Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
Los Angeles City Schools shut down for 3 days as school workers (custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers) went on strike. United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) joined them in solidarity, bringing the total number of striking workers to over 60,000. It worked. The 30,000 support workers have won a tentative deal for a 30% wage increase and other benefits. In other wins this week, Netanyahu backed off his planned judicial overhaul (for now). Britain plans to expand free childcare. The European Union put a ban on gas-powered cars by 2035. Chipotle got zinged for union busting. And a 24-ft tall Harriet Tubman statue replaced a Columbus monument in Newark, NJ.
In Germany, airports and trains were in chaos as workers held massive walkouts over the cost-of-living crisis. They’re not the only ones: Political opposition groups in Kenya are defying protest bans to challenge the current administrations failure to address high cost-of-living. Across the channel, British airlines are cancelling hundreds of flights ahead of a security workers strike over the Easter holiday. And France continues to be in upheaval over President Macron’s choice to raise the age of retirement.
A migrant rescue ship funded by world-famous street artist Banksy has been seized by Italian authorities. The crime? Ignoring orders to head to port and instead charging out into the ocean to rescue 178 imperiled migrants. Meanwhile, in Wales, a local community is taking a different approach to challenging far-right xenophobia. During an upcoming nationalist rally, they’re planning a Welsh cake give-away in support of welcoming refugees and asylum seekers. The Welsh cake is a traditional symbol of hospitality and, as one organizer says, “if you meet a far-right, neo-fascist bonehead who looks out of place here, the critical question you must ask that person is: ‘Would you like a Welsh cake?'”
A favorite story? It’s hard to choose. Here are a few: Yellow Ribbon, a Ukrainian digital resistance group, has sworn to resist Russian occupation with any peaceful means necessary. In Florida, Disney seamstresses – mostly immigrants – who sew princess costumes are organizing against the gender pay gap. And along Britain’s rocky coast, oar-powered boats are providing a critical part of ocean clean-up.
At a time of heart-breaking headlines, these stories – and the dozens more in our weekly round-up – reaffirm my faith in humanity. Each day, millions of people take action using nonviolent tools, strategies, and practices to challenge injustice, protest abuse, save lives, and so much more. Nonviolence News collects these stories so we can see this other side of our reality: human beings aren’t just the horrible headlines coming out of mainstream news. We’re also brave, magnificent, compassionate, determined, brilliant, and ultimately unstoppable. It makes me feel honored to be alive in these wild times.
In solidarity,
Rivera Sun
Photo Credit: LA school workers rally during their successful 3-day strike.
‘When We Fight, We Win!’: LA School Workers Secure Deal After 3-Day Strike: Union negotiators for about 30,000 school support staffers in California’s Los Angeles County struck a historic deal with the second-largest district in the United States on Friday after a three-day strike. Read more>>
Netanyahu Delays Judicial Overhaul After Mass Protests: Bending to a wave of mass protests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed his contentious judicial overhaul plan Monday and said he wanted “to avoid civil war” by making time to seek a compromise with political opponents. The announcement appeared to calm some of the tensions that have fueled three tumultuous months of unrest. But it failed to address the underlying issues that have polarized the nation, and the anti-government protest movement vowed to intensify its efforts. Read more>>
EU Approves 2035 Ban on Sales of Gas-Powered Cars: EU countries have approved an end to the sale of gas-powered cars in 2035, allowing the law to enter into force. The new law will require a 55 percent drop in carbon emissions across new car fleets by 2030. By 2035, all new cars must produce zero carbon dioxide. Read more>>
Flatbush Tenants Force Repairs After Decades of Neglect: After years of organizing rent strikes and lawsuits against their slumlord, residents of a Flatbush building with more than 500 open violations are starting to see repairs. Read more>>
Chipotle Must Pay $240K to Workers After It Closed Unionizing Store in Maine: Labor officials found that Chipotle illegally closed the store after workers sought to form the company’s first union. Read more>>
