Skip to content

Social Change

Moldova Protesters Take To Streets Criticising ‘Mafia’ Gov’t

September 8, 2015 Alec Luhn, www.theguardian.com ,
By Alec Luhn in The Guardian - Several protesters have been detained after tens of thousands of protesters in Moldova took to the streets of the capital to demand the dissolution of the new government following corruption scandals. Demonstrators gathered on Great National Assembly Square in downtown Chișinău on Sunday to call for the resignation of the president, Nicolae Timofti, early elections and punishment for those responsible for widespread embezzlement. Organisers claimed 100,000 people had attended the demonstrations, which were ongoing on Sunday evening, while police put the number at 35,000-40,000. The protest is the largest such action in the former Soviet republic, which has been one of the poorest countries in Europe since its independence movement in the early 1990s. Clashes broke out with police at the prosecutor general’s headquarters, where activists attempted to set up an occupy-style tent encampment.

Rival Movements Duel Over The Future Of Brazil

September 4, 2015 Marianna Olinger, www.wagingnonviolence.com , ,
By Marianna Olinger in Waging Non-Violence - In recent weeks, the mainstream media has forwarded a narrative that the political crisis in Brazil is a result of internal corruption and the lack of economic growth over the last year, which is blamed on the Workers’ Party. The corruption charges have been fueled by an investigation — known as Lava Jato, or Car Wash — in which a number of directors of the state-owned oil company Petrobras are accused of taking bribes from construction companies and funneling funds to parties of the ruling coalition. What is rarely mentioned though, is that Brazil is experiencing, once again, a historical divide. Part of the population wants to turn left and another right. The complex situation is much more ideological than most commentators acknowledge. Some believe President Dilma Rousseff and the Workers’ Party haven’t been following the dictates of neoliberalism closely enough, while others argue the opposite — that corporations have far too much power.

Hugo Lyon Antonio Pinell, Aka Daddy

September 3, 2015 Allegra Taylor, www.sfbayview.com ,
By Allegra Taylor in SF Bay View - Just a couple of hours after receiving my Dad’s letter, wherein he was telling me not to worry because he was OK and the lockdown had been placed on modified program; the phone rang and I answered it – to hear the news of my Dad being killed. My heart was instantly broken. I fell to my knees … they killed my Daddy! The news reports started coming in. On every television channel, they were talking about him being the most notorious and the most dangerous man in the CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation). To hear them describe my Dad that way was akin to killing him over and over again.

Act Out! – Activist Autumn Begins & Good Will Hunting Rhymes

September 3, 2015 Eleanor Goldfield, www.occupy.com , ,
By Eleanor Goldfield in Occupt - This week we've got a veritable shit ton happening on the Front Lines so ready your calendars for the activist onslaught – from climate change to anti-war to fracking to pipelines of the school to prison kind, the summer lull is definitely over. Next, let's talk digital activism: small steps become leaps and it may start with one of these petitions. Finally, Timothy Almeida Jr., spoken word poet, artist, musician and custodian, shares his rhymes and the life and times of the man behind the book, blog and podcast The Custodian Chronicles. But first, let's make friends – across enemy lines.

Paris Climate Conference: Plays Craps With Planet’s Future

September 3, 2015 John Atchenson, www.commondreams.org , ,
By John Atchenson in Common Dreams - The climate change talks to be held in Paris this December (COP 21 in UN lingo) are all about how much risk to the livability of our planet we’re willing to accept. And the dirty little secret is, we’re accepting a hell of a lot right now, and we’re imposing even more on our children and future generations. 2 degrees C is too high, and COP 21 isn’t on target to meet it in any case: The press accounts are referring to the 2 C limit as the “maximum safe level.” Scientists are more careful, referring to it as a “speed limit” or “guardrail,” and even this phrasing implies a level of protection that the 2C limit simply doesn’t afford. Doubt that? So far, human actions have increased the temperature by .85 degrees C over pre-industrial levels, and look what that’s done.

