Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
The United Kingdom is asking whose lives matter after the police killed an unarmed Black rapper. When protest organizers were urged to cancel the demonstrations due to the queen’s death, they refused. They felt the greater insensitivity was asking them to cancel a protest over a Black man’s murder for a period of mourning for a queen. It touched a raw nerve. Inflamed, thousands flooded the streets of South London to call attention to the gross disparity of national concern. In other parts of the country, anti-monarchist protesters face swift repression as dissent is silenced as “disrespect”. One person was even arrested for carrying a blank sign – a chilling indication of the rise of authoritarian attitudes.
If we look around the world, we’ll see numerous, diverse struggles taking place. Pakistani workers commemorated the 10-year anniversary of a horrific factory fire by renewing pressure for worker health and safety measures. In Honduras, builders at a US embassy building are on strike due to illegal contracts and accidents on site. In South Korea, citizens are pushing for fairness in pharmaceutical prices and universal access to medicines. Greek students and professors are trying to get rid of “university police”. In Brussels, a mass movement of taxi drivers is challenging Uber’s bid to write new laws. Ghana, Indonesia, Haiti and Argentina all continue to push back against high cost-of-living and austerity measures. School is canceled for Kosovo’s 200,000 children as teachers remain on strike.
In the United States, teachers in Washington State, nurses in Minnesota, and woodworkers in Oregon are all striking this week. Meanwhile, Wisconsin nurses, railway unions, and Seattle teachers have all reached tentative deals. Peace activists have also been busy; two sets of actions took place for Peace In Ukraine and to call out the war profiteering of weapons makers.
There are two gems you shouldn’t miss. One is a set of stories from Backbone Campaign (in the Creative Action section) about flotillas, light brigades, orca murals, and more. The other is a tribute to the inimitable Ella Baker, who will be honored with induction into the Co-operative Hall of Fame for her lifelong organizing, and particularly for her lesser-known work around Black cooperatives from the Depression onward.
In solidarity,
Rivera Sun
Photo Credit: March demanding justice for Chris Kaba in South London.
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University Of Wisconsin Health Backs Down As Nurses Threaten To Strike: The warning lights flashed – and negotiators conceded to the nurses’ demands to recognize their union, which represents 2400 nurses. That’s what strike power is all about. Read more>>
Fast Food Worker Legislation Paves The Way For $22/hr Minimum Wage: A new law not only regulates the fast-food industry, but also gives unprecedented power to the 556,000 Californians working in fast-food restaurants, including the right to organize, boycott, and strike. The Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act (aka the “FAST Recovery Act”), which enacts specific workplace rules and standards for fast-food companies with 100 or more restaurant locations nationwide, is one of the most significant pieces of employment legislation passed in a generation. Read more>>
Seattle Teachers Secure Tentative Deal to End Strike: Seattle teachers on Monday night expressed gratitude for “solidarity on the picket lines” and “enormous community support” that they received over the past week while on strike, as the city’s teachers union announced it had reached a tentative agreement with the school district. The Seattle Education Association (SEA) said it had secured a new three-year contract including improved and maintained teacher-student ratios for special education classes, additional mental health staffing across all schools, and annual pay raises. “We should all be proud of what we accomplished and what we stood up for: student support and respect for educators,” said the SEA. “We made real progress not only in our contract but also in rallying with our community these past several weeks.” Read more>>
How Scotland’s Rent Freeze Was Won: On 6 September 2022, as part of their new program for government, the Scottish Government announced a rent freeze and eviction ban effective immediately until March 2023. Further clarity has yet to be brought in around key questions, crucially, we’re concerned that this freeze applies primarily to private tenants as social housing tenants’ rent is increased once a year, on the 1 April, missing out many tenants who are struggling. So we’ve run you through the headline victory and our many unanswered questions. But how did we get there? Read more>>
Good News In The Financial Arena In Nicaragua: The international main-stream media rarely focuses on good news from Nicaragua, on its achievements in reducing poverty, and maternal and infant mortality, or on its expansion of health care, education, electrification, water and sewerage, renewable energy, and roadways. However, a recent article published on the web page of the Center for Strategic and International Studies conceded that Nicaragua had made major advances economically and, in spite of US sanctions, had “rebounded relatively well from Covid-19” and had ensured that Nicaraguans could feed themselves. Read more>>
