building Boulder Wall To Protect Marine Reserve: Greenpeace U.K. announced that a government body has blocked the environmental group from expanding an underwater limestone boulder boundary created last week to safeguard a protected marine area from destructive fishing. Learn more>>
Get Up Rise Up (GURU) Funds Support Direct Action: From Zimbaweans and Ugandans trying to lower university fees to Amuru youth impounding logging trucks, the GURU grants put resources behind direct action campaigns. Read more>>
Changemaker Youth Grants. Hope. Inspiration. Community. An inclusivity mural. A gun violence PSA. A podcast on educational equity. These are some of the ideas youth ages 12-23 proposed for Pace e Bene’s Changemaker Youth Grants. Read more>>
Starbucks Workers Host Pro-Union “Sip-Ins” Across the U.S. To commemorate Labor Day, Starbucks workers held actions at stores around the country—part of the growing campaign to organize the coffee chain. About 100 of the coffee chain’s stores held “sip-ins” from Friday, Sept. 2 to Monday, Sept. 5. Sip-ins are loosely modeled after sit-ins, and mark designated times when supporters of a store could come in, order low-priced drinks or water, and leave big tips. The events provided an opportunity for baristas and their supporters to engage in conversation about labor conditions and build community. Read more>>
How Far Would You Go to Stop Climate Change? A landmark legal victory opens the door to direct action. Since 2009, more than 100 climate protesters in more than 30 criminal cases have attempted to use what has become known as the “climate necessity defense.” In a necessity defense, a defendant argues, in essence, that breaking the law is justified to promote a greater good when all other legal options have been exhausted. For protesters like Taylor, the hope is that winning necessity cases will draw attention to the crisis and embolden more disruptive and sustained resistance against fossil fuel infrastructure, turning an uncertain trickle into a powerful, transformative wave. Read more>>
The 1970s Youth Liberation Movement Fought for Young People’s Rights: Youth Liberation developed a 15-point platform that was far-reaching in its vision. In addition to calling for an end to sexism, sexual discrimination, class antagonism, racism, colonialism, and what they called “adult chauvinism,” the group wanted to form communities outside the structure of the nuclear family, live in harmony with nature, abolish juvenile detention centers and mental institutions, establish global solidarity with youth all over the world, be free of economic dependence on adults, and have the right to their own “new culture,” which included everything “from music and marijuana to free clinics and food cooperatives.” Read more>>
When Loggers Refused To Cut Down Old Growth Trees: This remarkable story of tree protection comes not from the environmental movement, but from within a logging camp. Three men stumbled onto an old growth stand and knew in their hearts they couldn’t cut down the most magnificent trees they’d ever seen. They rallied their fellow loggers and took direct action to protect it. Read more>>
Why Rediscovering The Power of Unlikely Alliances Is Key To Defeating Corporate Greed: While the divisions in our country are real and seem to widen every day, the threats we have in common are greater than what divides us. Read more>>
Black Socialist and Trade Unionist Frank Crosswaith Should Be a Household Name: Dubbed “the Negro Eugene Debs,” Frank Crosswaith was one of the great socialists of the early to mid-20th century. And his message was unwavering: only a vigorous labor movement and democratic socialist policies can deliver a better life for black workers. Read 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>>
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>>
The Movement Breakthrough Workshop: Our first workshop, taking place on Tuesday September 20th from 5-7 PM ET, will be on the Movement Breakthrough, which is designed for social change leaders to understand the different vehicles that are at play in social change work and how they interrelate with one another. (Sept 20) Learn more>>
Campaign Nonviolence Action Days, Sept 21-Oct 2: From Sept 21 to Oct 2, 2022, (Int’l Day of Peace to Int’l Day of Nonviolence) join tens of thousands of people in calling for a culture rooted in nonviolence. From renewable energy to housing for all, we’re connecting the dots between the issues and proposing a bold vision for nonviolent solutions to our pressing crises. Learn 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>>
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>>
Turning Point Summit: Youth ages 16-32 can apply for an international summit on nonviolence, including youth assembly, training sessions, and co-created sessions. (Oct 2-9) Learn more>>
Teach Central America Week: More than four million Central Americans reside in the United States and migration from the region is headline news. However, most schools teach very little about Central America, including the long history of U.S. involvement in the region. In 2019, Teaching for Change launched Teach Central America Week to encourage and support teaching about Central America during Latinx Heritage Month. We have collected lessons, booklists, biographies of noted historical figures, and readings for free use by classroom teachers. (Oct 3-9) Read 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. We will also address how voluntary simplicity is an act of resistance to the many violences inherent in our economy, society and culture, and the war industry. We will draw from examples of nonviolence practitioners from around the world and find inspiration from many spiritual traditions. (Oct 12-Nov 16) Learn more>>
Writing Nonviolence: In this 6-week course with award-winning author Rivera Sun, you will explore how to write about all things nonviolence. We’ll look at op-eds and editorials, articles and blogs, and even social posts. We’ll also get creative, exploring story and poetry, looking at novels and fictional portrayals of nonviolence. This course is for everyone, whether you think of yourself as a “writer” or not. If you love fiction, join us. If you gravitate toward journalism, join us. If you’re not sure, join us. We will have a lot of fun in this welcoming, encouraging, and empowering online community. (Oct 13-Nov 17) Learn more>>
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