Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun There’s a lot to lift up in 2021’s racial justice gains. More than 20 cities adopted some kind of #DefundPolice policy following the George Floyd Protests in 2020. These shifts included removing cops from public schools, replacing school officers with unarmed peacekeepers from the community, redirecting city funds to mental…
Tag: BLM

Reflective Reindeer, Hungary’s Rainbow, and Iran’s Water Protests
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun Examples of creative nonviolence are why I spend hours searching for Nonviolence News stories each week. Take this report from Finland, for example. 4,000 reindeer die each year in car collisions in Finland. Finally, reindeer protection groups came up with a surprising solution: paint antlers with reflective paint. When cars…

Ditching the King, Tricking the NRA, & Transforming McD’s Into a “Fast” Food Bank
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun The world’s last absolute monarch is being run out of Swaziland by pro-democracy protesters. Seventy thousand health and social workers in India won a pay raise after going on strike. US climate activists blockaded all ten doors to the White House. Kenyans are resisting a major development project and organizing…

Dead Mermaids Protest, Utility Bill Strike, Google LASD Gangs Banner Drops
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun A mermaid is a myth, but like all myths, it brings our attention to the story we need to hear right now. Our oceans and planet are in danger. Humanity cannot survive without them. This theatrical climate action (pictured above) of dead mermaids washing up on the shore near the…

Making Strides, Weathering Setbacks: From Colombia to Catalonia
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun It’s a week of reflecting on the rise and fall of global movements. Some are making headway, like Colombia’s national strike. Others have nearly vanished, like Hong Kong’s mass protests. In Spain, the Catalonian independence movement’s secession attempt took a hard hit with the imprisonment of its leaders for sedition…

India’s Farmers Persist, Brazil Marches, Saiga Antelope Rebounds, and Ugandans Resist Big Oil
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun This week in Nonviolence News, protests in India marked the six month anniversary of their immense, record-breaking farmer protests. The organizer of a vigil commemorating Tiananmen Square has been arrested and gatherings banned. Brazilians in 200 cities marched for Bolsonaro’s impeachment. Colombia continues to rise up despite repression. In Canada,…

Ceasefire, Animal Rights, Forest Defenders & #LandBack
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun After hundreds of solidarity rallies around the world, a Palestinian general strike, widespread boycotts, dock workers refusing to load weapons ships, and more, Israel finally agreed to a tenuous ceasefire. The end of its attacks on Gaza is not enough, however. It is merely a necessary step that should be…

Yaqui Women Dismantle Pipeline, Scottish Neighbors Thwart Immigration Raid, Oakland Unhoused Residents Build A Village
Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun “Direct action gets the goods,” is a popular movement saying. And it’s true. This week’s Nonviolence News stories include some truly stellar examples. Yaqui women (Mexico) mobilized their entire community to dismantle an illegal pipeline. They took it apart with blow torches and sold it for scrap metal. In Scotland,…

Hummingbird Allies, Grandmother Trees & Sámi Forest Defenders
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun Happy May Day! Today, workers around the world mark the long-standing importance of the global labor movement with strikes, protests, walkouts and more. We’ll have a full round-up of those stories next week. This week, Nonviolence News contains some extraordinary tales of tree-sits, forest defenders, and water protectors from Fairy…

Perilous Times For People & Planet – Black Lives, Earth Day, Women’s Safety Worldwide
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun Our planet is in peril. Our politicians aren’t doing enough. That’s the sum-up from Earth Day 2021. Behind the frustrating headlines about political inaction, a different kind of politics – the politics of the people – continues its bold, courageous, and relentless resistance to the destruction of the planet. We’re…