Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
Let’s start with some good news on climate! Greenpeace succeeded in pausing a gas drilling project after occupying an ocean drilling rig. Edinburgh, Scotland, will no longer allow ads for airlines, sports utility vehicles, cruise ships, and fossil fuels. Vermont became the first state in the United States to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for climate impacts. Mexico elected its first female president … and she’s a climate scientist. These glimmers of hope are important to celebrate in the long – and often arduous – trek of making immense change.
In more climate action, an international week of action blockaded numerous private jet airports across Europe and the world, putting the pressure on the super-wealthy to pay attention to the climate crisis. Activists used a tripod to shut down the Mountain Valley Pipeline construction for 5 hours. A German hunger striker is demanding that the chancellor admit the urgency of the climate crisis. And that’s just for starters. Check out the Earth Section of our full round-up to find other stories.
Another section to explore in the full round-up is the Peace Section, where you’ll find numerous stories of how the campaign for ceasefire in Gaza continues to push hard. Students in California had a 16-hr standoff with police, then returned to reclaim their occupation of the campus’ entrance. US soldiers and veterans have launched an anti-genocide campaign. Protesters blocked Chevron’s annual meeting. Another US official resigned over a falsified report that claims Israel did not block aid to Gaza.
In more Nonviolence News, you can read about how Sudan’s community resistance groups are sustaining life in a war zone, how Honduras is pushing for justice over 1980s human rights violations, and how Indigenous People of Guam are resisting US militarism and environmental ruin. Three million people marched in Sao Paulo’s PRIDE parade. A modern prophecy in China is sparking fierce debate about women’s issues. And activists are sounding the alarm on a surge in mass incarceration of women – particularly women of color – in the United States.
A favorite story? In Florida, the anti-LGBTQ governor banned the annual rainbow lights that illuminate a bridge in Jacksonville, FL. So, locals went DIY and assembled on the bridge with rainbow flashlights, showing that PRIDE won’t let hate keep us in the dark. People power lights up our world. Well played!
In solidarity,
Rivera Sun
‘Victory’: Gas Drilling Project Paused After Greenpeace Occupies Platform in North Sea: A Dutch court on Tuesday ordered a pause to a gas drilling initiative in the North Sea after Greenpeace activists occupied a platform owned by the company behind the project, leading the environmental group to declare “victory” as it pushes for an end to new fossil fuel infrastructure in Europe. “Today’s events show that people power works!” a campaigner said. “Whether it is occupying a gas rig or challenging it in court, people will not be silent, we are standing up to the fossil fuel industry.” Read more>>
Vermont Becomes First State to Hold Big Oil Financially Responsible For Climate Damages: Legislation authorizing the State of Vermont to recoup financial damages caused by climate change from major fossil fuel companies became law today. Read more>>
BDS Successfully Forces Pret a Manger To Abandon Plans For 40 Stores In Israel: Coffee and snack giant Pret a Manger has confirmed it has pulled out of plans to open 40 new stores in Israel. It comes after a successful Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction (BDS) campaign against the brand – all against the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. Read more>>
Jury Finds Just Stop Oil Supporters Not Guilty In Petrol Pump Case: In a unanimous verdict delivered today by a jury at Guildford Crown Court, Just Stop Oil supporters Nathan McGovern, Rosa Sharkey, and Louis Hawkins were found not guilty of causing criminal damage exceeding £5,000. During the trial, Judge Sellers ruled that none of the defense’s three arguments would be allowed for the jury to consider. Despite this, the 12 member jury made a factual determination and found all three defendants not guilty. Jury nullification lives in the UK. Read more>>
A California University Reveals Its Ties to Israel’s Genocide in Gaza: The release of previously withheld UCSB military contracts constitutes a win for the the Central Coast Antiwar Coalition and the UCSB Liberated Zone encampment. Read more>>
Philly’s Reforestation Hub Isn’t Just Diverting Tree Waste. It’s Also Creating Jobs. The wood waste management effort is part of the city’s growing circular economy. As a bonus, each board foot of Carbon Smart Wood – produced by AmeriCorps program members – stores 5.23 pounds of carbon. Read more>>
