Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
March 8 marked International Women’s Day with protests around the world. Across Argentina, women went on strike over cuts to food assistance amidst a hunger crisis caused by their president’s economic policies. In India, mothers and wives turned out in force to support ongoing farmer protests. More than 180,000 women marched in Mexico City for freedom from violence and fear. A thousands-strong protest also happened in Greece on March 10 to condemn a violent attack on two trans persons. In other places, women stood up for their rights, community safety, and to oppose war, the climate crisis, and other injustices.
In more Nonviolence News, India saw protests against the rollout of a citizenship test based on religion, something activists say violates the secular constitution and is discriminatory. The US Congress was blasted by organizing groups for renewing their efforts to ban TikTok. European climate groups took action at multiple airports against the industry’s carbon emissions.
Speaking of climate action, the recent global Week of Actions that targeted insurance companies over fossil fuel financing got the insurance giant Probitas to pull out of both a coal mine in the United Kingdom and the highly-controversial East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). California towns and cities are taking the bold step of banning new gas station construction. Some US cities are also passing measures to edge gas-guzzling SUVs out. Activist investors have pressured major brands into reducing and eliminating plastic waste. These are all important steps in the race to end the climate crisis.
The struggle to stop Israel’s attack on Gaza has not relented – and won’t until a permanent ceasefire is achieved. In Chicago, 30 people were arrested for blocking traffic to demand a ceasefire. “We can’t go on acting as if the genocide isn’t happening,” said one demonstrator. Activists in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom also pressured political officials over their government’s complicity in genocide in Gaza. Another campaign in New Jersey disrupted a real estate bidding event for illegal West Bank settlements. In the Netherlands, a bold action used yellow-and-black signs to redirect visiting Israeli President Isaac Herzog from the Holocaust Museum to the Hague’s International Criminal Court. On a positive note, Canada and Sweden voted to restore UNRWA funds to provide urgent humanitarian relief in Gaza.
One story that I especially enjoyed? In Florida, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers is holding marches and activities over the 3-day “Farmworker Freedom Festival” to celebrate farmworker culture, raise awareness about fundamental rights, and popularize their Fair Food Program that gets restaurants and retailers — like McDonald’s and Whole Foods — to pledge to buy only from suppliers who follow a code of conduct designed to protect workers’ rights. Their bold spirit of celebration made me smile – along with their giant puppets, music, and other creative tactics.
In solidarity,
Rivera Sun
Indigenous People Rejoice After City of Berkeley Votes To Return Sacred Native Land To Ohlone: Ohlone people and others rejoiced Wednesday over the return of sacred Native land dating back thousands of years, saying the move rights a historic wrong and restores the people who were first on land now called Berkeley, California, to their rightful place in history. Read more>>
Probitas Pulls Out of EACOP And West Cumbria Coal Mine: Major insurer Probitas has now confirmed that they will not insure the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) or the West Cumbria coal mine – after a week of peaceful protest from XR and members of the Insure Our Future coalition. Read more>>
Strike Threat Wins In Confrontation Over Remote Work: As union teachers and staff at Portland Community College began contract negotiations in 2023, members made it clear that protecting the flexibility they had gained during the pandemic was a priority. At the bargaining table, management flatly rejected their proposals, and they realized that winning on this issue would require a massive organizing effort, including a credible strike threat. Read more>>
Arizona Uses COVID Relief Funds To Cancel Medical Debt: Following In The Footsteps Of Cook County, New York City And More. It’s the biggest example yet of a state or local government using federal funds for medical debt relief. Arizona has just launched a partnership with the nonprofit RIP Medical Debt to acquire as much as $2 billion in medical debt— and forgive all of it. Read more>>
