Remix of a protest against nuclear power plant, South Korea, 2015. Image by Daeyong Wee on Pixabay.
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
The inauguration of Donald Trump to a second term as president of the United States unleashed a new chapter in resistance. The politics of hate was given the keys to some of the highest positions of power in the world. The situation seems bleak … but the history of nonviolent struggle shows that we have more power than we think. People have ousted dictators, ended occupations, and overthrown authoritarian regimes over and over again. In the past few months, Bangladesh successfully rose up against its corrupt and repressive regime, and South Korea halted an attempted power grab under martial law. Their stories should remind all of us that dramatic change is possible even under difficult conditions.
Resistance to Trump and his policies is already underway. Across the US, tens of thousands of people marched in protest, though the crowds were far smaller than during the Women’s March in 2017. However, this may not reflect the scope of resistance, as many have shifted from acts of symbolic protest to organizing strategies of noncooperation. Numerous groups are circulating resistance guides that remind people of how they can refuse to cooperate or obey unjust laws or policies. Some are specifically tailored to federal workers. Others focus on lessons from global struggles against dictators and authoritarians.
Concerned about ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids in targeted cities nationwide (Los Angeles, Chicago, Bakersfield, etc.), local groups have been preparing to thwart mass deportations for months. Many migrant rights groups are circulating “know your rights” fliers and preparing plans to protect and support migrants (and their children). Chicago rallied against immigration raids, saying, “we’re ready to resist”. Grand Rapids, MI, provided education and training to their community on resistance tactics. Sanctuary Churches are refusing to be intimidated. Labor unions have been combining direct action, political action, and negotiated protections to resist the immigration crackdown.
In California, migrant workers stayed out of the fields; in some locations as many as 77% of workers did not show up to their jobs due to threats of ICE raids. Most media narratives framed this as “vulnerable migrants were afraid to come to work”. But that narrative denies migrants the agency and power of their nonviolent action. Were they simply staying away because of fear? Or could this be viewed as coordinated resistance – similar to a strike – against ICE? If we see this action as a form of resistance, it reveals a source of power in immigrants’ hands right now. Imagine if they held a nationwide strike and put the pressure on their employers to demand that the Trump Administration back off …
Shifting from narratives of fear and powerlessness into narratives of intentional, coordinated resistance can unleash our potential for effective action. It helps break through the sense of frozen immobility that many people feel when faced with an authoritarian regime. And courage is contagious. An Episcopal minister stood up at the inauguration and bravely prayed for the president to remember his compassion for LGBTQ+, migrants, and others that he has targeted with his policies. Her speech stunned listeners; some with impressed respect for the minister’s courage, others (including the president) with scowls of disapproval. In the aftermath of backlash against her for speaking out, supportive citizens are writing her thank-you letters to counter the hate mail.
Resistance isn’t limited to the United States either. The rise of right-wing governments has people worldwide on alert; Germany and Austria turned out tens of thousands of people to oppose the far-right. Amidst this context, Trump and his supporters’ offensive words and policies are setting off outraged protests across the globe. After Elon Musk flashed what looked like a Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration, German activists projected a giant image of the gesture and #HeilTesla onto the side of the billionaire’s car factory. Hundreds of Canadians joined People’s Marches in several cities and hats with the slogan “Canada Is Not For Sale” are going viral. Panamanians are similarly insulted by Trump’s threats to takeover the Panama Canal, rallying in protest. As for Greenland, after the inauguration was moved indoors, a satirical post circulated social media saying, “If Trump can’t handle one polar vortex, he can’t handle Greenland.”
