Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
A whopping 2.8 million people are on strike in France against proposed raises to the retirement age. That’s over 3.5% of the population – the number identified by civil resistance researchers Erica Chenoweth and Maria J Stephan as the threshold to success. Will the French win their goals? Stay tuned.
Across the English Channel, half a million public employees in Britain strike, including teachers, train drivers, civil servants and university lecturers, border patrol officers and staff, ambulance drivers, and more. Many of them are taking action against a proposed “minimal services” bill that would prohibit certain groups from striking.
Meanwhile, in Brussels, 20,000 people protested against worsening work conditions in public health and other non-profit sectors in Belgium. Thousands protested against colonialism on Australia’s Invasion Day. After the murder of Tyre Nichols, Memphis shuttered the SCORPION unit that killed him, but activists say that’s not enough to prevent more deaths from happening. In Atlanta, organizers continue to pressure city officials to cancel the police’s controversial tactical urban warfare center that has already led to the death of an activist.
Although many of our stories this week are about massive protests, nonviolence comes in many shapes and forms. That’s why Nonviolence News also covers the small, bright ideas that make a big difference in people’s lives. My favorite story this week was about a group of teachers who put white mailboxes in classrooms and sports centers that encourage youth and children to write down their sorrows and challenges. The system helped educators identify and address the problems, risks, and abuses their students faced. It’s a small intervention – but a pivotal one for the young people involved.
In solidarity,
Rivera Sun, Editor
A Victory for Abolitionists – ICE-Run Immigration Prison Shuts Down: advocates across the U.S. are celebrating the end of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) contract with Berks County in Pennsylvania, marking the long-fought closure of the embattled Berks immigration prison (officially known as Berks County Residential Center). Berks is the fifth immigration prison contract to end under the Biden administration, signaling the growing consensus that ICE’s immigration detention system does not need to exist, and a movement of communities across the country is organizing to end it. Read more>>
Indigenous Women and Femmes Are Winning Fights to Reclaim Land: Across so-called North America, Indigenous women are indomitable, and in land repossession work, this is no exception. Land Back campaigns take many forms ranging from land purchasing, creatively accessing and applying U.S. law, reparative tax structures that fuel healthy lands stewardship, media campaigns to increase public awareness, and so much more. Read more>>
Write-In Mailboxes Help Teachers Spot Bullying & Student Challenges: The white mailboxes in schools and sports clubs were designed to encourage kids to write about their sorrows. They became a powerful tool for stopping child abuse. Read more>>
King Crab Fisherman in Alaska: In Alaska, 130 king crab fishing boats and their crews in Kodiak, Alaska are declaring victory in their two-week long strike against the local processors in Kodiak. Initially, the processors’ association was offering the fisherman only $2.50 per pound for crab, down from $5.85 per pound. The fishermen won an increase to $3.35-per-pound and after 2 weeks on strike, declared victory so that they can take advantage of the fishing season. Read more>>
2.8 Million Strike in France This Week: In Paris, 2.8 million workers were on strike this week according to the union CGT. Workers remain upset over a plan to raise the minimum age for them to receive their pensions from 62 to 64. Read more>>
750 Temple University Graduate Workers Walk Off the Job: Temple University’s grad workers joined the ranks of the many university workers pushing for fairer wages. With a light winter rain sprinkling them, 750 members of TUGSA walked off the job — and onto the picket lines. Temple’s grad workers earn about $19,500 a year, while the average annual rent in Philadelphia runs about $23,000. Read more>>
500,000 British Public Employees Strike: In Great Britain, over 500,000 public employees are on strike, including educators, railroad engineers, security guards, and sanitation employees. Workers are protesting a proposed law that would allow the government to fire striking employees. Read more>>
Campesinos Fight For Self-Determination In Peru: Last week, tens of thousands of peasants and Indigenous Peruvians marched to Lima to participate in a national strike, demanding their right to live in dignity and the restoration of democracy. Read more>>
Massive Rally In Brussels Demands Refinancing And More Staff In Health And Non-Profit Sectors: Back-to-back crises and the government’s insensitive policies have worsened work conditions in public health and other non-profit sectors in Belgium. Workers from non-profit sectors in Belgium demonstrated in capital Brussels to defend the futures of the care, culture, and welfare in the country. More than 20,000 people participated in the march. Read more>>
