Nonviolence

Ferguson And The ‘Us Vs. Them’ Illusion

November 23, 2014 Robert C. Koehler, www.commonwonders.com Educate! Ferguson, Nonviolence, Police abuse

The political, governmental and media consensus of who we are — is blind and deaf to history and locked into us-vs.-them thinking. Security, whether domestic or international, is a game played against presumed and, often enough, imagined enemies. Thus, prior to the governor’s decision to call out the Guard, the FBI had issued an intelligence bulletin warning local officials that “the announcement of the grand jury’s decision … will likely be exploited by some individuals to justify threats and attacks against law enforcement and critical infrastructure,” according to the Washington Post. If nothing else, this sort of consciousness remains utterly unaware of its own contribution to the trouble. As law enforcement ups its level of militarized authoritarianism, it agitates the elements predisposed to regard it as the enemy and seek its humiliation and defeat. This is a small segment of the protesters, but no matter. Preparing for war requires, first of all, an oversimplification of the social context in which the preparers operate. Once this is accomplished, the warnings become self-fulfilling prophecies. In other words, what matters is that there’s an “enemy” out there.

Who Says Ferguson Can’t End Well

November 19, 2014 David Swanson, www.warisacrime.org Organize! Ferguson, Michael Brown, Nonviolence, Police abuse

We should understand that the violence in Ferguson is not new and is not limited to Ferguson. It did not begin with a particular shooting. It did not begin with any shooting. It began with a system of oppression that keeps people in misery amidst great wealth. Just as that injustice is inexcusable, so is any violence in response to it. . . courageous, disciplined, principled, and truly loving actions of those resisting injustice creatively and constructively. Such actions are not always successful and not always well-planned to the satisfaction of scholars. But they have long been far more common than is acknowledged on the television or in the history books. As AJ Muste told strikers confronted by the military "...Then I told them, in line with the strike committee's decision, that to permit ourselves to be provoked into violence would mean defeating ourselves; that our real power was in our solidarity and in our capacity to endure suffering..."

Breaking The Cycle: Non-Cooperation

November 18, 2014 Jerry Maynard, www.reflections4thejourney.blogspot.com Strategize! Activism, Noncooperation, Nonviolence

Americans tend to only act upon their convictions when it gets to a point of extreme necessity. We tend to live in a culture that runs on the notion of "as long as it does not affect me or my friends/family, then it does not concern me". Yet, when tragedy hits us, and our bubble is busted, we cry out in outrage. As long as we are "comfortable" and have a feeling that we are "secure", we are willing to let others go on with what they are doing/saying even if it is unjust or immoral. This is why after 911 Americans were more than willing to let the Federal Government invade privacy and violate civil liberties. Most Americans felt uncomfortable due to the sense that they lost the false security that this culture thrived on. But there seems to be a shift in the wind....The cycle is beginning to break......

Hundreds March To End Violence In Wilmington

November 9, 2014 Ryan Hall, www.paceebene.org Organize! Nonviolence

Wilmington, Delaware held a “March for a Culture of Peace” Campaign Nonviolence organizer June Eisley reports that it was a glorious day, filled with peace and love. Turnout for the march was estimated to be approximately 250 people from all walks of life. Many faith-based and community organizations from the city and outside the city joined together. The t-shirts on the poles in the pictures represent those killed by gun violence in Wilmington from 2013-to date–39 total. Over 40 groups co-sponsored this effort, and now our work will begin to work together to Build a Culture of Peace in Wilmington.

New Documentary From Occupy The Farm

October 25, 2014 Staff, www.occupythefarm.org Resist! Food and Agriculture, Nonviolence

Independent filmmaker Todd Darling has created a stunning documentary about the Farm and the power of direct action. It has been picked up by the largest theater owner in the nation, Regal Cinemas, and opens November 7th, in Berkeley! It will play for two weeks here before heading to LA and NYC. The Gill Tract Community Farm is flourishing! A 1.5 acre UC/Community collaborative pilot project is flourishing and growing on the Gill Tract. A recent blitz of love and energy from the Permaculture Action Tour brought over 300 farmers to install a medicinal garden mandala and permaculture beds.Check out this blog for a peek into that day.

