Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
It was an unprecedented effort and an unparalleled achievement: Atlanta organizers collected 104,000 signatures to put #StopCopCity on the ballot. It’s the most successful referendum initiative of its kind. (To get a sense of the scale, there are only 500,000 people in Atlanta, GA.) At the same time, the urgent need to deal with the Atlanta City Police was made clear during a recent rally and march in protest of the killing of a Black man, Johnny Hollman, who was tasered to death earlier this month.
Racial justice organizers (pictured above) also took action in Florida in protest of the new curriculum standards that, among other things, require teachers to instruct middle school students that enslaved people “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” In Little Rock, the school district is continuing to teach critical race theory and AP African American Studies in defiance of the state’s order to stop. Knowledge is power, and racial justice organizers across the United States are ensuring that the people have the power.
In other news, Ecuadorians rejected oil drilling in a protected area and said no to a proposed gold mine. Southside Chicago residents finally pushed city officials to recognize them as a frontline of climate change as heavy rainfalls and an eroding shoreline flood neighborhoods near Lake Michigan. Disability rights activists in Jamaica are campaigning to make sure disaster relief and climate resilience plans include small, but essential changes to accommodate disabled community members. Japan released the Fukushima wastewaters, prompting Anonymous to launch a hacker attack against pro-nuclear power groups in Japan. China also put a ban on Japanese seafood.
Our Creative Action and Knowledge Sections has many interesting stories of protest and resistance this week. Did you know there’s a sunken statue of Hans Christian Andersen in a Danish harbor? The sculpture ceremonially lowered it into the water after funding was cut for the public fountain that should have accompanied it. In the 1500s in Italy, a salt tax boycott was organized by regions brought under the control of the Papal States, as a result, saltless bread is still considered a regional dish. Ancient Ireland had an ancient practice of a hunger strike that was acknowledged under Brehon law as a means of compelling a stronger party to justice. I suspect that every town, city, and corner of the globe has a a sliver of nonviolent history hiding in plain sight. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we collected all those stories?
A favorite story? A Teen Vogue story about what a teenage girl learned during her #UnionGirlSummer as an intern at a strike newspaper. Let’s just say, this is one summer job she won’t ever forget!
In solidarity,
Rivera Sun
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Activists Now Have 104,000 Signatures to Put “Stop Cop City” on the Ballot: Worried that city officials will reject large numbers of signatures, organizers have collected far more than required. Activists fighting to halt the fiercely contested police training facility in Atlanta, Georgia, known as Cop City, have collected a whopping 104,000 signatures for a city-wide ballot referendum on the city government’s lease for the massive $90 million project. Organizers call it the “most successful” citizen-driven petition in the city of roughly 500,000 residents with a deep history of struggle for racial justice. Read more>>
Ecuadorians Reject Oil Drilling In the Amazon, Ending Operations In Protected Area: Ecuadorians voted against drilling for oil in a protected area of the Amazon, an important decision that will require the state oil company to end its operations in a region that’s home to two uncontacted tribes and is a hotspot of biodiversity. Ecuadorians also stopped a gold mine near the capitol. Read more>>
Cornell Will Not Renew Starbucks Contract Amid Student Pressure: Cornell appears to be the first university to cancel its contract with Starbucks as a result of the company’s response to the Starbucks Workers United campaign. Read more>>
Navigating the Waves – Surf Therapy As Mental Health Treatment: Surf therapy is being embraced — from the US Navy to the British health service — as a surprisingly effective treatment for depression, anxiety and trauma. Read more>>
Free Period Products Now Required In New Hampshire Prisons, Jails: New Hampshire has a new law to ensure people in state prisons and county jails have access to free period products. In this story, AFSC’s Ophelia Burnett talks about how difficult it was for her to get the products she needed while in prison. It “comes down to human dignity,” she said. Read more>>
