Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
Workers are fed up with low wages, high costs of living, and terrible working conditions. From the United Kingdom’s massive, multi-industry strike wave to the largest academic strike in US history, workers are organizing for change. At 100+ Starbucks locations, baristas and servers organized strikes as part of the Red Cup Rebellion against union-busting tactics. In China, workers at the electronics manufacturer Foxxcon’s megafactory hopped over the fence and headed home to avoid getting covid, prompting a strike. Now, the Chinese government is trying to mobilizing cadres to replace the striking workers.
Italy’s students are in an uproar over the right-wing President Giorgia Meloni’s plans to gut education. They organized a #NoMeloni day that turned out thousands across the country. In Egypt, though COP27 failed to adequately respond to the climate crisis, activist groups managed to rein in a few of the summit’s worst ideas on biomass and rainforest deforestation. This week’s Nonviolence News also shares new reports from Nigeria and Kenya about how people are striving for peace despite the challenges. Ethiopia signed a peace deal in the Tigray War, though many are wary of its details.
Speaking of peace, a peace group has subpoenaed weapons manufacturers for war crimes, calling them to appear at the People’s War Tribunal. The group is taking the action to hold these weapons companies accountable for atrocities, even if governmental bodies will not. All this talk of peace makes some people ask: are there really any alternatives to war? There are many. One list we’re sharing in this week’s Nonviolence News has 89 examples of times people could have gone to war, but chose nonviolent struggle or peace strategies instead. (It’s pretty darn inspiring.)
A favorite read this week was a glimpse inside Uganda’s disability rights movement. The rising strength of the movement draws from creativity, radical change, and the undaunted affirmation of people with disabilities.
In solidarity,
Rivera Sun
Photo Credit: Italian students protest far-right President Meloni’s education plan.
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