Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
Students across the United States – and beyond – are setting up protest encampments, demanding that their universities and colleges divest from Israel firms, particularly weapons and military contractors. They also want their institutions to call for a ceasefire and stop punitive measures against student protesters opposing the war in Gaza. The arrest of 100+ students at Columbia University has galvanized students to stand up for their right to protest, even in the face of escalating suspensions, arrests, and other repression.
In other places, student organizing is taking the lead in demanding mass transit in British Columbia, opposing budget cuts in Argentina, and demanding climate justice. But the students are not the only ones who should be rightly alarmed at the crackdown on protests. The Supreme Court decided not to review a lower court ruling that makes protest organizers face potentially ruinous financial consequences if a single attendee at a mass protest commits an illegal act. This law will likely abolish mass protest in the states it affects – Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
In more Nonviolence News, thousands of Indigenous Peoples gathered in Brasilia to push President Lula to make good his promises to recognize and safeguard Indigenous lands and cultural rights. Portugal’s president made an important statement that the nation takes full responsibility for their role in enslaving 6 million Africans in the colonial slave trade and that reparations may need to be paid. A transgender teen athlete’s testimony persuaded the New Hampshire legislature to vote against an anti-trans bill. North Texas organizers are going door-to-door mobilizing their community to stop a police training facility dubbed “Cop City Dallas” after the much-protested facility in Atlanta, GA. And a march to “End the Plastics Era” was followed by a die-in underneath a sculpture of a tap pouring out a stream of plastic waste. The actions took place outside a summit for a global treaty on plastic pollution held in Ottawa, Canada.
One of my favorite stories this week was the somber ‘Funeral for Nature’ held in Bath, UK, by climate groups. Thousands gathered to mourn the collapsing ecosystem. Four hundred were garbed in striking Red Rebels costumes; the rest wore funeral blacks. The United Kingdom has lost 97% of its wildflowers since WWII and 43% of its bird species are in decline. Our grief is powerful and its expression is needed.
In solidarity,
Rivera Sun
Photo Credit: Red Rebels march in the Funeral For Nature. (Image by Mark Richards)
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UAW Wins Historic Volkswagen Union Election in a Landslide: The NLRB announced tonight that UAW won a historic union election at Volkswagen in Chattanooga Tennessee. The union won with 73% as workers voting in favor of the union. It was the third time in ten years that the UAW tried to unionize, losing narrowly in two previous efforts. Now, with a victory in Chattanooga, it opens the door to more unionizing across the South. Read more>>
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U.S. Supreme Court Case Could Transform San Francisco Homeless Policy: A U.S. Supreme Court case that could redefine San Francisco’s homelessness policies sparked protests downtown on Monday morning as justices in the country’s capital heard oral arguments. Several dozen protesters helped to block off McAllister Street between Polk and Larkin streets, holding banners that said “sweep the court” and “sweeps kill.” Read more>>
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Demonstrators Show Support For The Homeless As Supreme Court Hears Case: Rallies were held in various cities across the country as the Supreme Court considered the most significant case on homelessness in decades. Watch here>>
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Pipeline Protester Locks Herself To Excavator On Peters Mountain: A pipeline fighter using the name Vole locked herself to an excavator on the West Virginia side of Peters Mountain in the Jefferson National Forest, preventing Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) from finishing construction on both sides of the mountain, next to the Appalachian Trail. Banners at the site of the action read, “DESTROY ALL PIPELINES” and “LAND BACK,” and a rally of supporters gathered nearby in the National Forest. Read more>>
Ahead of Treaty Negotiations, Hundreds March to ‘End the Plastic Era’: “As adults who come to Ottawa to negotiate the plastic treaty, you must protect our rights to live in a healthy and safe environment,” one young activists said. Read more>>
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Youth Lead Global Strike Demanding ‘Climate Justice Now’: “We are many people and youths who want to express our frustration over what decision-makers are doing right now: They don’t care about our future and aren’t doing anything to stop the climate crisis,” one young activist said. Read more>>