Canada, Sweden Restore UNRWA Funds as Report Accuses Israel of Torturing Agency Staff: “The work that UNWRA does cannot be overstated,” said Canadian lawmaker Salma Zahid. “It will save lives as we have seen the visuals of children dying of hunger in Gaza. The need for immediate aid is non-negotiable.” Read more>>
Stillmeadow Peace Park Is Baltimore’s Tale of Urban Reinvention: Starting with an inspired vision from a parishioner and nurtured by an outpouring of collaboration and resources, the Stillmeadow woods have been given a second chance. And in just a few years, they have already become a nationally renowned proving ground for ecological resilience. Read more>>
Albuquerque Prepares To Launch Microtransit Service: The City of Albuquerque is launching its own rideshare service, just like Uber and Lyft, except this service is free. For now, ABQ RIDE Connect will be limited to the areas that need it most. Residents will be able to download an app and book rides. The service will be made up of five electric vans. With just a click, you can request a ride to places like the grocery store, or to connect to your bus route. Read more>>
California Towns Are Banning New Gas Stations: The movement to prohibit new gas stations began in 2021 when Petaluma, California, in the neighboring Sonoma County, became the first town in the United States to prohibit new gas stations. From there, bans spread throughout Sonoma and Napa counties; the idea has also been proposed in Los Angeles; Sacramento; Eugene, Oregon; and north into Kelowna, Canada. Some consider the emerging backlash a sign of validation. Read more>>
In ‘Stunning’ Reversal, Wisconsin Throws Out Case Against Puppy Mill Rescuers: In what one animal rights advocate called a “stunning admission” by Wisconsin prosecutors, the state on Friday dropped its case against three activists accused of rescuing beagles from a large dog breeding facility. “The state and Ridglan are acknowledging what we knew to be true: we have the right to rescue suffering animals from abuse because they are sentient beings, not things,” said one animal rights campaigner. Read more>>
Under Pressure From Activist Investors, Big Brands Agree To Report And Reduce Plastics Use: Shareholder advocacy groups have already won plastics-related concessions from companies including Disney, Hormel, and Choice Hotels. Read more>>
‘Dark Day’: India On Edge Over Religion-Based Citizenship Law Before Polls: Protests break out in parts of the country. Police presence beefed up. Critics of the law call its timing cynical. The notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) on Monday introduces the country’s first religion-based citizenship test after decades of a constitutional setup that swears — at least officially — by secularism. Critics say the law discriminates against Muslim asylum seekers. Read more>>
Activists Push Palestine To The Front Line of the Oscars: A massive protest took to the streets outside of the Academy Awards ceremony. “The Palestinian protests shut down the Oscars tonight!” shouted actor and activist Mark Ruffalo on the red carpet, on the way to the 2024 Academy Awards ceremony on the night of March 10. “Humanity wins!” he said, raising his fist. Read more>>
‘Blatant Censorship’: Critics Blast US House Vote for TikTok Ban: “Don’t ban TikTok,” said Fight for the Future. “Pass a goddamn privacy law.” Fight for the Future said that “the rhetoric fueling a TikTok ban is a xenophobic, moral panic about the content on TikTok, disregarding… users in the U.S. that use the app for news, small business, community organizing, and free expression.” Read more>>
Argentina’s March 8th Feminist Strike – Women Protest Cuts To Food Assistance And Hunger: Feminists are uniting on International Women’s Day to protest economic violence inflicted by new president Javier Milei. The protesters’ “most important demand” is a solution to Argentina’s “food emergency”, said María Claudia Albornoz, an activist from La Poderosa, a group that defends the rights of the five million people living in the country’s 6,500 slums, or villas miseria (misery villages). Read more>>
From Street Gangs To Congress, Here’s How To Turn Intractable Conflicts Into Workable Ones: After over two decades as a journalist, including ten years covering terrorism and disasters for TIME Magazine, Amanda Ripley thought she understood conflict. But when momentum started to build around the candidacy of Donald Trump, she questioned what she thought she knew. Ripley interviewed psychologists, mediators, and people who had made it out of seemingly intractable conflicts for her book, High Conflict: Why We Get Stuck and How We Get Out. In this conversation with host Jamil Simon, she shares insights about how people in conflict can move forward, and how journalists can get at the “understory” of what’s beneath any conflict. Read more>>
