Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
All eyes turned toward the 75,000 person climate march in New York City this weekend, but equally impressive were the direct actions and civil disobedience that accompanied it. On Wall Street, 1,000 activists were arrested. At the Federal Reserve Bank, 149 more arrests occurred. Blockades of other major fossil fuel financiers JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, Well Fargo, and Bank of America took place. Across the globe, thousands more protested, walked out of school, and refused to work. After the hottest summer on record, people are turning up the ‘street heat’ on the reckless culprits driving the climate crisis. (Politicians, fossil fuel companies, and banks, in case you’re wondering.)
The need for profound change is not limited to climate, however. Over 5,000 actions and events have been planned between September 21-October 2 as part of Campaign Nonviolence Action Days. Now in its 10th year, the effort brings together groups working on various aspects of ‘building a culture of peace and active nonviolence, free from war, poverty, racism, and environmental destruction’. People are holding teach-ins on nonviolence, vigils against gun violence, direct actions for climate justice, marches and rallies, and more.
The stories continue – it’s a full week of Nonviolence News. In Niger, thousands are demonstrating against the French military, insisting that the colonial era must end and Niger must have the right to determine its own future. In Australia, thousands marched for First People’s rights and a “First Nations Voice To Parliament” seat, using the beautiful slogan “open your heart to our voice”. Brazilian Indigenous women marched for women’s rights, Indigenous sovereignty, land demarcation, and an end to illegal mining. Over 100 women from across the Americas gathered at the Feminist Organizing School in Honduras. One year after the Women-Life-Freedom protests, Iranian women speak about the changes – good and bad – that are happening.
One story I particularly enjoyed was from the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike. They promised rolling strikes … and kept the industry on red alert by not announcing where the walkouts would happen. As management braced for strikes at all the wrong factories, workers crippled the unprepared locations. Auto workers are not the only ones using this strategy. Hotel workers in Los Angeles did it first as they take on over 100 hotels and some of the biggest chains in the world. This strike, too, is ongoing.
In solidarity,
Rivera Sun
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Illinois Just Ended Cash Bail. Here’s How Organizers Made It Happen: Illinois is the first state in the country to completely end the use of money bond. “The end of money bond is a critical milestone on the path toward economic and racial justice in Cook County and Illinois. This important reform is long overdue. Today, we finally end the harmful practice of wealth-based pretrial incarceration and welcome a new system that centers community safety to better guarantee equal justice for all.” Read more>>
Judge Dismisses Charges Against Water Protectors In The Interests of Justice: In a historic ruling, a Minnesota judge dismissed all charges against three native water protectors in the interests of justice. In a moving memo that underscores binding treaties between the US and the Anishinaabeg, a Minnesota judge dismisses all remaining charges against native women water protectors Winona LaDuke, Tania Aubid and Dawn Goodwin for their peaceful and prayerful gathering in protest of Line 3. Read more>>
Drew Barrymore Postpones New Season Launch Until After Hollywood Strikes Resolve: Drew Barrymore, who drew criticism for taping new episodes of her daytime talk show despite the ongoing writers and actors strikes, now says she’ll wait until the labor issues are resolved. “I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show’s premiere until the strike is over,” Barrymore posted on Instagram on Sunday. Read more>>
Gig Workers’ Victory in India: After much pressure by people’s organizations and trade unions, gig workers in India saw a win with the passage of the Rajasthan Platform-Based Gig Workers Bill. The new law could “play a role in taming these bosses and paving the way to imagine open-sourced, worker-owned platforms and digital commons.” Read more>>
‘This Is Huge’: Newsom to Sign Historic Climate Disclosure Bills for Big Corporations: “These two first-in-the-nation bills will provide unprecedented insight into corporate climate emissions and financial climate risk,” said one advocate. Around 5,000 companies will be required to comply with the law, reporting where emissions are coming from in their supply chains and the use of their products. Read more>>