Gun Violence Prevention On The Basketball Court: Gun violence is an epidemic in the US. But there are existing communities we can learn from that have taken fervent steps toward gun violence prevention. Filmmaker and visionary Kyra Knox directed a documentary that elevates two such communities in the city of Philadelphia, and one of the platforms these communities use to address violence is a basketball court. Read more>>
EU Monitors Human Rights Under Myanmar’s Military Junta; Fashion Brands Pull Out: H&M and Inditex have both recently said they would stop sourcing from the country where the ruling military junta has arrested trade union leaders and reports of labour abuses have multiplied. The EU says it will increase monitoring as it rolls out its “Everything But Arms” (EBA) scheme that removes tariffs and quotas for all imports of goods except arms and ammunition coming into the bloc from 47 least developed countries including Myanmar. Read more>>
Zimbabwe Vote Extended In Wards Hit By Delays, Police Arrest Activists: Zimbabweans were called back to vote on Thursday in 40 wards affected by delays during Wednesday’s election and police arrested 41 civil society activists they accused of planning to illegally announce results. Both developments were likely to dent the credibility of the election in a country where the ruling ZANU-PF party has been in power for 43 years and is accused by opponents and analysts of using state institutions to rig elections in its favor. Read more>>
Protesters Take To The Streets of Downtown Milwaukee During GOP Debate: The excessive heat Wednesday didn’t stop hundreds of protesters from taking to the streets during the GOP presidential primary debates in Milwaukee. Two organized protests took place in city Wednesday. Read more>>
Teaching Parents How To Prevent Teen Relationship Violence: The Lumina Alliance, a San Luis Obispo intimate partner violence advocacy, education, and prevention organization, created the ReDefine Parenting Program in 2020. Workshops provide parents and caregivers with the tools to teach their kids about healthy and respectful relationships during their adolescence, to help prevent intimate partner violence before it begins. The workshops are provided primarily to parents of children in elementary school, with the goal of setting a foundation for healthy relationships before they enter adolescence. Read more>>
NYCHA Residents in Chelsea Resist Demolition Plan That Could Displace: The 4,500 tenants at NYCHA’s Fulton and Chelsea-Elliott Houses face the recent announcement that their buildings will be demolished and rebuilt by The Related Companies and Essence Realty. The original plan was opposed by tenants, who rejected the proposal to tear down two buildings, and instead chose private managers to oversee the renovation. Lara was in the working group of 15 tenants that in 2019 decided against the demolition plan, and has been fighting to stop the demolition ever since. Read more>>
Chicago Neighbors Organize to Keep Climate Flooding at Bay: Dogged by flooding from Lake Michigan, South Side residents have finally drawn attention from city and state officials. Recent years have seen high lake levels flood parking garages and apartments, wash out beaches, and even cause massive sinkholes. It’s a growing hazard. Read more>>
Meet Two Jamaican Disability Advocates Who Want Vulnerable Communities To Become Climate Resilient: “People talk about being climate resilient, but not a lot is being done to educate. There isn’t [enough] public awareness [of] climate change resiliency for Persons With Disabilities.” Read more>>
Climate Protests Challenge Massachusetts Governor: Climate Defiance protesters swarmed a major fundraiser on Nantucket Island benefitting Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. They demanded she ban new fossil fuel projects. She refused. So they shut down her whole event. She fled. One rich person said “I don’t care if you die.” “Respect us or expect us” is the group’s slogan. Watch an action video here>>
40 People Tell Judge To Charge Them With Contempt If Court Prosecutes Fellow Activist: Climate activists who made protests similar to Trudi Warner’s challenged the Solicitor General as he is deciding whether to charge her. Forty people, including an Olympic gold medallist and a former police officer, are calling on the solicitor general to charge them with contempt of court if he prosecutes a social worker for holding up a placard informing jurors of their rights not to convict, outside a climate trial. Read more>>
Hacker Group Attacks Japan Nuclear Websites Over Fukushima Water Plan: International hacker group Anonymous has launched cyberattacks against nuclear power-linked groups in Japan in protest at the planned release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, a Japanese IT security firm said. The attacks were targeted against consumer website operations. Read more>>