The Danish City Reimagining Reuse: The best way to consume responsibly? Don’t consume anything new at all. More easily said than done, but in the Danish city of Aarhus, a growing system of reuse centers is making it more possible than ever. Two metric tons of perfectly good used items move through the reuse centers of Aarhus each day, making their way to new homes. Now, says one resident, “There’s no need to buy new stuff.” Read more>>
At Seattle’s Boeing Field, Real-Time Video Offers a Rare Glimpse of America’s Troubled Deportation Flights: Key details about what happens inside ICE Air would still be hidden if not for a group of Washington activists and researchers, who are now using a live video feed from the tarmac to document the flights. Read more>>
Farmworkers Bring Three-Day Workers’ Rights Festival To Palm Beach This Weekend: An annual march through Palm Beach to draw attention to the plight of farmworkers has expanded to a three-day festival that begins Friday and runs through Sunday on the island. The Farmworker Freedom Festival presented by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to highlight the Fair Food Program will take place at points throughout Palm Beach. Read more and see pictures>>
The Most Important Labor Story Right Now Is In Minnesota — It Might Be the Model We All Need: A strategic alignment of major networks of unions and community groups in Minnesota have worked together for more than a decade to leverage their collective power. Read more>>
How the Palestinian Justice Movement Helped Starbucks Workers United: Starbucks worker organizing produced a historic union breakthrough, and this victory came about in part because of solidarity with Palestine. Read more>>
India’s Protesting Farmers Joined By Their Wives And Mothers On International Women’s Day: The women farmers joining in the protest say they want the government to recognize their labour contribution and struggles. Indian authorities have blocked the protesters from marching on to New Delhi and refused to meet their demands. Read more>>
From The Workplace To The Streets, Women Are Leading The Fight For a Fairer World: Red Pepper celebrates International Women’s Day by highlighting the work of CAIWU – a union representing women at the sharp end of exploitation and oppression. Read more>>
Frankfurt, Heathrow, Schiphol – Climate Activists Plan Days of Actions At European Airports: Activists are kicking off two days of action at Europe’s biggest airports today, demanding a limit to the number of climate-wrecking flights. A coalition of 25 organisations – including local residents associations and climate groups – are targeting airports across France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and the UK. Read more>>
Greta Thunberg Joins Climate Protest Blocking Swedish Parliament: Activist accuses Sweden of being ‘very good at greenwashing’ as group sits outside building’s main entrance. She accused politicians of instead “prioritizing short-term economic profits”, which she said was “sacrificing human life and the planet in the name of greed”. Read more>>
Protester Inside Mountain Valley Pipeline Blocks Work For Two Days: Early Thursday morning, a pipeline fighter using the name Ricky Bobby climbed inside the Mountain Valley Pipeline (which is 42 inches in diameter) atop Peters Mountain to prevent ongoing construction in the area. Read more>>
Gulf Coast Communities Continue The Fight Against Liquefied Natural Gas: The Biden administration’s LNG pause won’t affect projects planned in Brownsville, Texas. The community is still waging its own defense. Read more>>
As Climate Change Fractures Communities, Folklorists Help Stitch Them Back Together: From Appalachia to the Bayou to the desert Southwest, here’s how culture can teach us about adapting to a warmer world. Read more>>
There’s a Reason Exxon’s CEO Says Its Emissions Are Your Fault: Activist investors want the company to trim its biggest source of emissions. Exxon sees that as a threat. Read more>>
Speeding Toward An SUV-Free City: From Paris to Washington D.C., cities are recognizing the harms of SUVs –– and taking drastic steps to drive them out. Read more>>
At Group Therapy for Black and Hispanic Girls, Laughter and Listening Reign: At a time when teen girls’ mental health is in crisis, Working on Womanhood offers help where they spend the most time: school. Read more>>