California Orders Bottle Water Company to Cease & Desist: California ordered a bottled water firm to stop drawing from a natural springs, following a years-long campaign by environmentalists to stop the operation. BlueTriton, the company that owns Arrowhead brand, has been taking water from San Bernardino springs for more than 100 years. Read more>>
Cool Pavement Is Living Up to Its Name: In a Los Angeles neighborhood where trees are scarce, reflective pavement coatings are bringing measurable relief. The first eight months of data show that ambient air temperatures in Pacoima two meters above ground were an average of 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit cooler on sunny days, and up to 3.5 degrees cooler during extreme heat, compared to a neighboring area without cool pavement. The pavement itself averaged 10 degrees cooler on sunny days. Read more>>
Land Back Victory In Portland, OR: For centuries, tribes in the area now called Portland gathered at an ancient encampment called Neerchokiko for trade and community building. With colonization, that place was lost to Native people. But as of this summer, Neerchokiko is owned outright by the Native American Youth and Family Center – an accomplishment that many say fits within the Land Back movement. Today, the 10-acre spot is home to the organization’s offices, gardens and community center. The goal is to create a permanent home for the urban Native community here – one that reflects the land’s history. Read more>>
Land in Community Hands Could Advance Affordable Housing: Last week, Miami voted to establish a pilot community land trust (CLT) program with the goal of creating 50 units of affordable housing. Read more>>
In France, Stallantis Workers Walk Out To Demand Breaks Amid Heat Wave: Faced with unhealthy working conditions during a heat wave, part of the afternoon shift at a factory went on strike. At a time when management is constantly cutting jobs at the plant, the smallest walkout can now bring production lines to a halt. Read more>>
Campaign Nonviolence Action Days: From Sept 21 to Oct 2, 2023, (Int’l Day of Peace to Int’l Day of Nonviolence), tens of thousands of people are calling for a culture rooted in nonviolence. Over 5,000 actions, events and marches are being held across the USA and in 20 countries. Learn more>>
Protesters Say ‘Japan Is Sending Its Radioactive Waste On a Trip Around the World’: Protesters are uniting in 14 cities across the globe, spanning Asia, Europe, and the US, marching against Japan’s contamination of the ocean. “From the Pacific it will reach beaches and seas globally, entering fish, marine plants, other sea creatures and mammals throughout the marine food chain. Via evaporation, through rainfall, it will find its way back onto the lands across our planet.” Read more>>
Australian MPs Urge US to Halt Prosecution of Julian Assange: More than 60 members of Australia’s Parliament from across the political spectrum have written an open letter urging the Biden administration to halt its efforts to prosecute Julian Assange. The WikiLeaks founder, who’s an Australian citizen, faces espionage and hacking charges that could see him sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for publishing classified U.S. military and diplomatic cables, including evidence of war crimes. Read more>>
Close To 15,000 People Attended Manifiesta 2023, Drawing Inspiration From International Struggles And Solidarity: Approximately 15,000 people gathered in Ostend, Belgium, on September 9-10 for the latest edition of the solidarity festival Manifiesta. This year’s festival was an enormous success and featured additional programs designed to immerse visitors in the event, which brings people together to discuss social justice and workers’ struggles. Music performances by Meteor and Axelle Red drew large crowds during the evenings, but so did Chris Smalls from the Amazon Labor Union, as he reminded listeners that the workers’ struggle is “a marathon, rather than a sprint.” Read more>>
Prisoners Strike At Oak Park Heights Canteen: Just days after prisoners at the Stillwater prison staged civil disobedience actions by refusing a staff lockdown, incarcerated workers at the nearby ‘level 5’ MCF-Oak Park Heights prison canteen have staged a work strike, according to activists who regularly stay in touch with prisoners. Read more>>
