Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
Enjoy the last regular Nonviolence News round-up for 2022. It’s a real feast of stories – creative, courageous, and extraordinary. Next week, we’ll be sharing the perennially fascinating, exciting end-of-the-year reports. Between now and 2023, we’ll dig into the archives and past issues to highlight the hundreds of successes. We’ll also lift up the most creative actions and noteworthy campaigns to remember from the past year’s 2,500 stories. It will lift your spirits and send you sailing into 2023 with a sense of possibility.
This week, read about how Peru is countering a “legislative coup” and demanding the reinstatement of the elected president. Hear how Chinese protesters are handing out blank sheets of paper to evade anti-protest laws (and challenge them). Check out the many success stories – including how racial justice organizers stopped the roll-out of killer robots, kicked cops out of schools, and made healing trauma the official policy of city offices.
Don’t miss these stories: Azerbaijani minority groups are working to keep their languages alive. Mongolians are protesting government corruption. Truckers went on strike in Jordan. Climate actions took on the many-headed hydra of the climate crisis in Italy, Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Korea, Argentina and beyond. In the Call-to-Action Section, you’ll find a grant opportunity for a young person near you: up to $1000 for “creative projects addressing violence”.
Speaking of grants (and donations), today is the perfect day to make an end-of-the-year gift to Nonviolence News. We appreciate it – and we don’t send out a million appeal emails this time of year either. Now’s your chance. Thank you in advance.
In solidarity,
Rivera Sun
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Activists Stop Police From Using Killer Robots: After San Francisco lawmakers voted to allow police to use lethally armed robots, outraged community members and organizations spoke out. The protests, widespread media coverage, and public pressure worked. Several lawmakers changed their positions. And in a complete reversal, the Board of Supervisors banned police robots from using deadly force. Read more>>
The City That Kicked Cops Out Of Schools: Des Moines Public Schools replaced armed police with staff trained in restorative practices after student activism and public outcry led the Des Moines police to cancel their in-school contract. Read more>>
Hong Kong Democracy Activist Wins Appeal On Tiananmen Vigil Assembly: Democracy activist and barrister Chow Hang-tung won an appeal on Wednesday against her conviction and sentence over a “banned” candlelight vigil in Hong Kong last year to commemorate victims of China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. Read more>>
Arcata, CA, Voters Put Earth Flag Above National Or State Flag: It shall be the official policy of the City of Arcata to fly the Earth flag at the top of all city-owned flagpoles, above the flag of the United States of America and the California flag, and any other flags that the city may choose to display. Read more>>
In Baltimore, Healing Trauma Is Now the Official Policy: A groundbreaking law directs city agencies and employees — from cops to librarians — to root out practices that cause trauma. Already, lives have been saved. Read more>>
Dimock, PA, Wins Clean Water From Polluting Frackers: Over a decade ago, a small town in northwest Pennsylvania became the focal point for the anti-fracking movement. Soon after Cabot Oil & Gas (now owned by Coterra) came to Dimock, residents noticed that their water had turned brown from contamination and was no longer safe to drink. The fracking company denied responsibility, and state and federal regulators did little to help residents. Finally, after 14 years of grassroots organizing, some justice came to those affected by this fracking nightmare. Read more>>
Since the Sandy Hook Massacre, the Gun Control Movement Has Won Important Victories: The gun control movement has won important legislative and legal victories since the massacre at the Connecticut elementary school a decade ago. Read more>>
Richmond Removes Its Last City-Owned Confederate Monument: Crews removed the last city-owned Confederate statue in Richmond, Virginia. The monument, located at a busy intersection in the city that once served as the capital of the Confederacy, honored Ambrose P. Hill, a Confederate lieutenant general. Richmond began taking down Confederate statues in the summer of 2020 amid the nationwide racial justice protests sparked by George Floyd’s murder. Read more>>
5 People Killed By Police During Anti-Coup Protests In Peru: Since December 7, tens of thousands of Peruvians have been protesting in different parts of the country in rejection of the parliamentary coup that took democratically elected left-wing President Pedro Castillo out of office and led to his arrest. Protesters have been organizing peaceful mobilizations and roadblocks across the national territory demanding that former President Castillo be immediately released and reinstated as the president of the country. Read more>>