Britain Extends Free Childcare For Working Parents: Britain will expand free childcare to children from 9 months old to help families who currently pay some of the highest costs in the world, finance minister Jeremy Hunt said. As part of a plan to encourage more people back into work, Hunt said the government would provide 30 hours of free childcare per week to eligible working parents of children aged under five by 2025. Read more>>
L’Oreal, Jordan Sneakers, and Uber Sponsor Anti-Harassment Trainings: Three corporate groups are investing in bystander intervention and anti-harassment trainings with the activist group “Right To Be”. Read more>>
Guardian Newspaper Owner Apologizes For Founders’ Links To Transatlantic Slavery: The owner of the Guardian has issued an apology for the role the newspaper’s founders had in transatlantic slavery and announced a decade-long program of restorative justice. The Scott Trust said it expected to invest more than £10m (US$12.3m, A$18.4m), with millions dedicated specifically to descendant communities linked to the Guardian’s 19th-century founders. Read more>>
Harriet Tubman Statue Replaces Columbus: A new Harriet Tubman monument, which was recently revealed in Newark, New Jersey, has officially replaced a Christopher Columbus statue that remained there until the summer of 2020. The monument, titled “Shadow of a Face,” is 25 feet tall and contains steel that expands into a trellis that onlookers can walk under. Read more>>
Argentina Marches In Memorial Of 30K Victims of Military Dictatorship: On the 47th anniversary of US-backed coup, members and sympathizers of Mothers of Plaza de Mayo and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo human rights organizations marched in Buenos Aires, carrying a large flag with the photos of the 30,000 victims of Argentina’s last and bloodiest dictatorship. Read more>>
Israeli’s Largest Labor Group Plans Launches General Strike: “Workers and employers will together halt the judicial overhaul,” Histadrut’s chairman Arnon Bar-David said. On Monday, Israel’s largest labor organization Histadrut started a general worker strike to press the government to halt its contentious judicial overhaul plan. Read more>>
In Macron’s France, Streets And Fields Seethe With Protest: The protest movement is plowing on and picking up new recruits, including some so young that it will be many decades before they’ll be directly impacted by the pushed-back retirement age. Their involvement is a worrisome development for Macron, because it suggests that protests are evolving, broadening from workplace and retirement concerns to a more generalized malaise with the president and his governance. Read more>>
Families of Prisoners Remain Silent No More: The Burks family and the Shrewsbury family have joined with the Poor Peoples Campaign to seek justice for their loved ones who were not adequately protected from attacks and abuse. The families, one black and one white, gathered before the march for a prayer. Read more>>
British Airways Cancels 300 Flights During Heathrow Staff’s Easter Strikes: British Airways is canceling more than 300 flights to and from Heathrow over the Easter holiday period due to strikes by airport security staff. The airline is axing about 5% of its schedule, with 16 return short-haul flights cancelled daily. Read more>>
Survivor of Highland Park Gunfire Crashes Nashville Shooting News Conference: A police spokesman had just finished updating reporters on the mass killing at a Nashville school when Ashbey Beasley suddenly stepped up to the clutch of microphones and asked, “Aren’t you guys tired of covering this?” Read more>>
‘People Had to Die for You to Come’, Ecuadorians Shout to Lasso: The inhabitants of a city affected by a landslide greeted President Guillermo Lasso with shouts of rage and disapproval. Read more>>
We Keep Us Safe: As calls for abolition grow, the queer and women of color-led movement for transformative justice offers a glimpse of a future beyond policing. Read more>>
US Imposes Sanctions On Black community Projects: In March 2023, Regions Bank notified the black nonprofit African People’s Education and Defense Fund (APEDF) that the bank was “exiting” their 20-year relationship, closing accounts, withdrawing lines of credit and canceling mortgage loans. This assault on the ability of African people to build economic self-reliance was the latest in a series of actions revealing government and corporate cooperation targeting the black community programs of the Uhuru (Freedom) Movement. Read more>>
