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…
Tag: housing
Not My President. No Es Mi Presidente.
Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun Dictators, despots, power-grabbers, presidents-for-life . . . autocrats around the world are being challenged by nonviolent movements. This week’s edition shares the many tales of presidents and protests. In Peru, mass protests forced the interim president to resign after a shady parliamentary coup shoved the previous president out of power….
Lobster Boycott, Tenants Blockade, & the Earth On Fire
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun “You can’t lose if you never give up,” said Gene Sharp about waging nonviolent struggle. Bolivia just proved those words. After a right-wing faction contested last year’s election results, fomented confusion in the streets with protests, and took power with military backing, the people of Bolivia have spent the entire…
#ProudBoys & Poor People, Reclaiming & Resisting
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun This week’s Nonviolence News is full of stories of how ordinary people are reclaiming their dignity, pride, and rights. Around the world, people are resisting violence and injustice. They’re taking action with creativity, heart, and soul. Take #ProudBoys, for example. This week, gay men rose up across social media to…
Whale Rescues, Housing Occupations, & Dismantling and Rebuilding Police Stations
Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun Is property destruction “nonviolent”? This is a frequent question that comes up around nonviolence. The short answer is that it’s complicated. It’s situational. Gene Sharp, a nonviolent struggle researcher, categorized destruction of one’s own property as nonviolent, but not destruction of others’ property. Many acts of property destruction are viewed…
3,500 Climate Strikes, Underground Protests, & 150K Poor People Flooding Phones
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun It’s been a big week. 3,500 climate actions happened in 150 countries. Amid continuing pandemic restrictions and concerns, children sent their shoes to stand in protest in their place. In addition, another 4,000 actions and events took place for a culture of peace and active nonviolence, free from war, poverty,…
Honduras’ Giant Murals, Miami’s Mangrove Swamps, and Defiant Postal Workers
Editor’s Note Follow the money is a popular activist slogan. In this week’s Nonviolence News, you’ll find that people take that advice literally – and creatively. To protest corruption, Hondurans have painted dozens of giant murals on highways asking “Where’s the money?” (¿Donde está el dinero?) Meanwhile, cities around the world are countering the pandemic…
Safe Schools, Healthy Kids, Ending Racism: Public Health As Nonviolence
Editor’s Note Public health is nonviolence in action. It’s a collection of policies and practices rooted in systemic and structural nonviolence as opposed to “systemic and structural violence“. For example, in a bid to stop obesity and diabetes, Oaxaca, Mexico, just banned the sale of junk food and sugary drinks to minors. It’s a stunning…
Got Dictators? Never Fear, Nonviolence Is Here
Editor’s Note: The United States is going through some growing pains. (Understatement of the year.) With secret police snatching protesters off the street, journalists being arrested for doing their jobs, and the Portland mayor being simultaneously tear gassed by federal agents and booed by his constituency (for doing the same thing to the protesters the…
When We Organize, We Win
Editor’s Note: This week, three major fossil fuel pipelines were stalled, stopped, and shut down: the KXL, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and the Dakota Access Pipeline. This is a testimony to the millions of people who stood up at Standing Rock, in Nebraska, and along the many thousands of miles impacted by these pipelines. It…