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Indigenous Brazilians Mobilize for Land Demarcation, Tribal Rights: Thousands of people rallied this week in Brasília for the 20th annual Free Land Camp—the largest gathering of Indigenous people in Brazil—where participants demanded that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration safeguard their lands and cultural rights. Read more>>
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Twelve Cherokee Nation Cyclists, 950 Miles: Twelve cyclists from the Cherokee Nation will participate in the 2024 Remember the Removal (RTR) Bike Ride this June, retracing an estimated 950 miles along the northern route of the Trail of Tears by bicycle. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the inaugural RTR Bike Ride in 1984. The ride spans from Georgia to Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma over nearly three weeks. Read more>>
New Hampshire Votes Against Anti-Trans Bill After Powerful Testimony From Transgender Teen Athlete: 16-year-old trans high jump state champion, Maelle Jacques, told politicians that sports had become a place that allowed her to “be seen as normal,” and that rescinding her right to compete would be devastating. She continued that she didn’t join sports “with the goal of dominating competition or being better than anyone else,” but to feel a sense of belonging. Read more>>
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1980s Lesbians Show Fierce Defiance – And Fashion – In Fascinating Archive Footage: To celebrate Lesbian Visibility Week, here’s an archive clip of three women in the 1980s, discussing what it was like to be a lesbian at the time. They addressed some of the stereotypes associated with being a lesbian and pointing out that they “don’t need a man to be loved”. The footage has been digitally preserved by UCLA Film & Television Archive. Read more>>
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Are US Campus Protests Against Israel’s War On Gaza Going Global? From France to Australia, university students are part of pro-Palestine protests as Columbia students continue encampments. Read more>>
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US Military Contractor Finally Goes On Trial For Abu Ghraib Torture: Three Iraqis who survived torture at Abu Ghraib have their day on U.S. Court—two decades later in a civil trial against CACI Premier Technology, a United States military contractor. Nearly 16 years ago, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed a lawsuit on behalf of four Iraqi torture survivors. Read more>>
PEN America Cancels 2024 Awards After Authors Leave In Protest Over Gaza: The writers group PEN America canceled its 2024 annual awards on Monday, just a week before the ceremony, after nominated authors withdrew their books in protest of the organization’s stance on Gaza. The decision followed intense and escalating protests demanding that the organization take a more forceful stance on the Palestinian plight and demand a ceasefire in Gaza following Israel’s military offensive in the territory, in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel last October. Read more>>
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Israeli Protesters Call For PM’s Resignation Over Captives: Families of Israelis held in Gaza staged a protest to mark 200 days since their relatives were taken and to call for the prime minister’s resignation over the failure to get a deal to free them. Watch the short video report>>
Occupy Against the Occupation – Protest At Germany’s Parliament: Since Monday, April 8, Pro-Palestinian Activists Have Been Braving Germany’s Bleak Climate To Protest The Israeli Genocide In Gaza. And the unconditional German support for it. It is happening in a small, makeshift village where you would not expect one: right outside the German parliament or Bundestag. Read more>>
Gaza Solidarity Encampment Regroups Following Arrest of 108 Students at Columbia: The protesters, who are demanding that Columbia divest from Israel, have relocated and rebuilt their encampment. Read more>>
Why I Delayed Biden’s Motorcade for Gaza: “As an American Jew, I am compelled to embrace the power of my own voice, and refuse complicity with collective violence.” Read more>>
Chris Packham Joins Environmental Activists In “Funeral For Nature”: The BBC nature presenter Chris Packham has joined hundreds of environmental activists in Bath, UK, in a mock funeral procession for nature to spotlight biodiversity loss in the UK. The procession aimed to sound “code red for nature” and highlight the UK’s position as “one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world”, organizers said. Read more>>
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Activists Use Single Pieces of Paper To Spell It Out: You can only have a piece of paper in the Tennessee House balcony, so this group of women has been coordinating their efforts to send their message to the @tnhousegop day after day. Each holding one letter, they make the words “cowards” and “racists” by standing in a line. Read more>>