Japan Release Fukushima Waters, China Bans Seaford Imports: Japan started releasing treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, a polarising move that prompted China to announce an immediate blanket ban on all aquatic products from Japan. Editor’s Note: One category of nonviolent action is the types of actions governments can take. Like this one. Read more>>
Menominee Sustain The Forest, The Forest Sustains the Menominee: For the Menominee, says head silviculturist Tony Waupochick, it is not just a matter of maintaining the volume of timber. “We are also managing the forest to maintain its diversity and integrity, and to keep it healthy for wildlife.” The Menominee adopted their enlightened approach soon after the creation of the reservation in 1854. Read more>>
Justice for Johnny Hollman Protest and March: On Thursday, Aug. 10, a 62-year-old man named Johnny Hollman died in custody after being shot with a taser by an Atlanta Police Department (APD) officer. Since that time Hollman’s family have been seeking justice. On Aug. 24, several people rallied alongside members of Hollman’s family at Atlanta Police Department Headquarters. The group marched to Atlanta City Hall then held a press conference on the steps. Read more>>
Protesters March Through Miami To Object To Florida’s Terrible Black History Teaching Standards: Dozens of teachers, students and labor leaders marched to a Miami school district headquarters Wednesday to protest Florida’s new standards for teaching Black history, which have come under intense criticism for what they say about slavery. The protesters who marched to the School Board of Miami-Dade County objected to new curriculum standards that, among other things, require teachers to instruct middle school students that enslaved people “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” Read more>>
Israeli Naval ‘Piracy’ Won’t Stop Freedom Flotilla Voyage To Gaza: The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a grassroots people-to-people solidarity movement working to end the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza, has launched numerous Freedom Flotilla voyages since 2008. Joel Opperdoes has served as captain for multiple Flotilla voyages, including in 2012, when his vessel was descended upon and boarded by Israeli naval forces and he and his crew were detained. Read more>>
Little Rock School District Defies State, Offers AP African American Studies Classes: The Little Rock School District is defying Arkansas, announcing on Wednesday that it will continue to offer Advanced Placement African American studies classes. Its decision challenges the state’s Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who placed limitations on racial lessons inside the classroom after conservative hullabaloo surrounding the critical race theory boogeyman. Read more>>
Lesbian Lawyers Protest At Italian Embassy In Dublin: Equality for Children and the Lesbian Lawyers Network yesterday demonstrated outside the Italian Embassy in Dublin to protest the removal of rights from lesbian mothers in Italy. Similar protests took place in London, Lyon and Berlin yesterday following a call out by the EuroCentral Asian Lesbian* Community (EL*C). Read more>>
Supporters Of Silenced Montana Transgender Lawmaker Zooey Zephyr Won’t Face Trespassing Charges: Montana prosecutors are declining to pursue misdemeanor trespassing charges against seven people who were arrested in the state House gallery for protesting after Republicans denied transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr the right to debate bills near the end of the 2023 legislative session. Read more>>
Concerns In Guyana About Threats Against Women Activists: All over the world, when activists speak out and begin to gain the kind of traction that leads to change, their efforts are often met with threats of violence — and climate crisis activists are on the frontline. Activists in Guyana, which was recently discovered to hold a wealth of oil reserves, are currently experiencing such threats, which have intensified over the last five months. Most appear to be primarily targeted at women, who have been on the receiving end of death threats and other forms of intimidation for speaking out against mining, fossil fuel extraction and sexual violence. Read more>>
Russian Exiles In Portugal Protest Against Putin’s War: A group of Russian activists in Portugal gathered in Praça da Batalha in Porto today to protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom they described as a “murderer, guilty and war criminal“. Dressed in black T-shirts emblazoned with the words “killer” and “guilty” in capital letters, and wearing masks with Putin’s face that read “I am a war criminal”, the protesters, who did not want to identify themselves (‘out of fear’, according to Lusa), said that Russia is living under a “terrorist, propaganda and censorship regime”. Read more>>
Cosmic Peaceforce Online Games Teach Peace: As part of Third Harmony project, Metta Center for Nonviolence created a cooperative board game for teenagers and adults which is based on nonviolent principles and strategies. Now, they’re organizing online groups to play it and learn both peace and how cooperation changes everything. Read more>>