Claudia Sheinbaum Becomes First Female President Of Mexico: The progressive leader is making history as the first woman president in North America and has vowed to follow in the footsteps of her colleague President López Obrador in building an anti-neoliberal economic development model. “Today sovereignty, independence, and democracy have also triumphed. The people have shown that they will not be deceived, not with hate campaigns nor with lies. The votes defeated the bots!” Read more>>
Edinburgh Bans Airline Ads: Scotland’s capital city has banned advertisements for airlines and sports utility vehicles, along with ads for cruise lines and oil and gas companies, in what campaigners are calling a “historic” step-up in action to tackle climate change. Read more>>
Who’s Actually Using Threads? Young Protesters In Taiwan: Despite Meta’s promise to crack down on political content in the app, Taiwanese activists are using it to organize. Read more>>
Protesters Vow to Continue One of North America’s Largest Gaza Encampments: University of Toronto students launched the encampment, known as “The People’s Circle for Palestine,” on May 2nd. It quickly became one of the largest encampments in North America with 175 tents, hundreds of campers, and a sacred fire led by Indigenous elders. The camp is supported by faculty, university staff, alumni and others. Watch here>>
Mass Protests By Kanak People In New Caledonia Turn Deadly: The Indigenous Kanak People are resisting the French colonial government of New Caledonia. Over 100,000 people had engaged in peaceful mass demonstrations, but protests turned deadly more recently. Kanak leaders rejected claims that protesters initiated the violence. Read more>>
New Bill In Honduras Seeks To Rectify 1980s Human Rights Violations: In Honduras, family members of the victims of state violence in the 1980s have been marching for 40 years to demand justice for the disappearance and death of their loved ones. Now, there’s a chance they may see reparations. An unprecedented bill that would provide compensation for the family members of the victims is working its way through Congress. Read more>>
As War Rages In Sudan, Community Resistance Groups Sustain Life: A new type of resistance has taken hold in Sudan. In the absence of a properly functioning government and looming famine, grassroots groups are stepping in to help people survive. This resistance is part of the revolutionary movement that grew out of Arab Spring and the grassroots uprising that toppled the regime of long-time dictator, Omar al-Bashir five years ago. Read more>>
How Tens of Thousands of Grad Workers Are Organizing Themselves: A group of 15 smiles, applauds, and holds signs saying “MIT works because WE do”. After a groundbreaking win at MIT, graduate workers elsewhere borrowed talking points for organizing research assistants in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It’s the biggest organizing wave the U.S. labor movement has seen in decades. Graduate workers are unionizing in huge numbers, winning drive after drive with 90 percent support or more. What’s more, the workers are in the driver’s seat of these campaigns, with little help from union staff. Read more>>
Over 200 Dollar General Workers And Customers Protest Annual Meeting: Over 200 Dollar General workers and customers gathered for a march and protest at the corporation’s annual shareholder meeting to demand store safety and better pay. The group gathered for a rally where workers delivered speeches to share their stories about the repeated hazards they face while working at Dollar General. Read more>>
Southern Worker School Charts Course for Power: Nearly 200 rank and filers who are developing a movement of workers in the South gathered in Charlotte, NC on May 17 – 19 for the 2024 Southern Worker School. Read more>>
Starbucks Resumes Bargaining Amid Fresh Wave of Unionized Stores: Starbucks has resumed bargaining with union leaders amid a fresh wave of organized stores after the world’s largest coffee chain agreed to open talks over labor agreements. After a long, embittered campaign, the Seattle-based coffee giant jointly announced a new framework with Workers United in February to reach contracts with unionized stores. Read more>>
International Week of Action Targets Private Jets: International week of action targeting private jets reaches its peak with blockade of Farnborough airport. Today, a group of activists blocked all the main gates of Farnborough airport, the biggest private jet airport in the UK, which has plans to greatly expand. This was part of an international week of action targeting private jets and the injustice of aviation, with protests happening in Denmark, Germany, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the US. Read more>>