Climate Activists Block Federal Reserve Bank, Calling For End To Fossil Fuel Funding: In one of the largest acts of civil disobedience to protest climate change in New York in a decade, 149 climate protesters were arrested after blockading the entrances to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where they called on financial regulators to curb fossil fuel financing. Read more>>
Confused Automakers Braced for Strike at the Wrong Plants: Striking autoworkers pulled off a major coup before their strike, baiting America’s largest auto manufacturers into self-sabotage. Read more>>
Groups In Queen City Fight To Stop Privatization of Railroad: Railroad Workers United is working with local organizations to keep the nation’s only municipally owned interstate mainline freight railroad in public hands. The Cincinnati Southern was chartered and built by the City of Cincinnati. Now citizens across the Queen City are organizing to maintain ownership and control of their railroad. Read more>>
Bakehouse Workers In Chicago Fight For Independent Union: Like their industry counterparts at Starbucks, Intelligentsia, and Colectivo Coffee, Spoke & Bird workers in Chicago are unionizing for better pay and working conditions, and to have a real say in how the business operates. Read more>>
‘Historic Mobilization’: Climate Protesters Around The World Take Action Against Fossil Fuels: From Europe to Africa to southeast Asia, tens of thousands of climate activists launched protests Friday to call for an end to the burning of planet-warming fossil fuels as the globe suffers dramatic weather extremes and record-breaking heat, with plans to continue through the weekend. The ‘Global Fight to End Fossil Fuels’ strike took place in dozens of countries and in hundreds of cities worldwide. Read more>>
Demanding an End to ‘Deadly Fossil Fuels,’ 75,000 Take the Streets in NYC: “It’s time for Biden to declare a climate emergency and phase out the fossil fuels killing people and wildlife around the world.” Tens of thousands poured into the streets of New York City on Sunday for the largest climate mobilization in the U.S. in years, with organizers and marchers telling President Joe Biden to stop approving planet-wrecking fossil fuel projects and start doing everything in his power to accelerate the nation’s renewable energy transition. Read more>>
‘There’s No Economy on a Dead Planet’ – Activists Blockade HQ of Oil Financier Citibank: “Citi is the world’s second-largest financier of fossil fuels,” noted one group taking part in the protest. “How do these people sleep at night? How?” Declaring a #ClimateShutdown, hundreds of activists blockaded the entrances of Citibank’s Lower Manhattan headquarters Thursday morning to demand that the financial giant end fossil fuel financing and stop greenwashing its record of planet-heating investments. Read more>>
Thousands Turn Out For Vancouver Climate March: The Vancouver climate march is one of 13 taking place across B.C., according to event organizers. Following a summer with record-breaking global temperatures and devastating wildfires across the country, thousands of students and Vancouver residents marched to call for stronger climate action. Read more>>
Greenpeace Protests ‘Shock Doctrine’ by Blockading New Total Energies LNG Terminal: Gas companies “cynically used… the Russian invasion of Ukraine to frighten governments into massive, unneeded investment into and expansion of fossil gas imports and infrastructure,” one campaigner said. Read more>>
‘Climate Bill’ Enriches Fossil Fuel Industry As Communities Suffer: One year after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which Big Green groups hailed as a ‘climate justice bill,’ the truth is surfacing that this legislation is lining the pockets of the fossil fuel industry to the detriment of frontline, especially Black and Indigenous, communities. Clearing the FOG speaks to Anthony Rogers-Wright, a national racial and climate justice advocate, where people can focus their efforts effectively to struggle for a just and livable future. Listen here>>
Netherlands’ Draconian Crack Down On Climate Protesters: Dutch actor and climate activist Sieger Sloot took to social media, as he typically does, to encourage people to join a protest planned in The Hague in January. But what Sloot thought was an innocent attempt to organize a non-violent demonstration to demand action to tackle the burgeoning climate emergency led to an eight-month ordeal resulting in a sedition conviction. Read more>>
Tens of Thousands March In Support of First Nations’ ‘Voice To Parliament’ Position: ‘Open your heart to our voice’ is the slogan for a First Peoples’ campaign in Australia. Tens of thousands of people took part in the nationwide walks over September 16–17 in support of an upcoming referendum on the constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia. The referendum will also decide on a new parliament position called the ‘First Nations Voice to Parliament’. Read more>>