Azerbaijani Minority Activists Strive To Keep Their Languages Alive. Minority acitivists face obstacles in keeping their languages alive, including globalization and an education system that gives little time to minority languages. A lack of teachers, the result of a lack of university programs aimed at producing minority-language teachers, also are challenges. Read more>>
New School Teachers’ Strike Ends As NYC University Cuts Deal With Union: The New School reached a tentative contract agreement with its part-time faculty this weekend, ending a strike that lasted nearly a month. A joint statement released by the faculty’s union, ACT-United Auto Workers Local 7902, and the New School on Saturday said two highlights of the five-year deal are pay raises and boosts to health care for the workers. Read more>>
Australian Anti-Protest Laws Put Non-violent Climate Activist In Jail: The Sydney Magistrates Court sentenced climate activist Violet CoCo to 15 month’s prison on December 2 for blocking vehicles, possessing a bright light distress signal and refusing to comply with police directions in April. New South Wales’ repressive new anti-protest laws, introduced in April, allow for the harsh sentence. These laws made it an offence to block major roads, bridges and infrastructure, with penalties of up to $22,000 in fines and up to two year’s in prison. Read more>>
Hawaiʻians Rally Behind The Honolulu Board Of Water Supply, March To Navy: Hundreds of people took to the streets today in a “Walk for Wai,” marching from Keʻehi Lagoon Beach Park to the local Navy Facilities Engineering Systems Command Headquarters, in support of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply (HBWS). For years, the HBWS had requested transparency, accountability and immediate action to prevent any further contamination of the island of Oʻahu’s EPA Region IX Sole-Source Aquifer from the U.S. Navy’s WWII-era Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. Read more>>
‘I Walked Away Like A Giant’ – New York Troublemakers School Draws 400: Four hundred rank-and-file organizers gathered November 19 in a New York City high school at the largest Troublemakers School yet. The day was part learning opportunity, part celebration of shared struggle. Read more>>
Disrupting Violence-As-Usual With Campaign Nonviolence: Ending violence in our culture is hard work. It takes all of us. During the Campaign Nonviolence Action Days, it’s heartening to see people intentionally challenging and transforming all these forms of violence. Here are some specific examples. Read more>>
Mongolia To Take Mining Firm Public After Protests Over Graft: Mongolia will push ahead with plans to list a state mining firm embroiled in a corruption scandal that has sparked protests in the capital Ulaanbaatar, hoping that new ownership will help drive out graft. Read more>>
Jordan Truckers Strike Over Costly Fuel, Some Shops Shut In Solidarity: Shops in some Jordanian provincial cities shut on Wednesday in solidarity with thousands of lorry drivers who have staged several days of sporadic strikes in protest at high fuel prices, drivers and witnesses said. Read more>>
Over 1,000 New York Times Workers Stage 24-Hour Walkout: Workers for The New York Times are staging the outlet’s largest work stoppage in over 40 years, with over 1,100 employees walking out on Thursday for a 24-hour strike, demanding a fairer share of the outlets’ financial success as months of contract negotiations come to a head. Read more>>
500 Authors Demand Harpers Collins Strike Ends: Over 200 workers have been on strike at HarperCollins since November 10th; they are protesting low pay that they say makes it difficult for them to live in high-priced New York City. Now, over 500 authors, including Barbara Kingsolver, Jacqueline Woodson, and Kwame Alexander, have signed an open letter calling on HarperCollins to settle the strike. Read more>>
‘Above All, Don’t Stay Quiet’ – Philly Immigrant Workers Organize to Change the Restaurant Industry: The fight to reduce occupational hazards requires solid information about workplace conditions and current law. But the real contest isn’t over legal or technical information. It’s about power. Restaurant workers, says Yuris, “need to unite and raise their voices, to not be afraid because they can do great things for their children who won’t have to go through what they went through at work.” Read more>>
700 People Surge Onto Airport Tarmac, Italians Protest Mudslide Deaths, and Other Extinction Rebellion News: Extinction Rebellion’s 71st newsletter holds over a dozen stories from Argentina to Malawi, covering how climate activists are pushing to be heard at summits, protesting climate-related disaster, pressuring financial institutions and political parties to quit backing fossil fuels, and much more. Read more>>
Cities Take on a New Front in the Climate Battle – Meat Eating: From Buenos Aires to L.A., there’s a growing consensus that serious climate action means getting citizens to change one very popular habit. Read more>>