University Of Washington Moves To Divest From Fossil Fuels: After more than two years of pressure from student climate activists at the University of Washington, the University’s Board of Regents passed a resolution to divest the school’s endowment, worth more than $6B, from the fossil fuel industry. The resolution, released last Friday, would move investments of around $124 million currently funding fossil fuel projects into “climate solutions.” Read more>>
Formosa Plastics Plant Thwarted: Today, Louisiana’s 19th Judicial District Court reversed the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality’s (LDEQ) decision to issue air permits that Formosa Plastics needed to build its proposed petrochemical complex in St. James Parish. The decision throws out the air permits and sends Formosa Plastics back to the drawing board. The permits would have allowed Formosa Plastics to emit over 800 tons of toxic pollution into the air, exacerbating environmental racism and harming the health of St. James’ predominantly Black residents in a region known as “Cancer Alley.” Read more>>
Line 3 Protesters Win Protective Ruling Against Government Repression: Indigenous Water Protectors celebrated a court ruling against police harassment of their protest camp. Hubbard County District Judge Jana Austad issued a ruling shielding the Indigenous-led Giniw Collective’s Camp Namewag — where opponents organize resistance to Enbridge’s Line 3 tar sands pipeline — from local law enforcement’s unlawful blockades and harassment. Read more>>
Rail Union Workers Reportedly Win Right to Sick Time in Tentative Deal: The workers previously didn’t receive sick days; the deal would offer unpaid days without being subject to discipline. Read more>>


On 10th Anniversary of Baldia Factory Fire In Pakistan, Activists Demand Social Security For All Workers: Labor activists complain that even after 10 years of the tragedy, factories and workplaces in Pakistan still lack adequate health and safety measures. Read more>>
Workers Building New U.S. Embassy In Honduras Strike Over Severed Fingers And Illegal Contracts: Over 1,100 workers have been on strike since July due to illegal contracts, severed fingers, and poor workplace safety conditions. Read more>>
Health Movement In South Korea Fights For Universal Access To Medicines: Civil society in South Korea renewed its commitment to ensure universal access to medicines and public pharmaceutical production, building on decades of mobilization. Read more>>
Greek Students And Teachers Protest Deployment Of ‘University Police’: Students, teachers and other university workers held a massive rally in the Constitution Square in Athens protesting the deployment of police on campuses. They condemned the conservative government’s bid to put the university campuses under police surveillance. Read more>>
Could a Campaign Targeting Gun Sellers Help End Mass Shootings? On Sept. 22, as part of the Campaign Nonviolence Action Days, Tom Hastings will use nonviolent direct action to try to stop the sale of automatic assault rifles at Shooters Service in Portland, Oregon. His plan is simple: he will walk into the gun shop and ask the owner to stop selling them. If the owner refuses, Tom will stay until the owner agrees — or he gets kicked out. Tom, a longtime activist, trainer and educator in nonviolent struggle, is willing to risk arrest. For him, stopping the next school shooter is worth it. Read more>>
Taxi Drivers Block Brussels, Demanding EU Investigate Uber Files Revelations: Hundreds of cabbies from across Europe took part in the ‘Brussels World Strike’ to protest deregulation of the taxi industry and demand inquiries on Uber’s lobbying of political leaders. Read more>>
People Are Being Arrested In The UK For Protesting Against The Monarchy: A 22-year-old woman will face charges for holding up a sign that said “f*ck imperialism,” while a man was handcuffed and placed in the back of a police van for asking who elected King Charles III. Read more>>
How Paris Activists Are Building A Global Resistance Movement Against The 2024 Olympics: Activists know it’s likely too late to stop the 2024 Olympics from wreaking havoc on Paris. They’re fighting back anyway. Here’s why. Read more>>
Activists Oppose “Death By Incarceration”: Several human rights organizations are protesting that the United States is committing torture and violating the prohibition against racial discrimination by condemning people to death by incarceration through extreme sentences including life and life without possibility of parole. Read more>>
Behind the Scenes On Chile’s Constitutional Draft, Take 2: Chile’s new draft Constitution—defeated in a resounding referendum vote in early September—had 388 articles and was the size of a small paperback. It enshrined 100 kinds of rights—including things like free legal advice and Internet access. It was drafted by a sometimes raucous group of elected representatives, many of whom had strong opinions on one issue or another but otherwise shared little in the way of political experience. And yes, there was the delegate who faked a serious illness to get elected; and another who took off her shirt to address the convention. The process was so very easy to caricature. That’s why it failed, in part. Read more>>