Brazilian Indigenous Women March For Equal Rights In Brasília: Indigenous women from all over the country are gathering in Brasília from September 11 to 13 to advocate women’s rights and the preservation of indigenous cultures. They also demand land demarcation and the end of illegal mining. Read more>>
A Black Student Was Suspended For His Hairstyle. The School Says It Wasn’t Discrimination. A Black high school student in Texas has served more than two weeks of in-school suspensions for wearing twisted dreadlocks to school. When he arrived Monday with the same hairstyle, he was suspended again, his mother said. Read more>>
Tribes Strike Historic Deal for Return of Children Buried at Residential School: The agreement is “finally righting a wrong that was done to us so many years ago,” said one Arapaho tribe member. It took nearly 150 years, but Amos LaFromboise and Edward Upright will soon return home in the manner of chiefs, guided by their sovereign nations. Read more>>
Farmworkers Fight For Higher Pay, Better Hours And Fair Treatment: Labor advocates rallied in Seattle to demand a union contract from Windmill farms amid allegations of poor treatment and retaliation. Read more>>
Refugees Take Protest For Permanent Visas To Minister’s Office: Refugees started a week-long protest to demand permanent visas on September 18 outside Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil electorate office in Oakleigh. Many thousands of people only have short-term bridging visas and others have no visa at all. Read more>>
Migrant Rights Activists Join National Day of Protest: Dozens of supporters of migrant rights rallied in downtown Vancouver on Sunday, calling for Ottawa to live up to its promise of permanent residency for more foreign workers in Canada. The demonstration was part of a day of protest held in major cities across Canada ahead of Parliament resuming on Monday, raising issues facing temporary foreign workers, asylum seekers and immigrants. In Toronto, thousands took to the streets. Read more>>
Feminist Organizing School in Honduras: This summer, the International Feminist Organizing School gathered in Honduras to bring together more than 100 women from across the Americas. Hear reflections from the gathering and learn how they’re bringing the values of a feminist economy to life through collective study and practice. Read more>>
Iran’s Women On Mahsa Amini’s Death Anniversary: ‘I wear what I like now’. #Mahsa” and “Woman, Life, Freedom” – the rallying cry of the protests – is written on walls. “The government keeps wiping them out but the slogans keep coming back.” So far over 500 have been executed, thousands wounded and 20,000 arrested. Read more>>
‘Fighting My Way Forward’ As An LGBTQ Activist In Timor-Leste: Bella Galhos’ organization Arcoiris (Rainbow) Timor-Leste offers shelter for members suffering violent situations, a place that “stands and defends the rights of the LGBT community in Timor-Leste”. Read more>>
Men Targeted By Iranian Regime As Women Protest For Equal Rights: Some protestors said men were executed as a form of intimidation. Iranian women believe the regime is trying to scare men from joining their mothers, sisters and wives in their fight for equal rights by making them the main target of their systematic bloody suppression. Read more>>
Why These Irish Mammies Spend Weekends Protesting For Trans Youth: The group of about 10 active women protest for trans rights mainly at weekends. “As parents ourselves, we said: ‘Who’s going to stand up for them if it’s not us’,” says Claire Flynn, a founder of Mammies for Trans Rights. Read more>>
A Batman Researcher Quit Over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Censorship: Marc Tyler Nobleman was supposed to talk to kids about the secret co-creator of Batman, with the aim of inspiring young students in suburban Atlanta’s Forsyth County to research and write. Then the school district told him he had to cut a key point from his presentation — that the artist he helped rescue from obscurity had a gay son. Rather than acquiesce, he canceled the last of his talks. Read more>>
Planned Parenthood Resumes Offering Abortions in Wisconsin After More Than a Year: Planned Parenthood has resumed offering abortions in Wisconsin at clinics in Madison and Milwaukee. The resumption of services on Monday Sept. 18 2023 is the first time abortions have been available in the state since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Read more>>