Lifetime Activist, David Hartsough, Shares Wisdom and Vision for a Just World

October 15, 2014 Podcast Activism, Nonviolence, Peace, Wars and Militarism

David Hartsough has dedicated his life to working for peace and justice and continues now with one of his greatest

Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday: Creating A Nonviolent World

October 2, 2014 Robert J. Burrowes, www.PopularResistance.org Educate! Arts, Gandhi, Nonviolence, Poetry

As we celebrate Mahatma Gandhi's birthday on October 2nd, the International Day of Nonviolence, we have the chance to reflect on our progress in creating a nonviolent world. Obviously, creating a nonviolent world has many facets and is a long-term work-in-progress. But if we are to regenerate human society in accord with principles of love, nonviolence, justice, equity and sustainability, it is emphatically clear that we need to dramatically recreate much of our culture, particularly in the West, where hatred, violence and injustice are 'built-in'. How can we do this? According to Gandhi: 'If we are to reach real peace in the world, we shall have to begin with the children.' So, as we reflect, I would like to encourage people to consider and, hopefully, adopt Gandhi’s suggestion before it is too late. I have spent my life trying to work out why humans are violent and, in the end, I discovered that Gandhi was right. Without even realising it, we humans terrorise our children and inflict phenomenal violence on them. How do we do this? We do it by 'socializing' our children. That is, we inflict visible, 'invisible' and 'utterly invisible' violence on our children in order to make them do what we want.

Campaign Nonviolence Builds Across Country

September 26, 2014 Ryan Hall, www.paceebene.org/ Organize! Nonviolence

We've arrived at day five of Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions! Reports of marches, vigils, rallies, trainings, prayers and meditations for a culture of peace and an end to war, poverty and environmental destruction continue to roll in from across the country! Today we posted a great op-ed written by CNV organizer Mary Ellen Quinn in Bangor, Maine , entitled "At home, in football, in Iraq, we dwell in a culture of violence — but we’re not paying attention." American Samoa held a nonviolence symposium at their local community college to teach nonviolent methods that address poverty, war and the climate crisis and they're preparing for a Friday anti-violence march; Merrimack, NH held a peace procession between two local weapons manufacturers including a drone facility; activists held an anti-drone rally at Volk Field in Wisconsin; and CNV organizers in Chicago, ILCNV3 held a march through downtown for peace, people and the planet that included great speakers including Pace e Bene Director, Ken Butigan, and CNV volunteer and DePaul student Nico May.

Tackling The Climate Catastrophe Strategically

September 25, 2014 Robert J. Burrowes, www.popularresistance.org Strategize! Climate Change, Environment, Nonviolence

If you like to ask or beg your oppressor to go easy on you, then you do not need to read this article. And if you like to do what makes you feel good at the time, irrespective of its strategic impact, then this article is not for you either. My interest in tackling violence, in whatever form it takes, has always been to take action myself that leaves the perpetrator powerless (but, hopefully, a convert too). I also like to be strategic so that the impact of my action is long-lasting (in fact, preferably permanent) and structurally reduces the violence in our world. Here's how I work. I never vote or lobby elites, nor do I participate in actions designed to do this, such as the recent People's Climate March in New York (and elsewhere). My analysis, reinforced by decades of casual observation, is that lobbying elites is a complete waste of time and that a strategy that focuses on engaging 'ordinary' individuals and a diverse range of grassroots groups to take action in the desired direction is far more effective.

Five Arrested At White House In Anti-War Protest

September 23, 2014 Anne Meador, DC Media Group, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! Iraq, ISIS, Nonviolence, Syria, Wars and Militarism

A few dozen proponents of nonviolence demonstrated in front of the White House the morning after U.S.-led airstrikes on targets in Syria. They attempted to deliver a letter to President Obama calling for drastic changes in policy regarding militarism, poverty and the environment, and they engaged in a civil disobedience action by blocking a White House entrance. Five were arrested. At the same time, President Obama delivered remarks about the airstrikes in front of Marine One on the White House lawn, touting the strength of a multinational coalition. He then departed for the United Nations in New York. Signs at the protest said things such as "No U.S. Military Intervention in Syria,” “Reparations Not More Bombs,” and “There Is No Military Solution." Three demonstrators wore orange jumpsuits and black hoods and carried a banner protesting Guantanamo Bay prison. Several wore blue scarves, symbolizing their identification as global citizens, and expressing solidarity with women and youth in Afghanistan, where the blue scarf movement originated.

Campaign Nonviolence: Enough War!