Slow Government Action Sparks Cost of Living Protests Globally: The cost of living is now higher than it’s been in four decades. Citizen protests are erupting around the world, despite being granted government subsidies and promises of capped energy prices. From North, Central and South America, to Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, the things we consider essential to survive in the modern world are getting more and more expensive. Read more>>
Kosovo Teachers’ Strike Drags on as Talks Between Unions and Government Fail: While the confrontation between the education union and the authorities continues, the strike in education has left almost 320,000 pupils out of class since September 1st. Read more>>
Protests Throughout The Global South Signal Opposition To Austerity: Around the world, the policies of the neoliberal era are straining economies as the neoliberal system is pitched into crisis after crisis. In the last several years, these crises have been fueled by supply chain disruptions from the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and rapidly worsening climate change. With the people of the Global South facing greater precarity and threat of displacement or death, the austerity measures imposed by imperialist institutions like the IMF and each country’s national bourgeoisie are becoming more unbearable. Read more>>
Teachers In The Ridgefield School District Go On Strike: Ridgefield teachers went on strike Friday after negotiators failed to reach an agreement with the Ridgefield School District on a new contract at a bargaining session Thursday night. “We’re not doing this for just more money, we’re not doing this because we’re greedy, we’re not doing this because we’re lazy, we are doing this because we want to make a difference for our kids,” said Joe Thayer, a teacher with the Ridgefield School District. Read more>>
15,000 Nurses Strike at 13 Hospitals in Minnesota: In Minnesota, more than 15,000 nurses have continued their 3-day strike at 13 different hospitals, saying they are fed up with chronic understaffing, low pay, and poor treatment from management. Read more>>
DHL Strikers Pepper Sprayed, Arrested On Picket Line In Rhode Island: Police arrested DHL strikers on the picket line in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on September 9, as the strike by local delivery drivers entered its 12th week. About 70 delivery drivers struck on June 22 against Northeast Transportation Services, a contracted provider of international logistics giant DHL. The workers are demanding wages to keep up with the cost of living, affordable health care, retirement benefits and safety issues. Northeast has hired scabs, who are reportedly being paid $55 an hour, with DHL drivers earning only $18 an hour on average. Read more>>
1,100 Woodworkers strike at Oregon Weyerhaeuser: For the first time in over 30 years, more than 1,100 Oregon Weyerhaeuser workers are on strike in Washington and Oregon. Workers say that with inflation at 9%, the company’s latest wage offer, which also demands workers pay more in health care premiums, would amount to a wage cut. Read more>>
Labor Groups Rally To Demand Transparency In Trade Deal: As trade ministers from fourteen countries meet in Los Angeles today for behind-closed-door negotiations on the new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) trade agreement, labor and other civil society organizations rallied outside urging that proposals for the pact be released for public scrutiny and that the deal not be rigged in favor of Big Tech monopolies and other corporate interests. Read more>>
Hundreds Protest As Starbucks Holds Investor Day Without Retail Workers: Hundreds of workers took to the streets in front of Starbucks’s Seattle headquarters on Tuesday as the company hosted investors for its biennial investor day, in which executives and investors discuss the company’s outlook — an event that has never once included representation from a Starbucks retail worker, the workers’ union says. Read more>>


Kyrgyz Highlanders Battle Chinese Miners To Preserve Pristine Ecosystem: Locals and activists say that fragile ecosystem and the pastoral way of life is being threatened by a Chinese company that is building a road nearby to service a future mine and a gold processing plant. Read more>>
The Brazilian Oilworkers Who Want Greener Public Power: Unionized workers at Brazil’s largest company, the oil and biofuels giant Petrobras, are organizing to resist privatization and lead a clean energy transition on their terms. Read more>>
Stopping The Pipelines to Nowhere: New pipeline struggles in the region of the Dakota Access Pipeline are bringing together communities that rarely find common cause and can often be adversaries. “We really have formed an unlikely alliance,” says Fitil. “A lot of conservative Republicans are joining up with Indigenous folks, and they all are joining up with environmentalists. These people normally don’t get along, they don’t join in anything together. But here they’re really pissed off and joining hand in hand in the struggle against these pipelines.” Read more>>