Midwives Sue Hawai’i, Challenging Law Restricting Native Birthworkers: Native birthwork practitioners could now face risk of fines and prison time if they are caught offering care, or even advice, to pregnant women and families in Hawai’i. “We were able to reclaim these practices that were stolen from us, we were able to heal some of the trauma of being treated as second-class citizens in our own land. Now, with this new law, history is repeating itself. We are again on the brink of losing our people’s knowledge of sacred birthing traditions.” Read more>>
Providing Protective Presence After Hate Crimes: After an incident of anti-Asian hate fractured her pelvis, Vilma Cari had to face her attacker in court. Nonviolent Peace Team coordinated protective accompaniment to provide a sense of safety during the proceedings. Read more>>
Women Mark International Women’s Day By Taking Part In Efforts To Combat Discrimination: Women around the globe marked International Women’s Day on Friday, taking part in strikes, marches and demonstrations that underscored efforts to combat discrimination and accelerate the drive for gender parity. Read more>>
Latin American Women March On Women’s Day: Cities across Latin America were cloaked in purple Friday as hundreds of thousands of women marched to commemorate International Women’s Day, coming at a moment of change in a region marred by soaring levels of violence against women. While some are celebrating historic steps taken in countries like Mexico, which is slated to elect a woman as president for the first time, others are railing against potential rollbacks on rights they’ve long fought for in places like Argentina with the arrival of far-right President Javier Milei. Read more>>
‘We Are Tired, Angry And Mad’: 180,000 Women March In Mexico City: More than 180,000 protesters marched through Mexico City demanding access to justice and freedom from violence and fear. Some carried photos of people they were accusing of rape or violence. Other banners demanded that girls grow up without violence and drew attention to missing and murdered women. Read more>>
Thousands of Greeks Stand Defiant Against Hate After Violent Attack On Trans People: A huge crowd of LGBTQ+ folks and their allies demonstrated on the streets of Thessaloniki in northern Greece after a violent attack on two trans people at the weekend. The thousands-strong crowd gathered in Aristotelous Square – the location of the attack – at around 7pm local time on Sunday (10 March), before marching through the streets of the city chanting, waving Pride flags and carrying banners denouncing fascism, homophobia and transphobia. Read more>>
‘We Won’t Go Back To Our Cages’ – Celebrating Women’s Day In Nicaragua: “We have painful stories, stories of marginalization, a history of being trampled because we are women and even more because we are rural peasant women, campesinas,” says Rosibel Ramos, bright eyes belying her age. Read more>>
‘Palestine Is a Feminist Issue’, Say Thousands Marching Across Australia: Tens of thousands joined rallies against Israel’s genocide in Gaza on March 9 and 10 across the country. Australia is now the only country other than the United States not to restore funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) after Canada, the European Commission and Sweden decided to restore their aid. Read more>>
A Grassroots Movement Mobilizes Against Femicide in Kenya: Organizers are fighting for wide-ranging reforms and an end to systemic violence against women. Read more>>
Amid Gaps, China Makes Gains in Fighting Domestic Violence: Eight years after China introduced a landmark law against domestic violence, a new report has found that additional provincial laws have broadened its reach, courts have implemented more protective measures, and awareness of domestic violence has increased. Read more>>
New Case Study from Iraq On Countering Sexual Harassment: In Ba’aj, women and girls are breaking their silence on the sexual harassment they’ve faced and are advocating for their own protection. “The trainings that we received from Nonviolent Peaceforce provided us with knowledge and confidence to speak up,” shared one community member. Read more>>
21 Anti-LGBTQ Bills Die in Florida: On Friday, March 8, the Florida Legislature adjourned sine die. With this adjournment, 21 of 22 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were effectively killed, leaving an anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in education bill as the lone piece of legislation to pass this session. This session featured some of the most severe bills ever proposed against transgender individuals, all of these bills are now officially dead. LGBTQ+ activists in the state now have the rest of 2024 to regroup, with hopes that the November general election will yield results against a legislature that has spent two years targeting transgender individuals in every aspect of life. Read more>>
