Nonviolence

Nurturing Actions For A World Free Of Political And Other Forms Of Violence

August 5, 2024 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. Podcast - Clearing The FOG Nonviolence, Peace, Systemic Racism, War Culture

The United States is a violent society, whether it be its pervasive culture of war and militarism, long term systemic racism or the current rise of political violence. To counter this and build a democratic society that respects human rights, we must educate ourselves about methods of nonviolence and mobilize to put what we learn into action. Clearing the FOG speaks with author and activist Rivera Sun, program coordinator with Campaign Nonviolence. Sun speaks about the upcoming days of nonviolent action from September 21 to October 2, during which thousands of actions ranging from teach-ins to direct action are planned with the intention of mainstreaming nonviolence. She explains why nonviolence is essential in a democratic society and where people can find resources and training.

Thousands Of Actions Planned This Fall To End War, Poverty, Racism And Environmental Destruction

July 24, 2024 Rivera Sun, Popular Resistance. Resist! Antiwar Movement, Campaign Nonviolence, Environmental Destruction, Nonviolence, Poverty, Racism

Nationwide – Between September 21 and October 2, 2024, tens of thousands of people will take nonviolent action to protest violence, war, poverty, racism and environmental destruction as part of the 11th annual Campaign Nonviolence Action Days. Stretching between the International Day of Peace (Sept 21) to the International Day of Nonviolence (Oct 2), over 100 organizations participate in the effort. In 2023, over 5,000+ actions and events were held across the United States and around the world. More than 3,340 actions and events have already been announced for 2024, with thousands more expected to join in between now and September.

We Need Political Nonviolence Now More Than Ever

July 21, 2024 Rivera Sun, Waging Nonviolence. Organize! Democracy, Free Speech, Human Rights, Nonviolence, Violence

After the shooting at former President Trump’s campaign rally, many people rushed to say that “political violence has no place in our democracy.” Let’s go even further and boldly say: political nonviolence is essential for democracy. The ties between nonviolence and democracy run deep. We know from the groundbreaking research of Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan that even if a nonviolent movement fails to achieve its primary goals, it often leaves a more democratic society in its wake. On the other hand, violence swiftly destroys democracies, shoving them toward authoritarianism and “politics at the barrel of a gun.”

How To Be A Nonviolent Second-Wave Feminist

June 20, 2024 Eleanor J. Bader, The Indypendent. Strategize! Book Review, Feminism, History, Nonviolence

During the 1970s and 1980s, many feminists pushed the armed forces to allow women to serve in combat. Many also organized to demand that police forces diversify and bring more women and people of color into their ranks. But this segment of the women’s movement did not represent everyone. A smaller but hugely vocal constituency opposed violence, militarism, police expansion and colonialism, and argued that an equal opportunity to maim or kill would do nothing to create the equitable societies they sought to build. Unfortunately, their efforts often get short shrift in historical accounts of the era. The anthology, Feminism, Violence and Nonviolence zeroes in on the influence of pacifist thought on Second Wave feminism.

How Communities Are Making Political Violence Backfire

June 19, 2024 Maria J. Stephan, Just Security. Strategize! Counter protest, Nonviolence, Political Violence, Reverse Boycott, Rightwing extremism

The new dystopian Hollywood film, Civil War, has raised the specter of devastating violent conflict once again engulfing America. While the film has been criticized by some for normalizing political violence, others have embraced it as a learning opportunity, and a way to highlight the necessity of working together to prevent the terrible outcomes envisaged in the film. Although the film doesn’t really address how the United States devolves into civil war, in fact research has documented how that happens, and the United States is seeing the signs now – including the mainstreaming of dehumanizing rhetoric, and politically motivated threats, harassment, and acts of physical violence that are inspiring fear and undermining the practice of democracy.

There’s A Better Way To Make Communities Safer

April 4, 2024 Mel Duncan, Waging Nonviolence. Create! Communities, Community Safety, Nonviolence, Peaceforce

Over the past 25 years, as co-creator of Nonviolent Peaceforce, I have seen unarmed civilian protection (also known as UCP or UCP/A to include the methodology of accompaniment) evolve to the point where our teams have worked alongside local communities using evidenced-based, civilian-led approaches to prevent violence and protect civilians in 15 countries. In helping to foster a community of practice, I have witnessed dozens of small and large organizations using active nonviolent methods to create community safety. Here are three examples I find to be particularly inspiring.

Breaking The Law In Response To Climate Change

September 25, 2023 Andrew Curry, Resilience. Strategize! climate crisis, Direct Action, Nonviolence, Property destruction

The Marxist cultural critic Raymond Williams once described TV as “flow”. He was writing in the days when you had to watch everything live, as it was broadcast, before even VCR was invented, and obviously we don’t watch TV like that so much any more. (Even though we use the word ‘streaming’). But there is a deeper truth all the same in Williams’ account: that sense that all television washes past us, each of its genre conventions so tightly defined that nothing ever surprises us or breaks out of the screen. Watching Channel 4’s documentary ‘Is it time to break the law?’, about the limits, or not, of environmental protest, was for these reasons and others a complete surprise.