‘Earth Is Now Our Only Shareholder’ – Founder Gives Away Patagonia to Save the Planet: “Hopefully this will influence a new form of capitalism that doesn’t end up with a few rich people and a bunch of poor people,” said Yvon Chouinard. “We are going to give away the maximum amount of money to people who are actively working on saving this planet.” Read more>>


Movement To ‘Re-Indigenize’ Yellowstone Gains Steam: Tribal leaders, Park Service administrators, legal scholars and others are reconsidering the past and reimagining a Park Service future in which Native American tribes play a much larger role. Amid Yellowstone’s 150th anniversary, there’s a growing sense that it’s time to reverse historical wrongs, honor treaty promises, recognize Yellowstone and other parks as traditional Indigenous lands and incorporate tribes into National Park Service decision-making. Read more>>
Massive Protests Take Place In London Over Police Killing Of Young Rapper: 24-year-old Chris Kaba was shot to death by the Metropolitan Police in South London on September 5. His family and rights organizations are demanding action against the officers who killed him. Read more>>
Oakland Plans To Return Land To Indigenous Group: Through an easement, Oakland’s Ohlone people may get a piece of their land back. Oakland officials hope the land return can be a model for other cities. Read more>>
The Jackson Water System Has Been Failing For Decades Due To Racism: Residents of West Jackson are in the midst of a severe water crisis due to the failure of a water treatment facility and don’t know when they will have clean water in their homes again. The state is failing to get water to everyone, so many local groups are organizing mutual aid efforts. The governor refuses to access federal funds to fully repair the city’s water infrastructure, which has been failing for decades. Read more>>
DeSantis Sent Planes Of Migrants To Martha’s Vineyard. Residents Welcomed Them: DeSantis, apparently seeking to one-up Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who have sent buses carrying migrants to Democrat-led cities that have expressed support for migrant protections regardless of their status, sent two planes carrying undocumented migrants to Massachusetts. Migrants were “not met with chaos” but with “compassion.” “Our island jumped into action putting together 50 beds, giving everyone a good meal, providing a play area for the children, making sure people have the healthcare and support they need,” one organizer wrote. “We are a community that comes together to support immigrants.” Read more>>


Hundreds Protest Across Occupied West Bank For Release of Terminally Ill Palestinian Prisoner: Nasser Abu Hmeid (49), a former member of Palestinian resistance group Al-Aqsa Martyers’ Brigade, is serving multiple life sentences and has already spent 30 years inside Israeli prison. Read more>>
Tech Workers Demand Google and Amazon End Contract That Fuels Israeli Apartheid: Google and Amazon employees are pressuring their companies to drop a $1.2 billion cloud computing project that they believe will harm Palestinians. Read more>>
Activists Unlawfully Arrested In Raids On Palestine Action Camp: Yesterday, 14 activists were unlawfully arrested after manning the Palestine Action Camp for the past two weeks. The activists were arrested under the pretext of “conspiracy to commit criminal damage”, despite no evidence given for these claims. It would appear the arrests were part of an attempt to remove activists, ahead of an event outside the factory that called for mass mobilization. Read more>>
Golden Rule’s “Great Loop” Voyage Begins With a Bang: The amazing voyage of the historic Golden Rule anti-nuclear sailboat is entering into an exciting new phase. Last week the Golden Rule was successfully trucked from San Francisco Bay to the St. Croix Marina in Hudson, Wisconsin, about a 30-minute drive from Minneapolis. The Minneapolis/St. Paul chapter of Veterans For Peace had lobbied hard for the Golden Rule to begin its “Great Loop” voyage in the Twin Cities, and it has come to pass. Read more>>
Week of Action For Ukraine: Veterans For Peace is part of the Peace In Ukraine Coalition, along with Code Pink, Peace Action, World Beyond War, Democratic Socialists of America, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and other national and local peace and justice organizations. The Peace In Ukraine Coalition is currently conducting a Week of Action for Peace In Ukraine. Read more>>
War Merchants Exposure Day: Members of Veterans For Peace of Binghamton and Syracuse, NY joined with Peace Action of NY, Upstate Drone Action and Pax Christi UpState to poke the bloody beehive of the arms industry. They selected two targets for their nonviolent actions, BAE in Endicott, NY, and Lockheed Martin in Owego NY. Their intent was to appeal to workers to demand work that promotes life, not destroys life. They also had a letter (already sent certified mail to both corporations) to hand deliver to BAE Endicott officials. Read more>>


Artful Activism, Everywhere: A Summer Of Stunts w/ Backbone Campaign: Giant salmon, orca-human murals, light brigades, the first all-BIPOC kayativist flotilla – Backbone Campaign is everywhere. Here’s a round-up of recent artful actions for climate justice, racial justice, stopping pollution and plastics, removing salmon-threatening dams, strike support, and much more. Read more>>