Portland Is Battling Food Waste — And Climate Change — With Fruit Trees: “For us, getting to work with all these communities — it felt like, ‘Oh, this is what we should have been doing all along,'” says one Portland Fruit Tree Project member. Read more>>
Tripod Blockade Prevents Mountain Valley Pipeline Work For Five Hours: Early Wednesday morning, pipeline fighter August suspended themself in a tripod blockade on Yellow Finch Lane in Montgomery County, blocking Mountain Valley Pipeline’s construction access to Poor Mountain. A rally of supporters gathered on site throughout the morning until Virginia State Police responded with a militarized, armored skid steer to remove August from their blockade. Banners and signs at the protest read, “UNTIL ALL ARE FREE,” “WATER IS PRECIOUS,” and “DOOM TO MVP!” Read more>>
A German Climate Activist Won’t End His Hunger Strike, Even With The Risk of Death Looming: Nearly three months into his fast, Wolfgang Metzeler-Kick says he won’t eat until the German government acknowledges the severity of the climate crisis and the world’s failure to address it. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz shows no inclination of doing that. Read more>>
A Different Kind of Youth Activist: Meet the High Schoolers Who Invented a Microplastics Solution: Youth climate activists get a lot of attention. We see them taking to the streets, demanding action, and holding policymakers accountable, and we believe their passion could change the world. But science fairs are showing a very different form of youth leadership. Read more>>
The Key To Better Climate Outcomes? Respecting Indigenous Land Rights And Autonomy: Conservation efforts are more effective when Indigenous peoples and local communities are given more autonomy and involvement over their lands. The analysis found that positive ecological outcomes were associated with 85 percent of cases where Indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ autonomy was respected, compared with just 18 percent of the cases where Indigenous peoples or local communities were simply treated as stakeholders. Read more>>
EU Farmers Shun Anti-Green Deal Protest in Brussels: Big and small farming groups have decided against attending the demonstration on the eve of the EU elections. Europe’s largest farming unions representing millions of agricultural workers have rejected calls to join next week’s protest against EU green reforms, DeSmog can reveal. Read more>>
Climate Activist Defaces Monet Painting In Paris: A climate activist has been arrested for sticking an adhesive poster on a Monet painting at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris to draw attention to global heating, a police source said. (The painting was not harmed.) The action by the woman, a member of Riposte Alimentaire (Food Response) – a group of environmental activists and defenders of sustainable food production – was seen in a video posted on X, placing a blood-red poster over Coquelicots (Poppies) by the French impressionist painter Claude Monet. In the video she said of the poster covering Monet’s art that “this nightmarish image awaits us if no alternative is put in place”. Read more>>
‘An Uprising In the Making’ – Alberta Chiefs Say Oil Company’s Forceful Approach Is An Attack On Treaty Rights: In Northern Alberta, First Nations leaders and their neighbours are uniting against an oil and gas company that has asked a court to arrest and jail a chief and members of his nation so they can move ahead with a drilling project. Read more>>
Indigenous People of Guam Are Fighting US Militarism and Environmental Ruin: US military activities are damaging the environment and livelihoods of Indigenous CHamoru people. Among the idyllic white sands, lush forests and turquoise waters, lie two imminent threats to CHamoru land: a live-fire training range complex and an open burning and detonation zone. Read more>>
The NYC Youth Journalism Coalition Is Making Journalism More Accessible: This op-ed talks about one organization’s efforts to make journalism careers possible for students from underrepresented backgrounds. Read more>>
São Paulo, Brazil’s LGBT+ Parade Drew Over 3 Million In a Spectacle of Pride And Politics: LGBT+ people and supporters from all corners of Brazil and even other countries gathered on Sunday in the country’s largest city, São Paulo, to celebrate diversity, love, and to reaffirm their commitment to the freedom to be themselves. Read more>>