Reflections from South Sudan: At the International Gathering on Unarmed Community Protection, two Women’s Protection Team Leaders from South Sudan shared insights and reflections on their work. “Together, we are breaking barriers, shattering stereotypes, and creating a brighter future for ourselves and generations to come,” shared Mary Nyachat Chuol. Read more>>
30+ Arrested in Chicago Protest Demanding Gaza Cease-Fire: “We can’t go on acting as if the genocide isn’t happening,” said one demonstrator who blocked traffic. “We’re raising our voices to say no genocide in our name!” Organizers said over 30 protesters were arrested in Chicago on Friday morning for blocking rush-hour traffic to demand a cease-fire in Israel’s U.S.-backed war on the Gaza Strip. Read more>>
Progressive Groups Launch New Coalition to Oppose AIPAC Influence: Progressives who support a Gaza ceasefire, and even moderate Democrats, have found themselves in AIPAC’s crosshairs. Reject AIPAC members include Justice Democrats, Jewish Voice for Peace Action, IfNotNow, Working Families Party, Sunrise Movement, MPower Change Action Fund, Democratic Socialists of America, Our Revolution, Peace Action, National Iranian American Council, and Gen-Z for Change. Read more>>
Jewish Progressives Stage Sit-In at Hakeem Jeffries’ Office to Protest AIPAC Influence: “Our Jewish communities are rising up to say, ‘Never again is now,'” said organizers. Sharpening their focus on the influence that pro-Israel lobbyists have had for decades on U.S. policy regarding Palestinians, Jewish progressives on Tuesday held a sit-in at the Capitol Hill office of U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, one of the largest recipients of campaign funds from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Read more>>
Protesters Target Event Pitching West Bank Real Estate Deals: Hundreds gathered in the New Jersey township of Teaneck to protest an event where dozens of companies pitched real estate deals in Israel and the illegally-occupied West Bank. “These real estate sales events serve as a pipeline by which American Jewish Zionist ideologues support illegal settlement activity.” Read more>>
Protesters Say Australian Company HTA Is Complicit In Gaza War Crimes: Pro-Palestine groups, including Free Palestine Melbourne, are protesting at Heat Treatment Australia (HTA) in Naarm/Melbourne, every Monday and Friday from 10am, to demand it stop supplying the Israeli military. HTA supplies parts for the F-35 fighter jets currently being used by Israel to bomb Gaza. Read more>>
Home Office And Arms Fair Organizers Bombarded By Protesters Over Complicity In Arming Israel: Hours before the UK government’s ‘Security and Policing’ fair was scheduled to begin on 12 March, Palestine Action targeted the organizers of the arms fair – ADS Group. Activists covered the London offices of ADS group in red paint, symbolizing their complicity in Palestinian bloodshed. Read more>>
Israeli Peace Activists Are More Anguished Than Ever: For some activists, in other words, Oct. 7 only underscored the urgency of their cause. Yet the peace movement has always been diverse and often fragmented. In reality, there are multiple movements, each with its own definition of peace. Read more>>
A South Korean Village’s Fight Against the US Military: Since 2016, the residents of the village of Soseong-ri have protested the construction of THAAD, a US missile defense system that uses Korean land to protect US military bases throughout the Pacific. Read more>>
US Activist Gets Prison Term In German Campaign To Oust US Nuclear Bombs: Susan Crane, of the Redwood City, California Catholic Worker, has been sentenced to 229 days in prison in Germany for daring to interfere with the U.S. nuclear weapons stationed at Germany’s Büchel Air Force base, southeast of Cologne. Crane participated in six nonviolent go-in actions, confronting the air force system on base which routinely trains to drop the U.S. H-bombs on targets in Russia. Read more>>
Einstein’s Postwar Campaign To Save the World From Nuclear Destruction: Aghast at the use of nuclear weapons in August 1945 to obliterate the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Einstein threw himself into efforts to prevent worldwide nuclear annihilation. The scientist’s efforts helped create the movement for arms control and disarmament. Read more>>
Financing for Peace: Despite the increasing complexity and duration of conflicts, financial resources for peacebuilding work are declining. In this op-ed, Kristina Preiksaityte, NP Strategic Partnerships Manager, explores how this funding deficit has affected locally-led peacebuilding initiatives. Read more>>