Workers of Color Accounted for 100% of Union Growth in 2022: While much of the media (even in the left media) focuses largely on the organizing efforts of white workers in coffee shops, universities jobs, and media outlets, BLS statistics released today showed that it’s actually black and brown workers in less-covered state & local governments in the South that are driving union membership gains. Read more>>
Building On Protests To Pursue Deeper Change: “To those who protested the Israeli Finance Minister with me, let’s talk. We gathered in the cold rain to reject Bezalel Smotrich’s violent and anti-democratic rhetoric. Now, let’s build on our shared concern to seek a better future for the region.” Read more>>
In Vienna, 143 Protestors Detained At Demonstration Against European Gas Conference: The Block Gas Coalition – the alliance behind the protest – denounced fossil fuel ‘profiteering’ and called for an accelerated green transition. Read more>>
102 Third Act Climate Actions Put Pressure On Banks: “It was magical. It was a day of connection, hope, joy, art, and disruption.” Third Actors and over 50 partners organized 102 demonstrations in 30 states and the District of Columbia. See photos>>
Leading Lawyers Refuse To Prosecute Climate Protesters Or Represent New Fossil Fuel Projects: More than 120 lawyers have vowed to not act against activists from groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil who are “exercising their democratic right of peaceful protest”. Read more>>
France Requisitions Refinery Workers as Energy Strikes Continue: Several French refineries were still blocked from delivering products on Tuesday after two weeks of strikes, disrupting production and power supply, while attempts to requisition workers at the Fos depot sparked scuffles with police. Read more>>
Germany At a Standstill As Huge Strike Halts Planes and Trains: Airports and bus and train stations across Germany were at a standstill on Monday, causing disruption for millions of people during one of the largest walkouts in decades in Europe’s biggest economy as soaring inflation stokes wage demands. Read more>>
Kenya Political Protests Continue Despite Police Ban: Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga said protests against President William Ruto’s government over the high cost of living would go ahead on Monday as scheduled despite a police ban. Read more>>
Cancer Patients Challenge Biden Admin’s Refusal to Lower Price of Lifesaving Drug: “We request HHS to consider this appeal directly… because the NIH has repeatedly demonstrated its unwillingness to even acknowledge that the Bayh-Dole Act includes an obligation to make products invented with federal funds ‘available to the public on reasonable terms.'” Read more>>
CUNY Administration Cracks Down On Student & Worker Run Food Pantry: A team of students and workers operating as “Reclaim the Commons” is working to force CUNY to reopen dining services in their eighth floor dining commons space. The first step has been to organize “The People’s Pantry,” a food pantry and coffee station operating out of the dining commons. The People’s Pantry has so far raised thousands of dollars from members of the community and hosts weekly hot meals on Wednesday nights. But they’re running into roadblocks from the administration. Read more>>
Striking Education Workers Help Teach a City About Inequality: Their strike “signified much more: calling attention to the deep fault lines of poverty and inequality that rend the city.” Read more>>
Biden Urged to Crack Down on ‘Terrifying’ Use of AI by Medicare Advantage Insurers: “Robots should not be making life-or-death decisions,” said healthcare campaigner Ady Barkan. People are sounding alarm after a recent investigation showing that Medicare Advantage insurers are using unregulated artificial intelligence systems to determine when to end payments for patients’ treatments, a practice that has prematurely terminated coverage for vulnerable seniors. Read more>>
Italy Seizes Banksy-Funded Migrant Rescue Ship as Dozens Drown: ‘The inhumanity defies words’. Italian authorities on Sunday seized a migrant aid ship financed by renowned British street artist Banksy after the vessel allegedly violated a decree by Italy’s far-right cabinet by refusing to head to port following a rescue operation. Read more>>
‘They’re Killing Us’: Anger Grows After Deadly Fire At Mexican Migrant Center: Protesters call for justice as blaze at detention facility in Ciudad Juárez highlights tough US immigration policies. Read more>>
