Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
There are so many empowering and interesting Nonviolence News stories this week. Up to 9,000 Starbucks workers walked out of 200 stores on one of the coffee company’s busiest days, protesting the management’s refusal to meet with over 360 unionized stores. Teachers in Portland, OR, remain on strike across the school district. India’s ‘manual scavengers’ won an important legal victory around vital health protections and are continuing to push for their rights.
In other Nonviolence News, American University students are protesting continued inaction on sexual violence, a year after the university promised to take action. Bangladesh garment workers are carrying on their strike as police crack down further. In Atlanta, Georgia, the movement to Stop Cop City weathered tear gas and police violence as they engaged in direct action to stop the construction of the tactical urban warfare facility.
From Salerno, Italy, to Denver, Colorado, there have been countless actions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. In Barcelona, firefighters protested. In Connecticut, healthcare workers walked out. Between 500-800,000 people marched in London. Activists took action at banks in Toronto and New York to stop funding for Israeli weapons makers. Groups also shut down three bridges in Boston, MA; Montreal, Canada; and in San Francisco, CA. The San Francisco Bay Bridge shut-down was incredibly well-coordinated, involving a group of cars entering the highway at the same time, pulling up to a coordinated stop, and using the cars to halt the traffic. Then, when police came to arrest them, they all threw their keys over the bridge into the water, knowing that their cars would be impounded anyway – so why make it easy to remove the blockade?
This is just a small sampling of the scores of actions that have occurred. There was also a multi-car message on a train in Rome that read “Stop Bombing Gaza” and a sand artist making a rendition of a Banksy image on Armistice Day to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. I also recommend reading the interesting article on the growing preference among Arabs for nonviolent tactics and what this could mean for the outcome of the war on Gaza.
There will also be protests on the hyper-commercial day of Black Friday to Shut It Down For Palestine. Take part and spread the word.
In solidarity,
Rivera Sun
Photo Credit: Bangladesh garment workers block a key intersection.
India’s ‘Manual Scavengers’ Win Major Legal Victory: In a major movement win, India’s Supreme Court ruled to eradicate dangerous sanitation work and rehabilitate workers. However, the struggle is far from over. Those in this occupation face several health hazards, including exposure to gasses such as ammonia, methane and hydrogen disulfide. This often results in visual impairment, respiratory problems and sometimes even death. Manual scavenging of human excrement is a unique feature of sanitation in India — a nation embedded in a caste system that is also present in other nations in the subcontinent — and it is a problem intrinsically linked to untouchability. Read more>>
Jury Finds Women Who Broke HSBC Windows ‘Not Guilty’: In a decision which vindicates the actions of nine women who broke the windows of Europe’s second largest investor in fossil fuels, HSBC, a jury at Southwark Crown Court today returned a verdict of ‘not guilty’ after just two hours deliberating. Read more>>
Hollywood Actors Union Board Approves Strike-Ending Deal As Leaders Tout Money Gains And AI Rights: Board members from Hollywood’s actors union voted Friday to approve the deal with studios that ended their strike after nearly four months, with the union’s leadership touting the gains made in weeks of methodical negotiations. Next, members will vote. Read more>>
Honda Hikes US Production Workers’ Pay After UAW Deals With Detroit Three: Honda Motor said on Friday it would give production workers at its U.S. facilities an 11% pay hike starting in January, a decision announced a couple of weeks after the United Auto Workers (UAW) union and the Detroit Three automakers agreed to new contracts. Read more>>
Cornell Graduate Students Have Won Their Unionization Election By A Vote Of 1,873 To 80: Cornell graduate students have won their unionization election and will federate as Cornell Graduate Students United — an organization fighting for the rights of graduate workers — under the national United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America union. Read more>>
The Reappearing Forests of West Bengal: The trees in this corner of India vanished decades ago, leaving heat waves and drought. What happened when they returned proves the healing power of reforestation. Read more>>
As Cities Resist Affordable Housing, This Homeless Shelter Fought Back And Won: Advocates for people experiencing homelessness in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, scored an upset victory. They opened a 20-bed shelter for short-term guests in a donated building that once belonged to a dentist and his wife. The private facility fills a gap that the town ignored for years, despite a prolonged housing crisis that continues to push people onto the streets. Read more>>