Though largely symbolic, these actions serve an important role in countering authoritarian regimes: they catalyze people’s feisty willingness to defy tyrants. In the United States, we can see that same effect unfolding around the tactic of flooding “snitch lines”. As right-wing government officials set up websites for reporting resistance to right-wing agendas, people are submitting large volumes of false reports, protest comments, or just random text to render the snitch lines inoperable. For example, queer activists and allies overloaded a Missouri government website for reporting gender-affirming care with fanfiction, rambling anecdotes, and the Bee Movie script. An email snitch line for reporting federal employees refusing to comply with Trump’s DEIA-banning executive order is being flooded with fake reports. (I sent in this one: A man named Donald Trump is doing affirmative action for billionaires and oligarchs against the mandate to stop hiring minority groups. Here’s the email, in case you need it: DEIAtruth@opm.gov)
Trump is not unstoppable. There are at least 5 popular checks on Trump’s power, including labor unions, a revived peace movement, and support for immigrant neighbors. Even Trump’s abject climate denialism is countered by the growing momentum of climate wins. A cascade of changes – from divestments from fossil fuels to stopped oil and gas projects to renewable energy conversions – may propel us toward a climate transition whether Trump wants it or not. You can read about many of these in our recent report on 366+ Success Stories In 2024.
This week’s Nonviolence News highlights even more climate victories: China broke its own record for rapidly expanding solar and wind energy sources. Uzbekistan launched a tree-planting and herb garden program that hires low-income families. A nature reserve in California finally kicked out cattle ranchers to allow elk more habitat. The US microgrid movement is growing, decentralizing renewable power. Wind farms powered one third of Ireland’s energy needs this year. Kazakhstan has led a 16-year effort to restore water levels in the Aral Sea, which is now 50% higher than in 2008. Barcelona’s Superblocks are demonstrating how car-free zones in cities lead to healthier, happier human beings. Ecuador’s marine ecosystems now have legal rights, along the nation’s forests, mangrove swamps, and animals.
Environmental activists aren’t resting on any laurels, however. The scale of the climate crisis – and the short timeline – mean that the changes we need have to vastly outstrip all the successes we’ve had so far. Some climate activists are escalating the intensity of direct actions, finding ways to deny fossil fuel supporters access to the things they need to operate. In London, activists ‘blockaded’ wi-fi access to fossil fuel insurance agents and offices by cutting their fiber optic cables.
In more Nonviolence News, the Russian anti-war movement continues to persist in holding “small actions against a huge and angry machine”. President Biden released imprisoned Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier. Iraqi women, children, and human rights groups reacted in horror to the new laws legalizing child marriages as young as 9 years old. New York University (NYU) students who organized nonviolent actions opposing Israeli genocide received 1-year suspensions. The sudden influx of TikTok users to RedNote has some peace activists excited about the rare, uncensored cultural exchanges and the peacebuilding potential between US and Chinese citizens.
Curious what else has been happening this week? Check out the 85 stories we gathered in preparation for writing this article. You can find them in our Nonviolence News Research Archive. Many of them will make you think about nonviolence differently, including the stories about a mutual aid wildfire relief effort by teen girls for teen girls, an Indigenous celebration of a baby orca, and how public transit and participatory budgeting can dismantle police and police brutality.
Helping us recognize nonviolence in action is part of what Nonviolence News does best. For example, last week we shared a piece about Pirate Care, acts of civil disobedience to provide care and services to groups and individuals denied care by the state or society. This week, that story gives us a new framework through which to think about the doctors who set up an unsanctioned overdose treatment site in a tent outside their hospital. It’s not just an isolated act of protest, or a random form of noncooperation or defiance. It’s part of Pirate Care and is connected to a field of other actions rejecting state-sanctioned callousness, discrimination, and cruelty with creative noncooperation, alternative institutions, and civil disobedience.
Gathering the stories of nonviolence together helps us construct a picture of what’s happening. Nonviolent movements are often improvised, emergent, asynchronous, and multi-stranded. By observing the seemingly disparate stories in a larger context, we get to re-envision current events in a way that is illuminating and empowering. It offers us hope in hard times. It gives us ideas for action. It helps us make sense of a world engulfed in vast changes … and our role in the story of these times.
In solidarity,
Rivera Sun
_______
You have permission to republish this article if you provide a link back to this original page.
________
Author/Activist Rivera Sun has written numerous books and novels, including The Dandelion Insurrection and the award-winning Ari Ara Series. She is the editor of Nonviolence News and the Program Coordinator for Campaign Nonviolence. Her articles are syndicated by Peace Voice and published in hundreds of journals nationwide. Rivera Sun serves on the board of Backbone Campaign and the advisory board of World BEYOND War. www.riverasun.com
Feeling inspired? Let’s share it with more people. Make a donation today>>