In India, Protesters Resist Eviction Campaign: The majority of occupants who have encroached on state-held land are holding small lands. They have constructed houses for the last few decades and are mostly migrants and are mostly victims of militancy, as well as victims of abnormal situations arising from time to time, being a border state. They are now protesting to prevent being evicted. Read more>>
A Fresh Approach To Handling Student Behavior: Last week, Newberry High School (NHS) hosted two separate peacebuilding workshops on campus during school hours, with attendees that included a diverse group of 22 students and 10 educators created and facilitated by the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding (RPCP).” Using restorative practices and Educator/Student Dialogues they discussed various issues relevant to all parties, in hopes of strengthening communication and effectiveness of teaching and discipline around campus. Read more>>
Thousands Protest On Australia’s Invasion Day: Thousands of people have marched in cities across Australia, rallying in support of Indigenous rights and protesting against marking their country’s national day on the date that the British colonial fleet sailed into Sydney Harbour more than two centuries ago. In Sydney, the capital of New South Wales – Australia’s most populous state – large crowds gathered in the city’s central business district on Thursday, with some people carrying Aboriginal flags and chanting “Australia Day is dead”. Read more>>
1,300 Social Justice Groups Demand Atlanta Mayor Resign Over Tortuguita’s Death: Over 1,300 climate, justice and community groups are calling for Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens to resign over the police killing of anti-“Cop City” activist Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán on January 18, issuing a strong rebuke to Dickens for his refusal to even condemn the killing. His “lack of intervention in protecting Atlanta protestors and residents led directly to the fatal raid,” they said. Read more>>
Memphis Police Shutter SCORPION Unit, Activists Say That’s Not Enough: The family of Tyre Nichols and others appalled by his death — for which five fired Memphis cops now face murder charges — welcomed the police department’s decision on Saturday to disband a unit created in 2021 to patrol high-crime areas. Activists warn that it’s not enough. Similarly violent “special units” have been established in police forces throughout the country. Read more>>
Activists Begin Rallies At Border Patrol Headquarters Over Friendship Park Wall Construction: The Biden administration announced it would move forward with plans to build a 30-foot border wall around Friendship Park. The park is a historic binational meeting place at the U.S.-Mexico border. Community members and groups, including AFSC, pledge to keep up efforts to stop further militarization of the park. Read more>>
We Need National Days of Mourning for the Victims of Police Violence: We need to establish national days of mourning for victims of police violence, their families, and for those of us who are already grieving. We cannot be expected to ask the state, corporations or political leaders for permission to shut down business as usual and give us time to grieve collectively. It is up to us to organize days of mourning around the values of worker and community self-activity, abolition and collective care. Read more>>
Vanguard, Which Future Will You Choose? This was the first protest at Vanguard’s office in Newtown Square since the firm ended its participation in the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative last month. Read more>>
High Schoolers Have Spent A Decade Fighting Baltimore’s Toxic Legacy: A new book chronicles the students’ participatory action research between 2011 and 2021, organizing and mobilizing their communities to fight back against a century of environmental injustice, racism and violence in one of the nation’s most polluted cities. Read more>>
California Activists Redouble Efforts To Hold the Oil Industry Accountable On Neighborhood Drilling: Environmental justice advocates are mobilizing allies to hold the line against oil industry polluters’ multimillion-dollar campaign to reverse what community leaders call the most significant environmental win in years. Read more>>
Demonstrators In DR Congo Demand Pope Meet Sexual Abuse Victims: Around two dozen activists and sexual abuse victims demonstrated in Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital on Thursday across the road from a cathedral where Pope Francis was meeting clergy. They held up placards, including some demanding that the pope meet with clergy abuse victims in the country. Read more>>
Angry Protesters In Australia Disrupt Controversial Cardinal’s Funeral: Cardinal Pell was imprisoned over sexual abuse and covered up the actions of other priests. Protestors confronted mourners with chants of “shame” outside the funeral. Read more>>
Iran Authorities Halt Execution of Protester: Authorities in Iran on Wednesday stayed the execution of a man sentenced to death for his role in anti-government protests since September following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish-Iranian woman arrested in the capital. Read more>>
How Russians, Indigenous people and Belarusians Are Uniting To Resist The War In Ukraine: Antiwar activists in Russia are finding support and solidarity in a growing resistance network comprised of Russian diaspora, Indigenous and ethnic minorities and Belarusians. Read more>>
