Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun There’s that famous quote (often misattributed to Gandhi, it comes from Churchill): First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you … then you win. The “Injustice League” is at the fighting stage. Sexism, racism, classism, dictators, coupists, oppressors, earth destroyers are being pushed to the ropes…
Tackling Giants: Halting Coups, Big Oil, and Amazon
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun It’s been a week of David and Goliath struggles with “little guys” around the world standing up to horrible regimes and destructive corporations. Haiti and Myanmar’s resistance to coups has been gaining international attention, but major struggles are also happening in Algeria (against austerity), First Nations in Canada (against fossil…
Broken Down Cars, Onion Drops, & Tying Shoelaces: Myanmar’s Creative Resistance
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun Myanmar’s anti-coup campaign is spectacular in its persistence, size, scope, and ingenuity. Banned from protesting, citizens have started blocking roads by “accidentally” dropping bags of onions and rice, or pausing to tie their shoelaces in crosswalks. People’s cars are mysteriously breaking down all over the country, backing up traffic for…
Judges On Strike, Tunnel Diggers & Tree Sitters, Fast Food Strikes & More
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun The Nonviolence News Conversation is next Friday and we have soooooo much to talk about. In this week’s round-up alone, we could explore the Haitian judges strike (have you ever heard of all the judges in a country going on strike?!), Fight for $15’s nationwide fast food strike, Myanmar’s bold…
Taxi Drivers Blockade Brooklyn Bridge, Inuit Blockade Iron Mine
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun It’s a (nonviolent) action-packed edition of Nonviolence News. Teachers in Columbus, OH, are on a “sick-out” strike to keep their community healthy. Taxi drivers shut down the Brooklyn Bridge over the debt burdens of their licensing fees. Haitians launched a 48-hr general strike against austerity and corrupt political leaders. In…
Love & Respect For Humanity: Myanmar Coup Resistance And Children vs. Tech Giants
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun It’s impossible to read this week’s Nonviolence News and not feel a surge of love and respect for ordinary humans around the world. Low-income schoolchildren took on an Internet giant and won. Myanmar is rising up against (yet another) military coup. Japanese cosmetic customers are boycotting a racist company. Fifty…
Palestinian Strike, Sri Lanka Tea Growers Resistance, Doctors in Peru
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun This week’s Nonviolence News has incredible stories from around the world. Palestinians won a significant labor strike, including an apology for racism from the employers. Sri Lankan tea plantation workers are on strike to protect their rights and their jobs; the owner wants to ditch tea and move into tourism….
Movements Win Big: India’s Farmers Victory, KXL Canceled, Muslim Ban Ended & More
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun This week in Nonviolence News, India’s Farmer Protests gained a suspension of the farm laws they’ve been protesting against en masse. They vow to continue the struggle until all demands are permanently met. Meanwhile, Mongolians forced their negligent prime minister to resign over failure to deal with the pandemic. A…
Honoring MLK With Action
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is commemorated each January in the United States. In many places, he is honored with “service”. This focus, while admirable, evades the radical legacy of resistance that defined Dr. King’s use of nonviolence as a tool of social change. To me, every person engaged in…
#CancelRent, Tuition Strikes, Debt Resistance – Make 2021 A Year of Good Trouble
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun Welcome to 2021. All the organizing work in Fall 2020 to prevent a US coup attempt paid off this week as (most of) the pillars of society categorically rebuffed the mob insurrection that stormed the US Capitol Building. But beyond these shocking (but not surprising) headlines, there are dozens of…