‘Green Banks’ Are Turning Climate Action Dreams Into Realities: A highly successful model for getting green infrastructure projects off the ground is about to go national thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act. A national green bank has the potential to transform America’s electrical grid — and do so in a way that makes green energy more accessible to lower-income households, said Adam Kent, a senior advisor at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Read more>>
Sunrise Movement Launches New Strategy For 2023 And Beyond: By organizing at the local level across the U.S., the grassroots group hopes to “create the conditions to shape the 2024 election and force the government to pass even more Green New Deal policies on a national scale come 2025.” Read more>>
Inside the COP27 Fight To Get Wealthy Nations To Pay Climate Reparations: How developing countries’ 30-year battle for “loss and damage” funding culminated in a new agreement in Egypt. Read more>>
Palestine – The Unexpected Star of the 2022 World Cup: From player demonstrations to unfurled flags, Palestinian struggle has been visible and fearless at the World Cup. This World Cup featured memorable performances on the pitch—and powerful statements of solidarity with the Palestinian cause off the pitch. Read more>>
California Organizers Build Momentum For Statewide Prison Closures: Thanks to the work of incarcerated people, organizations and community members, there is a growing public understanding that incarceration operates as a form of racial control and oppression. Read more>>
How the Indigenous Amazigh People In Morocco Fight For Language And Land: A rich history of cultural struggle has helped the Indigenous Amazigh community lead one of Africa’s longest and most successful anti-mining protests. Read more>>
Why the Fight Over Defining Antisemitism Is Key To The Future Of BDS: Palestinian rights activists are pushing back against a conservative definition of antisemitism being used to criminalize the BDS movement. Read more>>
Orange County Declares Racism A Public Health Crisis: The Orange County Board of Supervisors, proposed a resolution to declare racism a public health crisis, according to CNN. Though Black people and people of color have been trying to ring the alarm about this issue for decades, a predominantly white county taking the same stance could send a message. “Experiencing racism has been associated with increased risk for numerous mental and physical chronic health conditions, like heart disease, cancer, asthma, stroke, Alzheimer’s, diabetics (sic), and suicide,” said Doug Chaffee (D.), chairman of the board. “These health disparities underscore the urgent need to address systemic racism as a root cause of racial and ethnic health inequities and a core element of public health efforts.” Read more>>
Rural Clinics Can Integrate Traditional Practices & Treat Farmworkers With Respect: “I don’t think traditional practices should be left behind,” urges a midwife who helps migrant mothers. “They’re part of who we are as an indigenous community, and it’s our responsibility to support the people who value them. Why can’t they be combined with our current medical system here in California?” The question highlights the importance of the relationship between indigenous communities and health care institutions, especially community clinics. That relationship — and the ability of clinics to gain the confidence of migrants — plays a key role in determining what care is available to these farmworkers from southern Mexico. Read more>>
Iran Sentences 400 People To Jail Terms of Up To 10 Years Over Protests: Courts in and around the Iranian capital have jailed 400 people on charges related to recent protests, for terms of up to 10 years. The movement was sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman who was allegedly beaten into a coma by morality police for wearing her headscarf the wrong way. But it has since morphed into the biggest civil uprising for years, with Iranians expressing their rage over decades of oppression, misogyny in the name of religion, and international isolation. Read more>>
Counter-Protestors In Texas Turned An Attack On a Drag Show Into a Giant Party: LGBTQ activists and allies showed up to counter-protest a far-right attack in San Antonio, and their numbers were so big that one reporter said it became an “open air party.” Read more>>
D.C. Domestic Workers Make Progress Toward Important Protections: On December 7, the Washington, D.C. Council approved a landmark Domestic Workers Bill of Rights that extends crucial recognition and labor protections to nearly 10,000 local domestic workers, with final approval expected to come next week. In most of the nation, legal protections for workers explicitly exclude domestic workers, almost all currently women and mostly women of color. Read more>>