Russian Teen Faces Years In Jail Over Post Criticizing Ukraine War: Olesya Krivtsova sports an anti-Putin tattoo on one ankle and a bracelet that tracks her every move on the other. The 19-year-old from Russia’s Arkhangelsk region must wear the device while she is under house arrest after she was charged over social media posts that authorities say discredit the Russian army and justify terrorism. Read more>>
Anti-War, Peace Rally Held On MLK Day: An estimated 150-200 Bay Area antiwar and social justice activists representing some 40 endorsing organizations rallied that day. The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) call for January 14-22, 2023 nationally-coordinated antiwar and social justice protests commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthdate drew actions in 90 U.S. cities. The protests recalled Dr. King’s historic condemnation of the U.S. war in Vietnam when he excoriated that ten-year genocidal horror that took the lives of four million Vietnamese, mostly civilians, and 57,00 U.S. troops, stating, “The greatest purveyor of violence in the world: my own government… I cannot be silent.” Read more>>
Lula Won’t Send Arms to Ukraine: Yesterday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in Brasilia to meet President Lula. When asked if Lula would join Germany’s call to send arms to Ukraine, Lula denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine but warned that his country would not be sending arms. “Brazil has no interest in handing over munitions that can be used in the war between Ukraine and Russia,” Lula said at a press conference in Brasilia. “We are a country committed to peace.” Read more>>
How An International Tribunal 70 Years In The Making Found The U.S. Guilty Of Genocide: Forged by decades of coalition building, the 2021 tribunal on U.S. human rights abuses stands as a powerful challenge to historical policies that have led to so much harm. Read more>>
Protests Over Food And Fuel Surged In 2022 — The Biggest Were In Europe: Soaring energy prices are driving the current wave of street protests, in contrast to a decade ago when food prices were to blame, say researchers. Read more>>
What Determines The Success Of Movements Today? A new report not only underscores the recommendations of Chenoweth, Stephan and other movement strategists, but also builds upon them, offering insights into other key factors that determine the success of movements today. Read more>>
Have Sri Lanka’s Protests Completely Failed? Just a few short months after mass protests forced the president to resign over economic disaster, hopes of change have been dashed. Rajapaksa soon returned to the island and was even welcomed by supporters at Colombo airport. Close allies have replaced him in office and his political party is currently plotting its next return to power, its reputation seemingly unscathed. Rajapaksa faces no investigations for any of his crimes, from his cronyism and corruption to the slaughter of tens of thousands of Tamil civilians more than a decade ago. Many of the protests have now been dispersed and public outrage with the Rajapsaksas quelled. The so-called aragalaya, or “people’s protest,” which seemed to be on the brink of a spectacular revolution, has roundly failed. Read more>>
Milwaukee Honors De-Segregation, Civil Rights Activist: The building where Juanita Adams protested segregation in 1965 was constructed is where her great-granddaughter attends school today. During a demonstration, Adams used her body to block a cement truck used during construction of the school. The City of Milwaukee will honor the late Juanita Adams with an honorary street naming for her activism, impact and legacy. Read more>>
Transforming Ourselves to Transform the World: Five activists share how shifting their relationships with their own bodies helped them build community. “We stretch our bodies in resistance with other bodies—bodies that are queer, Black, femme, and everything in between—and in that moment, we can almost feel the coming of a better world.” Read more>>
Transforming Justice: The Healing Power of Racial & Restorative Justice: Join author, civil rights trial attorney and restorative justice practitioner Fania Davis and award-winning spoken word & hip hop artist Kane Smego for a webinar on racial and restorative justice. (Feb 5) Learn more>>
National Gun Violence Survivors Week: From February 1–7, 2023, we will honor the fifth annual National Gun Violence Survivors Week. During the week, we take stock of the terrible human toll of America’s gun violence crisis—and recommit ourselves to supporting survivors with action. Organizers have released this social media toolkit for grassroots outreach. (Feb. 1-7) Learn more>>
Add Your Name To The Appeal For Peace: There will be a future of mankind only if it becomes a peaceful one. This involves peace within the societies and between nations as well as in peace with nature. This requires international cooperation instead of rivalry and enmity. Learn more>>
End Legal Opposition To Youth Climate Justice: Twenty-one young people are seeking a judicial declaration that the U.S. fossil fuel energy system is unconstitutional and violates their fundamental right to a safe climate. Add your name to the petition in support of them, sponsored by the People vs. Fossil Fuels Coalition. Find a social media toolkit here and learn more>>
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