The Town Fighting The Far-Right With Welsh Cakes: Far-right groups have been stoking tensions in UK towns by posting inflammatory leaflets through people’s doors and staging anti-migrant rallies. In one town in south Wales, a local community has banded together and is planning a peaceful counter-protest … using cakes. Read more>>
Immigrant Women Workers Fighting To Close Disney’s Gender Pay Gap: Disney World workers in Central Florida are battling with management for a new and improved union contract. In the process, they’re also trying to correct a gaping historical injustice. Workers with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 631 say a major pay gap exists at Disney World that leaves workers in traditionally feminized jobs, such as costume-making, earning significantly less than workers in traditionally masculinized jobs with comparable skills levels, such as stagehand labor. Read more>>
“We Have to Fight”: LGBTQ Kids Stage Walkouts, Marches Against Anti-Trans Bills: LGBTQ advocates are taking to the streets to protest the coordinated legislative attacks on transgender people nationwide after successfully beating back bans on gender-affirming care for trans youth in West Virginia and Wyoming. Trans activists have organized demonstrations at capitol buildings across the country and are currently coordinating protests for Trans Day of Visibility on March 31 and Trans Day of Vengeance on April 1. Read more>>
Bush, Pressley to Co-Chair New Congressional Equal Rights Amendment Caucus: “It has been 100 years since the Equal Rights Amendment was first drafted and introduced in Congress,” noted Rep. Cori Bush. “That is far too long… and we refuse to wait any longer.” Read more>>
Musicians Fight Threat of Tennessee Anti-LGBTQ, Drag Bills: When Tennessee lawmakers passed legislation this month targeting drag performances and transgender youth, many musicians living and working in the state felt their community, their audiences and their artistic expressions were also under fire. Read more>>
Idaho Hospital Ends All Labor and Delivery Care, Citing Abortion Ban: “Consequences for Idaho physicians providing the standard of care may include civil litigation and criminal prosecution, leading to jail time or fines,” said Bonner General Health as it closed its obstetrics unit. Read more>>
Ukraine Digital Nonviolent Resistance: A digital resistance group named Yellow Ribbon took up the principles of nonviolent resistance soon after the Russians overran Kherson. Its goal: to resist Russian occupation through peaceful means wherever possible. Read more>>
Australians Rally Against Nuclear Submarines: A week after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese agreed in a meeting in San Diego with President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to spend A$368 billion to buy nuclear submarines from the two countries, anti-war activists met in a sweltering Sydney town hall on Sunday on the 20th anniversary of the start of the war against Iraq to hear why the submarine deal is a disaster for Australia that must be stopped. Read more>>
Protesters Oppose Arrival of F-35 Fighter Jets: People gathered at Truax Field in Madison, Wisconsin, to oppose F-35 fighter jets that are scheduled to arrive this spring. The fighter jets have been a point of contention for years. Those opposed say the jets are loud and could pose an environmental threat. Supporters say placing the jets at Truax will create more jobs and boost the Madison economy. Read more>>
The NDN Girls Book Club: How Kinsale Drake Is Promoting Indigenous Writers: Native American poet and arts advocate Kinsale Drake (Diné) is creating a community she wishes had existed during her childhood: NDN Girls Book Club. It aims to amplify Indigenous authors, support tribal libraries and bookstores, and encourage reading and writing among Native youth. Read more>>
Hong Kong Art Week: Artist ‘smuggles’ protester names, jail terms into giant billboard installation. The flashes of computer code on the 70 x 20 metre SOGO mall billboard represented protesters as a “glitch in the government matrix,” Los Angeles-based artist Patrick Amadon told HKFP. Read more>>
Reverend Billy’s Revelations: If you’re stressed out about the state of the world, our advice columnist says, turn to the Earth for guidance. Read more>>
Parent Uses Book Ban Law To Ban “Sex-Ridden” Bible: A Utah parent has challenged the Bible under a state law banning “pornographic or indecent” material in schools. The law has been used to remove books by mostly LGBTQ+ and Black authors from shelves. Read more>>
Oar-Powered Ocean Cleanup Is a Perfect Fit for Britain’s Rocky Coast: In inlets and coves that can be difficult to reach with motorized vessels, sailing ships and rowboats offer a low-tech solution to waterborne plastic waste. Read more>>