Militarized Police ‘Indiscriminately’ Attack Nonviolent Stop Cop City March With Tear Gas: “This is the type of ‘training’ they will get if Cop City is built,” said one activist group. Militarized state and local police on Monday attacked a peaceful protest against the construction of the so-called “Cop City” training center outside Atlanta, Georgia with “less-lethal” weapons including tear gas, pepper balls, and flash-bang grenades, journalists and activists there said. Read more>>
Portland Teachers Are Striking For Students: Since Nov. 1, members of the Portland Association of Teachers have been on strike for their students after months of negotiations with Portland Public Schools. As negotiations continue, the teachers are demanding safe, properly maintained, fully resourced schools in every neighborhood. “We are seizing this opportunity to build the learning environments all of our families need, to create safe and modern classrooms that provide the one-on-one attention our students deserve, and to respect educators with competitive wages and benefits.” Read more>>
Thousands of Starbucks Workers Walkout for a “Red Cup Rebellion”: On November 16, nearly 9,000 Starbucks employees walked out of over 200 stores around the United States in what they are calling the “Red Cup Rebellion.” Each year, Starbucks releases a free reusable red cup ahead of the holiday season — and according to Reuters, the release day is one of the coffee brand’s biggest traffic days. The strike comes after 363 Starbucks stores in 41 states have voted to unionize over the last two years. Starbucks has yet to come to the bargaining table with the unionized shops. Alongside workers, thousands of college students are expected to protest campus ties with the coffee-brand. Read more>>
Bangladesh Garment Workers Fighting For Pay Face Brutal Violence And Threats: Negotiations over a new minimum wage for garment workers in Bangladesh have sparked mass demonstrations on streets across the capital. The protests have escalated since the government announced a minimum wage increase for the workers, from 1 December, to 12,500 taka (£90), far below the 23,000 taka a month workers say they need to keep their families from starvation. Factory owners and police have responded to workers’ protests with threats and violence. Read more>>
The Supreme Court Says It Is Adopting a Code Of Ethics For The First Time: The Supreme Court is adopting its first code of ethics, in the face of sustained criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices. The policy was issued by the court on Monday. Read more>>
‘Leave The Gold In The Ground’: Ecuador’s Forest Guardians Mobilize Against Illegal Mining: “We have a duty to our grandparents, our parents, who gave us this work to do,” says Alexandra Narváez, 33, the first woman to lead the A’i Cofán Indigenous guard and winner of the 2022 Goldman environmental prize. “Despite our fears, the Indigenous guard was formed for this,” she says. “In our language, we are called the caretakers of our territory.” Read more>>
EPA Launches Youth Council of Gen Z and Millennials: Sixteen young people will launch a new program with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Michael S. Regan, beginning November 16. It will provide independent advice and recommendations on behalf of youth communities regarding EPA efforts. Across the federal government, it is the very first youth advisory committee formed on the environment, and the first of its kind at the EPA. Read more>>
Rāhui and the Ancient Art of Marine Conservation: A rāhui is, in essence, an area of land or water with a temporary limit on collecting a resource, such as a particular fish or fruit. In time, once the resource has had time to replenish, the rāhui is lifted. The word rāhui has many meanings in Polynesia. It can refer to a management system, a practice, a place, a belief, a law or a lens through which related actions are assessed. It puts everyone in charge of protecting the sea. Read more>>
Amsterdam Marchers Demand Climate Action As Dutch Election Nears: Tens of thousands of protesters marched through Amsterdam on Sunday demanding immediate action against climate change, 10 days before the country holds a general election. Local police said around 70,000 people joined the march, including climate activist Greta Thunberg and former EU climate chief Frans Timmermans, who will lead the combined Labour and Green parties at the upcoming election. Organizers said the turnout was the largest ever at a climate protest in the Netherlands. Read more>>
Climate Activists Demand Insurers Chubb and AIG Stop Underwriting Fossil Fuel Projects In Africa: Underwriting fossil fuel projects in Africa is a risky business that threatens the rainforest, human rights and insurers’ reputations, climate activists warn AIG and Chubb. A coalition of activists took a “RISKOMETER” to the doors of Chubb and AIG Insurers today (10th November) to demonstrate the hazards of insuring oil and gas projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) jeopardizing company reputations, people and the planet. Read more>>