Peace Missions To Romania & Ukraine: For the new episode of the World BEYOND War podcast, I spoke with John Reuwer, pictured above sitting in the center under the Gandhi statue in Kyiv, Ukraine with local peace activist and fellow WBW board member Yurii Sheliazhenko, about his recent journey to Central Europe where he met refugees and attempted to organize unarmed civilian resistance to the war that’s been raging since February of this year. Read more>>
US Selective Service System Won’t Be Expanded To Women This Year: For the past two years, some members of Congress have tried to expand the military draft registration requirement to women. But organizers pushed back, urging elected officials to end the draft instead of expanding it. And this week, negotiators of the annual defense authorization bill scrapped expansion plans. Now, it’s time to reinvigorate the call to end the Selective Service System entirely! Read more>>
Colombia To Receive $55 Million For Peace From UN Multi-Donor Fund: A United Nations multi-donor fund will donate a record $55 million to help establish peace in Colombia in 2023, with programs focused on rural reform, protecting social leaders, and supporting conflict victims, officials and ambassadors said on Wednesday. Read more>>
US-Based Africans Organize Events To Counter Biden’s US-Africa Summit: Hundreds of people of African descent convened this past weekend at two events that aimed to be the people’s opposition to the Biden administration’s U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, which is taking place this week amid a military buildup to enforce the summit’s security in Washington, D.C. Read more>>
A Brief History Of Silent Protests: Activists in China are using blank sheets of paper to speak out against the country’s draconian zero-Covid policies. Their strategic shows of defiance continued a long global tradition of silent protest, in which activists register their discontent with wordless marches and long hunger strikes, by kneeling down or taping their mouths shut, or—in certain punitive societies—fighting propaganda and lies with blank pieces of paper. Read more>>
The Year Labor Organizing Came To Tech: So far, tech’s labor activism has largely moved on the margins of the industry, with Amazon warehouse workers, Apple Store employees and video game QA testers leading organizing efforts, while engineers, product teams and other headquarters staff mostly shied away. Read more>>
Youth Gun Violence Activists Can’t Be Asked to Save the World: Our society alternately minimizes, tokenizes, and commodifies young people, exploiting them or using them as props. We put tremendous pressure on them to “save the world.” All of that pressure can take a toll, especially for those dealing with the trauma of gun violence. Read more>>
No Union? You Still Have A Right To Strike: Even without a union, you have the legal right to organize strikes, job actions, and various protests—and your employer is banned from retaliating against you. Despite the law, though, many employers will fire troublemakers if they can get away with it. That can bring organizing to a halt. So if you’re organizing without the protection of a union contract, it behooves you to know your rights and how to enforce them. Read more>>
What Is a Strike? Reflections from the Virtual Front Lines of the UC Academic Worker Strike: We need to think more creatively about what striking – symbolic and material disruption – looks like in 2022, and during an ongoing pandemic. Read more>>
Remembering When 100,000 U.S. Workers Simply Stopped Working: In 1877, railroad workers were fighting for labor justice too. Years of pay cuts, weak labor protections, and ruthless exploitation by their employers led them to walk off their jobs in a series of strikes across the country. They were joined by workers in a host of different industries, many out of sympathy, anger with the railroads, or a sense of class solidarity. The strikes of 1877 were a pivotal moment, both for workers and for capital. We take a look back at how it unfolded. Read more>>
Changing The ‘World As It Is’ Into The ‘World As It Should Be’: Resolving the conflict between being visionary and being pragmatic is critical for those who want to transform society. Read more>>
Changemaker Youth Grants Give Up To $1000: Youth ages 12-23 can receive up to $1,000 for projects that provide a creative solution that addresses violence in their community. These projects can be creative, artistic, and out-of-the-box ideas. Ideally, they advance a nonviolent solution or alternative to the problem. Learn more>>
Save Sinjajevina – The Mountain of Peace Threatened By War: The people resisting this, and having already achieved heroic victories, need — now more than ever — financial and other support to transport supplies, to train and organize unarmed nonviolent resisters, and to visit Brussels and Washington to try to save their mountains. To learn more, donate, sign the petition, and get involved click here. Learn more>>
Tell Citi – Stop Financing Environmental Racism in the Gulf South! Since 2016, Citi has funneled nearly $9 billion into LNG companies and projects, which makes it the second largest methane gas financier in the world. Learn more>>
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