The Women Who Nourished The Longest Strike In Alabama’s History: If you’re one of the people who’s been following the Warrior Met Coal strike over the past 23 months, it’s almost certain that you’ve heard the name Haeden Wright. The 35-year-old mother of two is a teacher, an activist, an elected official, a coal miner’s daughter and a boss’s worst nightmare. Read more>>
Museums Are Improving Life for People With Dementia: Custom-designed museum programs are alleviating depression, fostering connection and even lowering cortisol levels in people with dementia. Read more>>
Black Women and the March on Washington -The Work of Dorothy Height and Anna Arnold Hedgeman: Civil rights leaders like Dorothy Height, Anna Arnold Hedgeman, Myrlie Evers, Daisy Bates, Diane Nash, and Gloria Richardson contributed significantly to the planning and execution of the March — and yet their names rarely grace history textbooks in school. Their stories go untold because history has largely avoided discussing gender biases in the civil rights movement. Read more>>
The Italian Strike Against Amazon That Became a Model For The World: Two years have passed since the first national strike of the Amazon supply chain in Italy, and the effects of that day are similar to a prolonged earthquake, still being felt in Europe and even in the United States – an event that has become the object of careful study. Read more>>
Their Anti-Rape Performance Went Viral Globally. What Next For LASTESIS? In November 2019, a group of women took over the streets of Valparaiso, Chile. Moving their bodies in unison, they chanted words that would go on to resonate with hundreds of thousands of people across the world. This performance by the collective LASTESIS (The Thesis) became a global feminist anthem within days. LASTESIS was part of a progressive movement in Chile that led to the constitutional rewrite. Then voters rejected the country’s new constitution. So now what? Read more>>
When Missouri Proposed Library Censorship, Librarians Got Organized: The librarians’ partial victory shows how pro-worker, anti-censorship organizing can work even in a conservative state. Read more>>
Labor History Can Help Us Learn To Fight Like Hell: History doesn’t repeat itself, but as Mark Twain noted, it often rhymes. So to understand what we are up against as workers, and to figure out how we can build collective power and support one another in struggle, we need to understand the past. Read more>>
XR UK’s The Big One: The climate, nature and humanity face disaster. We know it’s time to act. Do you trust politicians to do the right thing for us? For the planet? Join 100,000 people holding them to account. The Big One. Learn more>>
Host a Democracy School – Igniting a Rights Movement for Communities and Nature: This educational initiative explores the limits of conventional regulatory organizing and offers a new organizing model that helps citizens confront the usurpation by corporations of the rights of communities, people, and earth. Lectures cover the history of people’s movements and corporate power, and the dramatic organizing over the last decade in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Ohio, Colorado, Virginia, and Oregon by communities confronting agribusiness, the oil and gas industry, corporate hegemony over worker rights, and others. Learn more>>
Breaking Silence On Our Culture of Violence: On the anniversary of his historic Riverside Church speech in 1967, join Fellowship of Reconciliation for a conversation on Dr. King’s call for a radical revolution in values against racism, militarism and materialism. What does this revolution look like today? (April 4) Learn more>>
Stop Cop City Insurers: A certificate of insurance covering the Atlanta Police Foundation shows that a critical piece of material support is from three little known corporate entities: Correll Insurance Group, Scottsdale Insurance Co. (a subsidiary of Nationwide insurance) and Accident Fund General Insurance Company. Email the companies insuring Cop City today and demand they rule out the project immediately! Learn more>>
Principled Struggle – What Does it Mean, and Why it Matters: Margaret Kimberley, Gloria Mattera, and David Cobb to explore how we can engage in principled political struggle that builds deeper unity while encouraging each of us to take responsibility for our own feelings and actions. We need to learn to ask questions before making a counter argument, and to consider whether a particular meeting or conversation is the proper venue for what we want to discuss. (April 4) Learn more>>