Playbook For RCMP’s Wet’suwet’en Raids Came From Former U.S. Commander In Iraq And Afghanistan: Presentation highlights darker truths behind violence and intimidation against Indigenous land defenders resisting resource extraction. The RCMP’s Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG), a special unit that polices Indigenous resistance against resource extraction in British Columbia, has adopted the playbook from former CIA director David Petraeus, according to a presentation at a summit held on Wet’suwet’en territory this week. Read more>>
What Russia’s Anti-War Activists Can Learn From Americans Who Resisted The Vietnam War: Americans who refused to fight in Vietnam would often flee abroad, where they received support from local anti-war groups in the form of legal counseling, cultural adjustment, and coverage of housing and living expenses. David Cortright said he believes Russian war resisters should receive the same support. Read more>>
Celebrating Another Year of Art and Activism: As part of the ArteVism Fellowship Program, youth of color in California’s Central Valley create provocative programming to advocate for social change. Last month, this year’s fellows and interns concluded their program with a community celebration. Through interactive displays, they highlighted struggles and resistance in their communities. Read more>>
Palestinian Makes Absurdist Protest Video To Show Discriminatory Practices At Airport: Based on real experiences, this skit highlights the absurdity of the routine discriminatory practices faced by Palestinians and Muslims at Ben Gurion Airport and border crossings. Read more>>
A Village’s Unique Protest Against the Military Junta in Myanmar: Nestled in the hills of Myanmar’s Chin State is a village that has charted a different route to express its opposition to the military regime. Residents of Salen village in Thantlang Township have firmed up a plan to expand a hydroelectric power project with their own resources to demonstrate that they are not dependent upon the government. This is a mark of their protest against the junta. Read more>>
Hong Kong Artist In Exile: In Hong Kong, Kacey Wong (Chinese name: 黃國才) was and remains a celebrity as one of the most outspoken contemporary artists. Starting in 2014, the territory started losing the political freedoms that had made it a unique place for decades, he combined his creativity with protest art to push back against the increasing authoritarianism. Read more>>
Hans Christian Andersen Statue Symbolically Drowned After Funding Cuts: After funding was cut for a fountain around a statue of the fairy tale collector Hans Christian Andersen, the sculptor was more than disappointed. He was outraged. As a symbolic protest against bureaucracy, the sculptor arranged a public “burial” for his statue. A brass band played while a horse-drawn carriage transported the €250,000-sculpture from the city center to the harbor, where it was lifted up in the air by a crane before slowly being submerged into the water in front of hundreds of “mourners” devouring free hot dogs and “funeral beer.” Read more>>
Saltless Bread Protest: In the 1500s, whenever the Papal States took control of a region in Italy, its citizens were usually subjected to ruinous salt taxes. One of the outcomes, according to local lore, is that unsalted bread is still used in Tuscany and Perugia. This is because, centuries ago, as part of a popular protest against the new papal tax in 1540, these regions stopped putting salt in their bread. Editor’s Note: This story is a small note in a larger story, showing how nonviolent action sneaks into history and culture more often than we think! Read more>>
What My Union Girl Summer At a Strike Newspaper Taught Me: Solidarity can take all kinds of forms. “Along with the writing, I threw myself into the union side of the internship, attending union cookouts, bargaining sessions, and picket lines for what I coined my “Union Girl Summer.” Read more>>
An Action Guide For Advancing Community Wealth Building In The United States: Community Wealth Building (CWB) is an economic development model that transforms local economies based on communities having direct ownership and control of their assets. It challenges the failing economic development approaches that have been widely accepted for too long in the United States and addresses wealth inequality at its core. It is a method for making local economies more just, equal, and socially and ecologically sustainable. Read more>>
Ancient Ireland’s Hunger Strike: When we think about ‘fasting for justice’ today many Irish minds of a certain age would likely drift towards thoughts of Bobby Sands and the H-Block Hunger Strikers of 1981. While an important chapter of modern Irish history the principle of fasting for justice or hunger-striking is not a new one; it was practiced by the early Irish in the times of Brehon laws as a means of compelling a stronger party to justice. Read more>>