Climate Activists Hammer at Glass Protecting Velázquez’s ‘Rokeby Venus’: Organized by Just Stop Oil, the incident was just the latest of many protests targeting famous artworks. “You have to make more noise than anybody else, you have to make yourself more obtrusive than anybody else, you have to fill all the papers more than anybody else.” Read more>>
Greta Thunberg Disrupts London Lord Mayor’s Banquet: Fossil Free London activists, joined by Greta Thunberg, staged a noisy protest outside Guildhall in the City of London to disrupt Rishi Sunak’s speech inside the Lord Mayor’s banquet on Monday 13 November. It was over the PM’s climate-wrecking plans contained in the King’s Speech. Read more>>
Hundreds of Scientists Urge Biden to Back Speedy ‘Phaseout of All Fossil Fuels’ at COP28: The joint letter arrives as a new UN analysis shows “baby steps” on climate action by nations won’t suffice as the planet suffers increasingly dire impacts from the burning of coal, oil, and gas. Over 650 scientists issued a joint call on Tuesday demanding that U.S. President Joe Biden prove he recognizes the existential threat of the climate crisis by backing a “fast and fair phaseout of all fossil fuels”—meaning coal, oil, and gas—so that other nations can show equal ambition at the global summit. Read more>>
Fed Chair Powell Rushed Off Stage After Climate Protesters Interrupt Speech: This is the second time in a month that the group has interrupted an event attended by Powell. Climate protesters also forced Powell to be escorted off of the stage three weeks ago when he was about to deliver comments on the U.S. economy at an event in New York. Read more>>
Confronting DC’s Gas Problem: From Oct. 24-26, a coalition of ecoactivist groups, including Extinction Rebellion Northeast, Extinction Rebellion DC, or XRDC, Scientist Rebellion, and Climate Defiance, engaged in three days of nonviolent actions against the gas industry in Washington, D.C. They disrupted the industry’s biggest annual event in North America, temporarily shut down construction on a major pipeline project, and built bridges of inter-movement solidarity by joining in protests for a ceasefire in Gaza. Read more>>
Students Stage Anniversary Protest Against University Inaction On Sexual Violence: Students showed up in a sea of red to protest sexual violence and demand “change, transparency and accountability” from the American University administration on Friday, the anniversary of last year’s walkout against sexual violence on campus. Read more>>
Trans Supportive Dad Slammed School Board For Discriminatory Policy: “No matter
how hard you try to implement these discriminatory policies in the ‘right way,’ you are never
going to find a right way to do the wrong thing,” Conner said. Watch the short video>>
Women’s Protesting Continues In Iran, Even As Street Protests Diminish: While the latest wave of street protests dwindled by the first few months of 2023, nonviolent protests for freedom, democracy and equality have a long history in Iran and continue today. Even when women are not demonstrating en masse in the streets, they consistently fight against gender discrimination, often at their own peril. Read more>>
Hundreds of Thousands Join London March to Demand ‘Cease-Fire Now’ in Gaza: “In our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians,” demonstrators chanted at Saturday’s march, described as one of the largest political protests in U.K. history. Read more>>
Australian Arms Exports To Israel In The Spotlight Amid Court Case & Port Protests: Legal action and protests at Australian ports put spotlight on Australian weapons exports to Israel. “Few people know that Australia has one of the most secretive, unaccountable weapons export systems in the world,” Australian Greens Senator David Shoebridge told the Australian Senate on Tuesday. Read more>>
Three Bridges Shut Down In Three Cities To Protest Israel/Palestine War: Protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza blocked bridges in three cities: Boston, MA; Montreal, Canada; and San Francisco, CA. Read more>>
Stop the Bombs, Not the Aid: While humanitarian aid remains committed, and in some cases increased by donor countries, several European governments are re-thinking their financial aid to human rights and civil society organizations in the region. But this means cutting financial support to the very local organizations that are best positioned to respond to Gaza’s humanitarian crisis. Read more>>
Russian Artist Sentenced To 7 Years In Prison For Ukraine War Protest: A Russian artist who admitted to passive acts to protest Moscow’s war against Ukraine was sentenced to seven years in prison on Thursday after being found guilty of “knowingly spreading false information about the Russian army.” The court found Aleksandra “Sasha” Skochilenko, 33, guilty of replacing five price tags in a local supermarket with pieces of paper urging shoppers to stop the war and resist propaganda on television in March 2022. “How fragile must the prosecutor’s belief in our state and society be, if he thinks that our statehood and public safety can be brought down by five pieces of paper,” Skochilenko said. Read more>>