Clean Air Club Is Organizing Musicians to Make COVID-Safer Shows and Spaces: Clean Air Club is a volunteer organization that provides free air purifiers to Chicago artists and touring musicians, so their shows are safer for the artists, audiences, and staff at the venues. The organization was launched in Chicago, but Clean Air Club and its offshoots now provide air purifiers and far-UVC lights to artists and venues in other cities. Read more>>
Bob Marley Movie Uplifts His Message of Peace: An undeniable truth in both the movie and real life is the message of peace, love, and redemption, and that is what Marley and The Wailers were fighting for. Read more>>
Maine Children’s March For Gaza: In Portland, ME, the children’s call for peace in Gaza was brought front and center in a children’s march that included songs, Palestinian dances, and a procession through downtown. Read more>>
Got Broken Stuff? The Tool Library Has a Fix: With its monthly repair cafes and nearly 5,000 items to lend, Buffalo’s Tool Library is chipping away at throwaway consumerism. Read more>>
Plaza Renamed For Diane Nash, Leader of Nashville Sit-In Campaign: Nashville’s Metro Council named the plaza outside the Metro Courthouse the Diane Nash Plaza in 2021, and the city held a dedication ceremony in her honor Saturday morning. Nash, 85, spoke to a crowd of roughly 300 people outside the steps to the Metro Courthouse where as a college student on April 19, 1960, she confronted Nashville’s then-Mayor Ben West and asked if he thought it was wrong to discriminate against people based only on their skin color. On May 10, 1960, six downtown Nashville stores opened their lunch counters to Black customers for the first time, making Nashville the first major Southern city to do so. Read more>>
1964’s Freedom Summer Offers a Model for the Voting Rights Work We Need to Do: “I was part of Freedom Summer in 1964. Sixty years later, with voting rights under attack, I see how we need another.” Read more>>
The Political Organization of Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement (MST): In the four decades since its founding, the MST has achieved significant milestones: 450,000 families have gained legal tenure of their land, another 65,000 are organized in squatters encampments, fighting for legal recognition of land. Read more>>
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THE US War On Protest: Since 2017, 21 states have passed 41 laws enhancing penalties and fines for common protest-related crimes—part of a wave of nearly 300 anti-protest bills introduced nationwide. Read more>>
Tell Universities You Support Students For Peace: College students are facing police violence, arrests, suspensions, and ugly false accusations for nonviolently protesting genocide. Send an email with one click to the administrations of these universities: Columbia, NYU, Yale, UNC, Washington U, Vanderbilt, Michigan, The New School, MIT, Emerson, Tufts, Humboldt, Berkeley, Smith, Pomona, Minnesota. Learn more>>
24-Hr Peace Wave: International Peace Bureau and World BEYOND War will hold the third-annual 24-hour peacewave on June 22-23, 2024. This will be a 24-hour-long Zoom featuring live peace actions in the streets and squares of the world, moving around the globe with the sun. There will be a live Q&A section on Zoom for the last 10 minutes of each hour. This Peace Wave will happen during the RIMPAC war rehearsals in the Pacific and just prior to protests of NATO’s meeting in Washington in July. Learn more>>
From Pain to Liberation: Healing Collective Trauma: Join Combatants for Peace on May 2 at 9:00pm Jerusalem Time, for a conversation about Healing Collective Trauma in Israel and Palestine with Dr. Gabor Maté and Sami Awad. (May 2) Learn more>>
Supporting Activist Writing – A Conversation with Social Justice Editors: Are you an activist-writer or are aspiring to do more writing about your activism? This webinar will be a unique opportunity for you to exchange directly with prominent editors who run news and/or writing outlets focused on movements, social justice and human rights. Are you an activist, or professional whose work intersects with movements, who is interested in pursuing research about movements or activism? This webinar will be your chance to interact with an expert on research methods about, and for, social movements. (May 2) Learn more>>
Working with Youth Projects in Europe – Youth Leadership and Peacebuilding: This webinar will focus on Youth Peace Camp: bringing young people from conflict areas for a training on conflict transformation and creating trust. The presenters will also speak on several other examples of large-scale youth organizing. (May 14) Learn more>>
Nonviolence Conversation Group: This discussion group will draw from some material from Michael Nagler’s The Third Harmony: Nonviolence and the New Story of Human Nature. It will also 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! Hosted by the Metta Center. Registration for each session required. (April 21) Learn more>>
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