5 Lessons From the UPS Workers Successful Bargaining: The UPS Teamsters flexed their collective muscle to win most of their demands from the world’s largest delivery company. There are numerous lessons to be learned from what has transpired between the Teamsters and UPS during this year’s #HotLaborSummer. Read more>>
Plotlines & Picketlines: Hollywood’s rank and file are striking at the height of 2023’s #HotLaborSummer, a phenomenon that includes thousands of striking hotel workers in Southern California. Writers and actors find themselves literally shoulder to shoulder with unions like UNITE HERE Local 11, experiencing firsthand the power of labor solidarity across industries and gathering fodder (we can only hope) for future plotlines focused on the hand-to-mouth struggles of ordinary Americans. Read more>>
American Muslims For Palestine Launches Second Season of “Palestine In a Nutshell”: The new “Palestine in a Nutshell” series is designed to provide easily accessible and discernible information on specific issues relating to Palestinian rights, history, politics, and a host of other matters in the Palestinian struggle for liberation. Read more>>
Art To End Fossil Fuels: Get free climate art to post in solidarity with the Sept 15 & 17th mobilization. This art will be used to make the climate crisis and the solution – Ending Fossil Fuels – visible in communities across the country–and they can be used in these coordinated mass actions Sept 15 & 17. The group is aiming to get 40,000 of these posters out across North America. Can you help get these up in your community? Order here>>
Tell Amazon To Eliminate Shipping Waste: IKEA has taken steps to clean up maritime shipping – such as their commitment to reduce their transportation emissions by 70% before 2030. Unfortunately, IKEA stands alone amidst global retail companies that continue to drag their feet and to insist that reducing shipping emissions is too hard. Take Amazon, the multi-billion dollar company that talks the talk, but that has failed time and time again to follow through on meaningful climate action. Will you add your name to our petition calling on Amazon to match IKEA’s ambitious steps and do its part in helping us secure a climate-safe future? Learn more>>
Support the Summer Strike Wave: Victories in one sector – like UPS workers winning a raise for part-time workers to at least $21 an hour and more than double that for full-time workers – helps to inspire wins everywhere. That means that this summer strike wave isn’t going anywhere – not until we win dignity, respect, and unions for ALL. Pledge to support striking workers – this summer and every season. Learn more>>
Tell Congress: Stop Border Militarization And Protect Migrant Lives: Last week, the bodies of two migrants were found in the Rio Grande. They were near the floating anti-migrant barrier recently installed by Gov. Greg Abbott. The barrier is another example of the deadly impact of border militarization, which has cost thousands of migrant lives. As Congress debates next year’s budget, tell them NO more funding for border militarization! Learn more>>
Mutual Aid Solidarity For Maui Fires: Whether you’re off the island and looking for a way to support the response to the deadly wildfires or are on Maui needing assistance, check out this growing list of resources. All of the institutions and charities listed have been verified by Shareable. Learn more>>
#NoWar2023 Conference – Nonviolent Resistance To Militarism: Throughout three days of virtual panels, training, and discussion sessions, #NoWar2023 will make the case for the efficacy of nonviolent resistance as a tool for conflict resolution, highlighting case studies from around the world of unarmed civilian based defense against invasions, occupations, and dictatorships. (Sept 22-24) Learn more>>
Third Harmony Film Screening & Discussion: Watch the movie The Third Harmony: Nonviolence and the New Story of Human Nature with a group and then enjoy an online discussion. The Third Harmony tells the story of nonviolence – humanity’s greatest (and most overlooked) resource. (Oct 1) Learn more>>
The Path To Nonviolence & The New Story: In this five-week book club, three special guest facilitators from Beyond War Northwest will lead an exploration of the stories we’ve been told and the uplifting alternative that awaits in The Third Harmony: Nonviolence and the New Story of Human Nature. (Oct 18-Nov 15) Learn more>>
If you made it here, you’ve seen how people have done a lot of social justice – they’ve built dams, eaten saltless bread, gone on hunger strikes, built dams, sailed through blockades, and so much more.
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