What Should We Do With The Perpetrators Of The Climate Crisis?

July 19, 2023 George Lakey, Waging Nonviolence. Strategize! Accountability, Activism, climate crisis, Nonviolence

Chuck Collins’ new book “Altar to an Erupting Sun” may be fiction, but it poses a very topical, real-world challenge for readers: What’s the right way to act when facing an existential challenge like climate change? Right off the bat, in the first chapter, we learn that the novel’s central character, Rae, is a climate activist who has been diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Having done her research to know the “carbon barons” responsible for so much destruction, she decides to “take one with her” by wearing a suicide vest. It works as intended, taking the life of a fossil fuel company CEO.

Crowd Combats Anti-Pride Protesters At Children’s Museum By Singing

June 28, 2022 Marlee Ginter, CBS Sacramento. Resist! Counter-protesters, LGBTQ, Nonviolence, Pride

A Pride event designed for children and families took an ugly turn in Rancho Cordova Saturday. Protesters showed up shortly after family festivities got underway at the Sacramento Children’s Museum. Drag princess Suzette Veneti says she wasn’t surprised, she was disappointed and wanted answers. One sign read: “Groomers are not welcome in California.” Another read: “Protect white children.” “You’re standing there with a megaphone and signs, you’re scaring kids,” Veneti said. “They could’ve protested at Pride. They could protest anywhere they want, but to pick a children’s museum with children, like, this is for kids.” “There were a lot of young volunteers just in tears, because they had never experienced something like this,” said Andrew Gibout with the Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus.

Palestine’s New Resistance Model: How The Past Year Redefined The Struggle

June 9, 2022 Ramzy Baroud, Mintpress News. Strategize! Israel, Nonviolence, Occupation, Palestine

What took place between May 2021 and May 2022 is nothing less than a paradigm shift in Palestinian resistance. Thanks to the popular and inclusive nature of Palestinian mobilization against the Israeli occupation, resistance in Palestine is no longer an ideological, political or regional preference. In the period between the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 and only a few years ago, Palestinian muqawama – or resistance – was constantly put in the dock, often criticized and condemned, as if an oppressed nation had a moral responsibility in selecting the type of resistance to suit the needs and interests of its oppressors. As such, Palestinian resistance became a political and ideological litmus test.

Somehow This Madness Must Cease

January 18, 2022 Tarak Kauff, Peace And Planet News. Educate! Martin Luther King Jr, militarism, Nonviolence, Vietnam War

It was appropriate today, as we mark the national holiday for Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, to re-read ‘A Time to Break the Silence,’ his most powerful speech, given on April 4, 1967, just a year before his tragic murder in Memphis. It is a speech that stands the test of time; much of it is as relevant today as it was in 1967, when war was raging in Vietnam. I would urge people to read or listen (link above) to that profound and prophetic speech in its entirety. He said, “There is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war.” With climate catastrophe and nuclear madness moving at a rapid rate towards a potential apocalypse for all humanity, King’s words resonate with, as he said, “the fierce urgency of now.”

What’s Happening With Nonviolent Cities?

September 3, 2021 Rivera Sun, Waging Nonviolence. Create! Campaign Nonviolence, Community Safety, Nonviolence

What an exciting time for the Nonviolent Cities Project! For years, Pace e Bene has fostered the vision of communities that promote nonviolence in schools, businesses, cultural events and more. We organize with local cities/towns to implement nonviolent solutions and alternatives to physical violence as well as systemic, structural, cultural and other forms of violence. From Nonviolent Carbondale, Illinois, to Nonviolent Springfield, Massachusetts, groups are working to transform their communities. Here’s what’s happening in this ever-expanding effort. We’re welcoming new groups in Nonviolent Opelika, Alabama, and Nonviolent Rochester, New York. We’re celebrating inquiries from Salford, in the United Kingdom; Cleveland and Cleveland Heights, Ohio; Lakewood, Ohio; Gresham, Oregon and more.

Counter-Coup Unarmed Community Organizing Resource List

October 3, 2020 By Voices for Creative Nonviolence. Organize! Nonviolence, Nonviolent Action

An organizer and analyst we deeply respect, “Training for Change” co-founder George Lakey, recently suggested Voices help maintain a list of organizations in the U.S. which are helping people prepare for the possibility of a stolen election, a rigged election, or an outright coup following November 3rd voting in the U.S.. In a nation with rapidly dwindling concern for democracy, the principle of nonviolent community organizing for democracy has seldom seemed so urgent. We’re impressed by the quality of outreach and organizing which has already developed in cities and states across the U.S.

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