Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun From the nation of Georgia to the US state of Georgia, citizens are mobilizing against two things that squelch movements: anti-dissent laws and police repression. Mass protests in Georgia (the nation) thwarted a bill that would stifle dissent and limit freedom of the press. The proposed law prompted an outpouring…
Tag: police
Britain Shuts Down, France Strikes, First Nations Protest Australia’s Invasion Day
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun A whopping 2.8 million people are on strike in France against proposed raises to the retirement age. That’s over 3.5% of the population – the number identified by civil resistance researchers Erica Chenoweth and Maria J Stephan as the threshold to success. Will the French win their goals? Stay tuned….
52 Wins For Racial Justice – Special Report 2022
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun In some ways, 2022 was a tough year for racial justice. After the staggering protests against the murder of George Floyd in 2020 (the largest in US history), a number of impressive changes occurred in 2021. These included cuts to police budgets, changes to staffing at institution and businesses, increased…
Students Protest Private Police, Iranian Teachers Strike For Women’s Rights, Chilean Youth March For Visionary Constitution
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun Students at John Hopkins University disrupted two meetings in protest of a plan to form a private police force on campus. The project was paused for two years following the George Floyd Protests in 2020, but is now being fast-tracked. By shutting down the two mandatory town hall meetings, activists…
The Global Effort To Defend The Right To Protest & Use Nonviolent Action
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun We rarely discuss it directly: is nonviolent action a right? Should the ability to strike, protest, boycott, engage in civil disobedience, etc. be considered a political freedom? Our governments could – and should – respect our rights to use these tools, making it easier and safer to organize for social…
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…
From Blockades To Embroidery
Editor’s Note Moving beyond protests, people around the world are using nonviolent acts of noncooperation and intervention to strive for change. From blockades to embroidery, they’re using dozens of tactics. In Bolivia, 140 road blockades are shutting down the nation to stop the delays in their elections. Arizona schoolteachers, worried about unsafe school re-openings amidst the…
Election Uprisings
Editor’s Note Election uprisings are in the air. Mass protests in Belarus are decrying the elections results that claim Lukashenko won his sixth term with 80% of the vote while Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the opposition candidate, was forced into hiding for fear of her safety. With police crackdowns, arrests of journalists, and repression of protests rocking…
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…
Love In Action: Nonviolence Tackles Hate
Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun This week’s Nonviolence News shares stories from around the world about how people are stopping wars, countering hate, challenging extremism, and dealing with bigotry. Using love, creativity, and persistence, these stories show the remarkable capacities of humans to use nonviolence to make a difference. One particular story to look at is…