Pride 2024: Solidarity With Gaza: LGBTQIA+ people greet Pride Month this year with a mixture of joy, fear, and anger. Queer people, especially trans youth and adults, are in danger. Over half of U.S. states have now enacted laws and regulations aimed at harming trans people. These attacks on gender-affirming health care, bodily autonomy, free speech, sports participation, and even our right to use public restrooms feed violence and hate – like the attacks that led to the death of Nex Benedict and so many others. Read more>>
This Couple Organized Their Small Town’s Pride To Make It Safer For Their Growing Family: Their small town hadn’t had Pride in over a decade, and they realized that queer kids growing up in the area needed support. Read more>>
Drag Queens Visit Small Towns Across America In a Show That Will Bring You To Tears: “We’re Here” uses drag to teach acceptance in states with some of the harshest anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. It’s a common misconception that queer people can only find community in bustling metropolitan cities. It’s not surprising people think this way, given how the vast majority of queer experiences are represented in TV and film. But the HBO reality series We’re Here offers something different and essential – an intimate look at the lives of queer people in small towns and cities across America. Read more>>
The Silent Crisis Impacting Women in the United States: There’s a gendered crisis underway that isn’t getting nearly enough attention. Women are the new face of criminalization, incarceration, and punishment. Although the majority of people locked up around the world are men, since 2000, women’s global incarceration has skyrocketed nearly 60%, according to the Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research. In the United States, since the 1980s, the number of women in prisons and jails has increased sixfold. Read more>>
Through Prophesy, a New Kind Of Women’s Movement Emerges In China: Discussions of the controversial Ziweixing prophesy are bringing working-class and marginalized Chinese women together to assert their rights. Read more>>
‘How Did We Miss This For So Long?’ The Link Between Extreme Heat And Preterm Birth: Heat waves are making pregnancy more dangerous and exacerbating existing maternal health disparities. Rupa Basu began research on pregnant people because they are woefully understudied and they represent one of the most vulnerable populations. Now that there is strong evidence that heat exacerbates adverse birth outcomes, she hopes it will instigate policy change, promote awareness, and ultimately, decrease risk and disparities. Read more>>
Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators Retake UC Santa Cruz Entrance After 16-Hour Police Standoff: After a tense, 16-hour standoff with police and 80 arrests, pro-Palestinian demonstrators retook the entrance to UC Santa Cruz’s campus, vowing to continue their fight for UCSC’s divestment from Israel, and Palestinian freedom. Read more>>
Community Leaders Defend Palestinian Mural: Local community leaders, artists, and Green Party councillors united to defend a pro-Palestine mural in Worcester, which is at risk of being torn down by Worcester City Council – under pressure from notorious UK Lawyers for Israel. Read more>>
Active Duty, Veterans, and GI Rights Groups Launch Anti-Genocide Campaign: Initiated by active-duty military members, veterans and G.I. rights groups, “Appeal for Redress v2,” is modeled after the 2006 Appeal for Redress conducted during the highly unpopular occupation of Iraq, to allow G.I.s to tell their representatives they are opposed to U.S. policy. Active duty service members are opposing U.S. funding of Israel’s genocide not only because it is immoral, but also because U.S. government employees violate several federal statutes every time weapons are shipped to Israel. Read more>>
Pro-Palestinian Protesters Block Chevron Headquarters: Around 50 Bay Area protesters blocked the entrance to Chevron’s headquarters in San Ramon ahead of the company’s annual meeting Wednesday morning to draw attention to the company’s links to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza. As shareholders and company officials gathered to discuss financial results for the oil and gas giant, chants from the crowd rang out: “Chevron, Chevron, you can’t hide! Blood for oil is a crime!” Read more>>
Falsified U.S. State Department Report Inspires Yet Another Resignation of a U.S. Official: Stacey Gilbert, a former senior civil military advisor in the U.S. State department bureau of population where she dealt with refugees and migration, has recently resigned from her position. Her departure on Tuesday comes after the publication of a falsified report which concludes, despite disagreement from the experts who drafted the report, that Israel has not prevented aid from entering into the Gaza Strip amid widespread famine and humanitarian disaster. Read more>>