Students And Teachers Are Staging Creative Protests To Fight Book Bans and Teaching Restrictions: As the school year begins, students and teachers are fighting back against an onslaught of attacks on antiracist and LGBTQ education. Angel costumes, drag queens, walk-outs, and read-ins are just some of the tactics. Read more>>
Housing Activists Crash Developers’ Party: Residents of the University City Townhomes and their supporters, determined to save their homes from destruction by property developers, have taken their fight directly to the movers and shakers behind most gentrification in Philadelphia. Over 100 residents and supporters converged on the University of Pennsylvania convocation for the incoming class of 2026, Aug. 29, shouting down President Liz Magill with chants of “Housing is a human right” and “Stop Penntrification.” Protesters then used the occasion to educate students about UPenn’s racist history. Read more>>
#EveryChildMatters Rolling Protest On Train: The Ontario Northland Railway paint shop redesigned one of their engines to show the black feather on an orange background along with the slogan Every Child Matters that has come to symbolize the First Nations’ (in what is called Canada) efforts for justice for children tortured, abused, and killed at residential boarding schools. The engine will move along rails across the country. See the photos here>>


10 Years Ago, the Chicago Teachers Union Strike Changed Public Education: When the Chicago Teachers Union went on strike against Mayor Rahm Emanuel ten years ago, corporate education reform was on the march. The CTU won that strike, beat back the neoliberal Democrats, and turned the tide in favor of public education. Read more>>
How Going Outside Our Comfort Zones Puts Us In Touch With Our Power: An ongoing challenge for us activist organizers is that the route to winning takes people out of their comfort zones. The positive side is not only that the campaign gets a chance to win, but also that enduring discomfort usually strengthens people — it puts them in touch with their power. Read more>>
Quiet Quitting Is Rocking Corporate America: Burned out employees are allegedly ‘quiet quitting’ their jobs by doing the bare minimum at work and Corporate America wants you to know that this is a bad thing. They don’t want you to notice that quiet quitting isn’t quitting at all. It’s still collecting the checks so that you can afford your rent, and your dinners out at that Indian food place, and your new shoes you like and – if there’s a little left over – an education for your children. Read more>>
The Genius Of Ella Jo Baker: Ella Jo Baker will be inducted into the Cooperative Hall of Fame as an “Unsung Hero” at a ceremony at the National Press Club on Oct. 6 in Washington DC. Ella Baker is well-regarded as a giant in the Civil Rights Movement, known for her unique participatory grassroots organizing style and also for her ability to galvanize young people to bring a militancy in the struggle to end segregation. But Baker is less known for her innovative organizing prowess before the 1960s – forming a network of self-help cooperatives to bring economic relief to black people during the Depression. Read more>>
How To Design The Commons (Or, Elinor Ostrom Explained): Here’s a crash course in the work of political economist Elinor Ostrom, who championed the commons and communal governance as practical frameworks, highlighting Ostrom’s eight foundational principles for managing a commons. Read more>>
Baby Bonds Bill Could Narrow the US Wealth Gap: Under the plan, the federal government would deposit $1,000 into an account for every child born in the United States. Each child would then receive an additional deposit of up to $2,000 annually, depending on their family’s income level. The poorest children would accumulate about $46,200 in their trusts by age 18 while the wealthiest would have around $1,700. At this point, the child could put the funds towards buying a house, getting higher education, or starting a business. Read more>>

War Abolition 201: This six week-online course provides participants an opportunity to learn from, dialogue with, and strategize for change with World BEYOND War experts, peer activists, and changemakers from around the world. (Oct-Nov 2022) 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>>
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>>
2022 Ohio Fair Trade Teach-In and Expo! Initiated in 2009, the Ohio Fair Trade Teach-In & Expo brings people together from across the region to learn about and become more involved in supporting FAIR TRADE – a model for socially and environmentally conscious consumerism. (Oct 8) Learn more>>
Say No To US Wars: Stop endless wars: Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Palestine, everywhere. Join us in protest during the week of Oct 15 – 22. Organize an action in your local area or join one. (Oct 15-23) 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>>
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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