Niger: Thousands Again Take Part In Anti-French Protests: A few thousand people have demonstrated in front of a military base housing French soldiers in Niamey, Niger’s capital to demand their departure from the country. “Enough is enough. All Macron has to do is take his ‘macronis’ and his clicks and clacs. All they have to do is go back to their so-called country, France,” says Yahya Garba, a protester. Read more>>
National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth Awarded 2023 US Peace Prize: The 2023 US Peace Prize was awarded to the National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth (NNOMY) “For National Efforts to Stop U.S. Military Influence on Young People, Saving Lives Here and Abroad.” NNOMY was selected unanimously by the Board of Directors of the US Peace Memorial Foundation. Read more>>
Czech Protesters Rally Against Government’s Military Support For Ukraine & Pro-Western Policies: Thousands of supporters of a pro-Russian Czech opposition party gathered in Prague on Saturday to protest against the country’s centre-right government, criticizing its economic management and military support for Ukraine. The protest was called by the PRO movement, which is not represented in parliament and has taken a nationalist, pro-Moscow and anti-Western line. Read more>>
Filipino Community Condemns Continuing Martial Law: Filipino community groups in Australia organized a moving commemoration, “Never Again, Never Forget, Never Again To Martial Law” on September 16 to mark resistance to martial law. Speakers remembered the victims of Ferdinand Marcos’ regime’s torture, rape, extra-judicial killings and countless other violations against human rights. Read more>>
One Year On From Mahsa Amini’s Death, Protest Art Marks The Streets: Public art works by four artists go on show in Edinburgh, Paris and Dublin as part of a campaign marking the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran on 16 September last year. Posters by four artists—Koushna Navabi, Anahita Razmi, Abbas Zahedi and Hadi Falapishi—focusing on the “Woman Life Freedom” movement highlight the “battle for basic human rights against the Islamic Republic of Iran”, a project statement says. Read more>>
16 Climate Protesters Arrested at MoMA: Activists blocked the institution’s entrance and staged a “die-in” inside the museum, condemning MoMA’s board chair’s ties to the fossil fuel industry. Read more>>
Look Up! New York City Drone Art Experience Aims To Educate & Inspire: Art and science collided as 1,000 drones formed a light show over the East River in support of the Eat Differently Initiative. The campaign inspires people to consider eating plants, not animals for their health, for the planet, for the animals, and world hunger. Read more>>
Incarcerated Artists and Authors Shed Light on Prison Censorship: The exhibition Return To Sender, co-organized by Mariame Kaba with PEN America, explores the prison industrial complex’s mechanisms of silencing. Read more>>
Amnesty Launches New Global Campaign With Interactive ‘Protest Under Attack’ Map: “This map sheds light on the heavy repression suffered by protesters around the world—and it is terrifying.” Amnesty International on Tuesday launched a new flagship global campaign, Protect the Protest, by publishing an interactive digital map “that exposes the shocking rise in the repression of protesters by states across the globe.” Read more>>
Big Tech Needs Even Bigger Tech Worker Solidarity: Tech capital flows unencumbered across borders, and so should tech workers’ solidarity and action. Read more>>
The Catholic Church Should ‘Unceasingly Increase’ Its Commitment To Nonviolence: A number of recent articles have affirmed the Catholic Church’s shift toward centering nonviolent strategies in its response to aggression and war. Read more>>
People’s Assemblies in Kenya: In August, a People’s Assemblies Forum was held in Mathare, Nairobi to explore how people’’ assemblies offer an alternative towards building a pool of popular power from below. Participants learned about the history of people’s assemblies in Kenya — including case studies like Women’s Land Assembly in 2022 — and how neighborhood assemblies can be scaled up toward the national level. Read more>>
Strike! Queer and Trans Tales from the Workers’ Rights Movement: Join queer and trans organizers in a lively conversation about efforts to advance the rights and dignity of workers from picket lines and beyond. Learn how you can join the growing movement bringing together the intersection of queer, trans, and workers’ rights. (Sept 26 – Online) Read 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>>
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