Toronto Encampment Protesters Remain Steadfast: Within the last two months, on-campus encampments have spread throughout universities across North America, the UK, Canada, Australia and elsewhere. Students at UofT have been trying to rally to push for divestment from Israel for around seven months now, and have had all sorts of campaigns. Read more>>
Not Just Coastal Elites. Here’s How Three Rust Belt Colleges Protested Israel’s War In Gaza: Much of the national conversation around student protests against Israel’s war on Gaza has centered on elite campuses at coastal universities. The narrative that took hold ignored inland campuses, like in the Rust Belt and into Appalachia, where students formed their own encampments. Read more>>
Ultra-Orthodox Protesters Block Jerusalem Roads Ahead of Israeli Court Decision On Draft Exemptions: Dozens of ultra-Orthodox protesters blocked roads in Jerusalem on Sunday as Israel’s Supreme Court heard arguments in a landmark case challenging a controversial system of exemptions from military service granted to the religious community. In Jerusalem, Israeli police cleared protesters from roads, and forcefully removed those who briefly blocked the city’s light rail. Demonstrators chanted “to prison and not to the army.” Read more>>
Nagasaki Mayor Withholds Israel’s Invitation to Peace Ceremony: The mayor of Nagasaki said Monday that he is withholding Israel’s invitation to the annual peace ceremony commemorating the 1945 U.S. nuclear attack on the Japanese city and will call on the country’s far-right government to accept an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. “Given the critical humanitarian situation in Gaza and international opinion, there is a risk of unpredictable disruption occurring at the ceremony,” Mayor Shiro Suzuki said. Read more>>
Campaign Launches Against Shipping Giant Over Genocidal Weapons: On June 3, the Palestinian Youth Movement announced a new global campaign targeting Maersk, one of the largest shipping companies in the world, a vital piece in the flow of weapons from the United States to Israel. Read more>>
UK Activists Drop Banner Against Arms Exports: Keir Starmer’s Labour Party just got a very public message about its support for Israel – End the arms exports. Activists dropped a banner on Monday 3 June from Westminster bridge calling on Labour Party leader Keir Starmer to say he’ll end arms sales to Israel if he wins the general election and becomes prime minister. Read more>>
Palestine Solidarity Movement Challenges Democrats At Convention: On June 1, between 300 and 400 people from across the state protested the Minnesota DFL State Convention at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (the DECC). It was a show of broad geographic support for ending the U.S. support for Israel’s genocidal military campaign in Gaza, and against the stances of DFL (the name of the Democratic Party in Minnesota) politicians like U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Governor Tim Walz, who have shown strong support for Israel. Read more>>
Residents Unite To Thwart Ron DeSantis’s Attempt To Stop Rainbow Bridge Lighting: “If this is about freedom, let’s go exercise our freedom,” one organizer said. They used flashlights. Read more>>
What If Trump Wins? A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Strategy Guide: You can only prepare for what you can imagine. Denial won’t help. So let’s be brave. What if Trump (or Biden) wins? Explore the world of “what if” with this interactive pick-your-own-path adventure. This is your inter-active guide to action. Read more>>
Restaurants Serve Rainbow Cake For PRIDE Month: Three local restaurants are serving up rainbow cake – despite online hate. “Our social media page there gets a lot of hatred,” Pelletier added. “A lot of grievances about having the cake.” Read more>>
Surfers Are Fighting To Save The Waves — And The Planet: By the end of the century, the world could lose almost half of its sandy beaches. But a movement of surfers across Latin America is working to protect the coastal-marine environment. Read more>>
We Can Safeguard Democracy Without Giving In To Fear And More Policing: With voter intimidation and political violence on the rise, it’s time to invest in proven nonviolent, civilian-led safety endeavors. Read more>>
How ‘Farmfluencers’ Are Making Vietnam’s Rice Fields More Sustainable: To reduce the footprint of the crop that feeds the country, farmers are teaching one another greener methods. Nguyen has encouraged 1,645 fellow rice farmers to take up more sustainable methods. He was one of around 20 influential and motivated farmers across six communities the VNFU selected to be trained in how to change their approach to rice farming in three key ways: reducing the burning of crop residue, offering alternatives to chemical fertilizer and improving water management. Read more>>