Merchants of Death War Criminal Tribunal Presents Oil Connection To Syrian War: The next evidentiary presentation of the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal examines U.S. attacks against Syria and the role U.S. weapons makers have played in waging these attacks. U.S. forces are in northern Syria helped Western fossil fuel companies exploit and extract oil from Syrian oil fields in that region. This evidence is of growing importance as the U.S. undertakes new air attacks in Syria, increasing the likelihood of accelerating the spread of war in the Middle East. Watch this 25-minute video>>
Pussy Riot Founder Protests Indiana’s Ban On Nearly All Abortions: Nadya Tolokonnikova performed in front of the state’s supreme court and debuted the group’s new single, God Save Abortion. Joined by students and faculty from Indiana University, the longtime activist and artist said that the demonstration was prompted by both Tolokonnikova’s frustration with the current state of reproductive rights in the state and the university’s invitation for her to participate in a ticketed Q&A with students about authoritarianism and activism’s intersection with art. Read more>>
NY Times Poetry Editor Resigns Over Israel War Against Gaza: “I have resigned as poetry editor of The New York Times Magazine,” wrote Anne Boyer. “The Israeli state’s U.S-backed war against the people of Gaza is not a war for anyone. There is no safety in it or from it, not for Israel, not for the United States or Europe, and especially not for the many Jewish people slandered by those who claim falsely to fight in their names. Its only profit is the deadly profit of oil interests and weapon manufacturers.” Read more>>
Julian Assange Serenaded After Winning The Ossietzky Prize: PEN Norway awards the Ossietzky Prize annually to a person or an institution whose efforts for freedom of expression has been outstanding. Stella Assange accepted for Julian. That night he called her from prison and received this gift of song. Read more>>
Sand Drawing on Armistice Day Calling For Ceasefire: UK artist Fred Brown made a sand drawing inspired by a Banksy piece, using Armistice Day to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Read more>>
Train in Rome Lifts Up 3-Car Protest For Ceasefire In Gaza: Graffiti in Rome, Italy, spelled out an anti-war message across three train cars: Stop Bombing Gaza. Read more>>
How I Express My Diasporic Palestinian Grief Through Art: As the war on Gaza began being described as a “genocide,” the years of pain that I buried finally burst and led to the creation of this art. Read more>>
A General Strike In 2028 Is A Uniquely Plausible Dream: There are two things that will determine whether or not this promising moment leads to a true, historic revival of the labor movement. The first is easily measurable: union density. The second thing is related to the first, but it offers a broader menu for action: We must see some tangible coordination of action across the U.S. labor movement. Read more>>
PEN Norway awards Julian Assange the Ossietzky Prize for 2023: Access to information is a fundamental prerequisite in every democracy. Julian Assange is awarded the Ossietzky Prize for 2023 in recognition of his critical journalism and his commitment to exposing the abuse of power and war crimes. Read more>>
New Report Reveals How Gun Companies Market To Kids: “UnTargeting Kids: Protecting Children From Harmful Firearm Marketing” with the release of a comprehensive report exposing how firearm companies are marketing to our kids. Be among the first to read the report. See for yourself what kinds of images are being marketed to your kids and learn how to take action. Read more>>
Increasing Preference For Nonviolent Tactics Among Arabs Could Influence Outcome of War In Gaza: As Israel escalates its counteroffensive against the Hamas military in Gaza, another intense effort has begun in the Middle East. It is one that favors a strategy of nonviolence and builds off rising sentiments against the futility of violence to resolve grievances or claim dominance. Read more>>
The Unsung Hero That Made Rosa Parks’ Historic Protest Possible: Relatively few people know about Sarah Mae Flemming and the historic legal case that laid the groundwork for Rosa Parks and the more prominent, successful Montgomery bus boycott. Read more>>
Black Friday Actions To Shut It Down For Palestine: The next big step for this movement will be on Black Friday — November 24. This is the biggest retail sales day of the year, with billions of dollars in total sales. We will hold boycotts, disruptions and rallies on this economically crucial day to make it clear that there will be no business as usual until Palestine is free. Read more>>
Tell Amazon: It’s Time For A Zero-Emission Future: It’s time for Amazon to stop polluting our streets and communities; we have a great opportunity to turn the heat up on Amazon executives and convince them to address the pollution from their delivery vehicles – making our communities and climate cleaner. Will you join us in calling on Amazon to take responsibility and transition to a zero-emission future? Take action>>
Sign & Share This Urgent Petition For A Ceasefire: Say it once. Say it again. Ceasefire now. Will you be the millionth person to sign this petition? Take action>>
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