September 14, 2014 Ryan Hall, www.paceebene.org Resist! Nonviolence, Peace

Campaign Nonviolence has now reached 170+ nonviolent actions being planned throughout the United States and beyond September 21-27! With news of unending war, the suffering of those in poverty and the tragedy of climate change, together we will raise our voices to say enough! Please check our list of actions to see if there is a local event happening near you to join in! It will take all of us to create change! If you are unable to participate in a local action or would simply like to be solidarity with those struggling for a nonviolent world, please join others across the country during the week of actions Sept 21-27for a rotating 24 hour fast organized by Pax Christi SoCal.

Online Study Of Nonviolent Action With Michael Nagler

August 30, 2014 Staff, www.mettacenter.org Strategize! Nonviolence

The Metta Center for Nonviolence will be holding a series of weekly online and in person courses on nonviolence modeled after Michael Nagler's popular class at UC Berkeley. It is an in-depth study of what M.K. Gandhi called “the greatest power at the disposal of humankind.” The greatest-and arguably, the most neglected. What can we learn from the theory, history and potential of this great force? How can we practice it safely and effectively? These and more are questions we will be looking into. Michael Nagler is Professor emeritus of Classics and Comparative Literature at UC, Berkeley, where he co-founded the Peace and Conflict Studies Program in which he taught the immensely popular nonviolence course. Among the books he has authored are The Nonviolence Handbook: A Guide to Practical Action (2014) as well as The Search for a Nonviolent Future, which received a 2002 American Book Award and has been translated into Korean, Arabic, Italian and other languages.

Campaign Nonviolence Movement Growing

August 14, 2014 Staff, www.paceebene.org Organize! Climate Change, Environment, Nonviolence, Poverty, Wars and Militarism

Campaign Nonviolence is a new movement building a culture of peace by mainstreaming active nonviolence and by connecting the long-term nonviolent global struggles to abolish war, end poverty, reverse climate change, and challenge all violence. Campaign Nonviolence will launch this long-term movement September 21-27, 2014 by taking nonviolent action in hundreds of local cities across the United States and beyond. At a moment when the horror of war is palpably clear—and the ongoing violence of poverty and climate change wreaks havoc across our planet—we have a chance to say with one voice that we are ready to join together for a better way. This is the vision and foundation of Campaign Nonviolence. Campaign Nonviolence is now organizing in 50 states and the District of Columbia with 115 nonviolent actions planned for September 21-27 in every part of the country, and new ones are being posted every day. Campaign Nonviolence actions include marches, rallies, vigils, nonviolent direct action or other forms of public witness.

Shooting Sparks Call For Peaceful Gatherings Nationwide

August 13, 2014 Terrell Jermaine Starr, www.alternet.org Organize! Nonviolence, police brutality, Protest, Racism

Less than a month after the choking death of Eric Garner by an NYPD officer, police in Ferguson, Mo., shot 18-year-old Mike Brown to death in broad daylight. Many in the black community were still in shock over Garner's death when photos of Brown's body lying on the pavement began circulating on social media. Feminista Jones, a community activist and blogger, is organizing what she's calling National Moment of Silence 2014 gatherings (or #NMOS14) across the nation, so people can mourn the killings of black people at the hands of law enforcement. In less than 24 hours, Jones' efforts have led to more than 30 vigils being organized around the country, set to begin the same time Thursday at 7pm EST. Jones told AlterNet that the frustration unfolding in the St. Louis area needs to be channeled into calm spaces where people in disenfranchised communities can network and move forward with constructive ways to heal and take action against the injustices that have affected them.

Apply Non-Violent Direct Action To MIC

August 4, 2014 Sherwood Ross, www.opednews.com Strategize! Direct Action, Nonviolence, Wars and Militarism

Why is there no non-violent outcry against America's military-industrial complex?(MIC) A Congress that is complicit in its wars, surely will not reign it in. While the MIC contractors during the U.S. invasions of the Middle East and Africa have reaped billions in profit, the fact is probably a majority of Americans are war-weary and want out of President Obama's ongoing foreign entanglements, replete with drone warfare and other crimes against humanity. Yet their elected representatives in Congress continue voting $700 billion annual budgets to wage wars and to create hideous new weapons of mass destruction ranging from more lethal (if that is possible) atomic bombs to germ warfare, both illegal by treaty. Americans have been gulled into believing that the 2,000 military bases they operate around the world are "defensive", and can prevent a terrorist attack---the folly of which was proved on 9/11. In fact, they are springboards for military control of every part of the globe. The Pentagon, says The Washington Post, also has a Special Operations Command that operates in at least 65 nations that is largely unknown to Americans.

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