Twenty Years of Building Economic Alternatives To US Capitalism: The US Federation of Worker Cooperatives recently turned twenty years old. Clearing the FOG speaks with Dr. Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, a professor and author of “Collective Courage: A History of African-American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice,” and a charter member of the USFWC, about the work to create a national cooperative organization and the rise of the cooperative economy in the United States. Listen here>>
What Can Restorative Justice Do? Tim Chapman, restorative justice practitioner, trainer and former chairperson and board member of the European Forum for Restorative Justice, comes to talk with Stephanie Van Hook on this episode of Nonviolence Radio. Together, they explore the practice of and principles behind restorative justice, the ways in which it is able to offer a kind of lasting resolution to all parties involved in a conflict — including the larger community in which it happened. Restorative justice is a way to “move out of that sense of antagonism,” often cultivated in traditional legal systems, and instead into a place where everyone listens, everyone is acknowledged and everyone tries hard to understand the stories of others. Read more>>
Lessons On Building Power For Bold Climate Action: After 15 years leading 350.org, outgoing executive director May Boeve reflects on what she has learned that can inform the next 15 years of the climate movement. Read more>>
Columbia’s Gaza Encampment Gave Students Firsthand Experience of Mutual Aid: From communal meals to jail support, Columbia’s Gaza solidarity organizing continues to center mutual aid. Read more>>
Surround the White House For Gaza: This Saturday, people will converge from all across the country to Biden’s doorstep and surround the White House for Gaza. ANSWER Coalition and 200 groups will form the People’s Red Line around the White House and make it clear that the people of the United States stand against the genocide, and we will not stop fighting until Palestine is free! (June 8) Learn more>>
Urge Universities To Divest From War Industry: Show your solidarity with young activists across the country! Urge universities to divest from weapons contractors and help break the cycle of endless war and violence now. Learn more>>
From Gaza & Ukraine To WWIII – The NATO Problem: What does NATO have to do with current and looming wars? How does an alliance whose members and partners make up 69.4% of the world’s military spending shape international relations? What alternatives exist? What is being planned by advocates for peace and demilitarization? This webinar on June 15, 2024, is free and open to the public. Register here>>
Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington, D.C. & to the Polls: Join a historic assembly of impacted poor and low-wage workers, representatives from over thirty state coordinating committees, leaders from major religious organizations and denominations, labor unions, and other advocates as we kick off four months of outreach to 15 million poor and low-wage infrequent voters. (June 29) Learn more>>
Global Week of Action “No Money for Nuclear Weapons”: Nuclear weapons affect all of us, so it’s up to all of us to push back against the absurd sums of money wasted on nuclear weapons. And this week of action is an opportunity for all of us to speak out, together. There will be many different ways to get involved and take action during this Global Week of Action. (June 17 to 23) Learn more>>
NO To NATO, YES To PEACE: The largest war machine ever will be celebrating itself, with the help of presidents and prime ministers, in Washington D.C., in July. Can you come help us unwelcome NATO and hold a counter-summit featuring some of the strongest voices for a peaceful alternative to machinery that depends on conflict for its (temporary) survival? Learn more>>
Divest From War – Invest In Climate Justice: The first annual Week of Action for Peace and Climate Justice will address the links between war, militarism and climate injustice, promoting grassroots action and policy making for peace and climate justice. This year’s theme is divest from war – invest in climate justice! (Sept 21-28) Learn more>>
#NoWar2024 Conference: Resisting the USA’s Military Empire: Friday, Sept. 20-Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024: A global 3-day conference, streamed virtually, with in-person events in Sydney, Australia; Wanfried, Germany; Bogotá, Colombia; and Washington, DC, U.S. Learn more>>