Instead of Holocaust Museum, Detour Signs Direct Israel’s Herzog to The Hague: “How is it possible that such a sacred space is being used to normalize genocide today?” asked one Dutch Jewish organizer behind the protest. Human rights activists in The Netherlands greeted Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday with large protests and directed him towards the International Criminal Court at The Hague over his nation’s alleged war crimes against the Palestinian people in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza. Read more>>
Climate Choir Sings Again: “We just invaded the Houses of Parliament, singing loud and clear: #StopRosebank! No new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea! The Rosebank oil and gas licenses will cause an extra 200m tons of CO2 emissions, while doing nothing to lower our energy bills #GreenEnergyisCheapEnergy.” Watch here>>
Film Studio From Oscar-Winning Director Aims To Stir Up ‘Populist Anger’ Over Climate Crisis: Yellow Dot Studios produces short-form videos to inform with ‘genuine, righteous anger’ and ‘laugh-out-loud comedy.’ Read more>>
Beyond Misleading’: Katie Britt Border Story Debunked With Bruising TikTok Takedown: “This is worth every minute,” said one person who watched the 7-minute take down. A freelance journalist is receiving widespread praise for his “must-see” critique of a story told by Alabama’s Republican Senator Katie Britt during her official Republican Party response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union. Read more>>
New Animated Short: “Power to the People: The Story of Rural Electric Cooperatives”: Learn more about the history of rural electric cooperatives and how they can lead the just transition to a sustainable future. Read more>>
The Women Who Stood With Martin Luther King Jr. And Sustained a Movement For Social Change: Women played essential roles in the success of the civil rights movement. African American women led and served in all the major campaigns, working as field secretaries, attorneys, plaintiffs, organizers and educators, to name just a few roles. Read more>>
Social Media Has the Power To Fuel — Or Foil — Social Movements: If knowledge is power, technological tools are slowly helping people build it through real-time documentation, dissemination, hacked evidence, and pleas from all corners of the world, calling out to each other and building a global community. Read more>>
Strikes Are Meant To Be Disruptive: Critics of new anti-scab legislation in Canada are worried about the ability to “get things done.” But halting production is the very purpose of strikes — to create disruptions that force bosses to negotiate. Read more>>
Why Do Many People Remain Convinced That Protest Is Ineffective? Most of the UK public believes that protests rarely, if ever, make a difference. This is surprising, given that we constantly see examples to the contrary. Read more>>
BLM Asks You To Demand Justice For Ryan Gainer: Ryan Gainer was a human being who deserved every opportunity to live. Please call the San Bernardino Sheriff’s department now at (909-890-4904) and demand the release of all information connected to this investigation, including body cam footage, 911 calls, and the TERMINATION of ALL deputies involved. Learn more>>
Moving Past Polarization: Time and time again, divisions – of borders, socioeconomic standing, race, ethnicity, gender, and religion – can spark and deepen conflict. With human identities intertwined in these divisions, how do we move past polarization? Join Nonviolent Peaceforce’s Nonviolence Cafe to explore this question. (April 4) Learn more>>
Against Genocide: A Conversation with Israeli Knesset Member Dr. Ofer Cassif: Dr. Ofer Cassif has ongoingly and courageously stood for the mutual security of Israelis and Palestinians by opposing the violence of Israel toward the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, and since October 7 has spoken out against genocidal violence in Gaza as well as the violence of Hamas. As a voice of courage and dissent in a time of violence and escalation, Dr. Cassif is leading the way for peace and nonviolence within the Israeli parliament. (March 22) Learn more>>
Nonviolence Conversation Group: Join the Metta Center to discuss The Third Harmony: Nonviolence and the New Story of Human Nature, while we explore what’s on our hearts and minds about the world at large. Sessions will include pair/share/dyadic opportunities for depth and self-exploration. Let’s talk, study, and grow! (March 24) Learn more>>