Malaysia Bans Yellow To Prevent Protests Against Corruption

August 31, 2015 Daily Kos, www.dailykos.com , , ,
By Daily Kos - Xanthophobia: fear of the colour yellow. On Thursday, the Home Ministry of Malaysia decided to ban a primary color. Why? Because the people of Malaysia have gotten sick of the political corruption. Tens of thousands of demonstrators in Malaysia defied police orders on Saturday, massing in the capital in a display of anger at the government of Prime Minister Najib Razak, who has been accused of corruption involving hundreds of millions of dollars. The demonstration in central Kuala Lumpur, which had been planned for weeks, was declared illegal by the Malaysian police, and on Friday the government went as far as to pass a decree banning the yellow clothing worn by the protesters.

Where Change Really Comes From

August 31, 2015 Sam Smith, www.samsmitharchives.wordpress.com ,
By Sam Smith - Another reason we find it hard to recognize or talk about real change is that we haven’t seen its positive form on any scale in some time. Thus, it is not surprising that many don’t seem to realize that while politicians can help to create change, they are rarely its source. Even the best politicians need a community of creative and conscientious pressure to discourage their response to those forces that have never succumbed to believing for themselves the advertising slogans they foist on others. Even the best president steps into the Oval Office surrounded, beleaguered and manipulated by the most skillful organizers in the country – those who organize the bankers, corporations, religious extremists, polluters and other assorted hustlers – while well intentioned but nave ordinary constituents of that president assume their work was finished when they left the voting booth.

6 Strategies To Make Powerful Social Change

August 28, 2015 Mistinguette Smith, www.yesmagazine.org ,
By Mistinguette Smith in Yes Magazine - In the days after her action, Newsome was depicted as a heroine, a black Superwoman, a symbol of how we can act when Black Lives Matter. But it’s important to remember that Newsome is not a superhero. Her actions remind us that the change we want to see in the world will not come from some super power; it will come from people power. And if we can figure out how to grow our own vegetables and make our own bread, we have enough power to make ourselves some homemade freedom. We already have everything that we need. Here are a few elements I can identify in Newsome’s recipe for homemade freedom...

The Last Refuge Of The Incompetent

August 28, 2015 John Michael Greer, www.thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com ,
By John Michael Greer in The Arch Druid Greer - The science fiction author Isaac Asimov used to say that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. That’s a half-truth at best, for there are situations in which effective violence is the only tool that will do what needs to be done—we’ll get to that in a moment. It so happens, though, that a particular kind of incompetence does indeed tend to turn to violence when every other option has fallen flat, and goes down in a final outburst of pointless bloodshed. It’s unpleasantly likely at this point that the climate change movement, or some parts of it, may end up taking that route into history’s dumpster; here again, we’ll get to that a little further on in this post. It’s probably necessary to say at the outset that the arguments I propose to make here have nothing to do with the ethics of violence, and everything to do with its pragmatics as a means of bringing about social change. Ethics in general are a complete quagmire in today’s society.

When Next Crisis Comes, Which Movements Will Seize Opportunity?

August 28, 2015 George Lakey, www.facebook.com ,
By George Lakey in Waging Non-Violence - I asked a Washington, D.C., friend who works among progressive Democrats what he heard after the Wall Street disaster. Did people in his circle discuss organizing the strong, grassroots anger into a push for major reform? He knew of none. As it turned out, that anger was organized by the right and became the Tea Party. Polls show that even today many people identifying as Tea Party members express hostility to Wall Street. All this missed opportunity should be seen in the context of Barack Obama’s presidency, since it was he who said, during his candidacy, that the Swedish solution to its own banking crisis had been correct: Seize the banks rather than bail them out. (In a recent New Yorker article on Greece, former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said President Obama told him that the U.S. bailout was against his personal politics.)

Why Protest Someone Who Agrees With You? Here’s Why.

August 14, 2015 Matt Baume, www.huffingtonpost.com , ,
By Matt Baume in The Huffington Post - Whether it's taking over government offices, or shutting down Wall Street or infiltrating TV shows to force a confrontation, sometimes political protests can be really inconvenient. And at times they target powerful people who already agree with the protestors! What's the point of that? Well, sometimes if you have a problem, you can work hand-in-hand with institutions that can help, through lobbying, and petitions, and meetings and fancy dinners. But that doesn't always work. Powerful people don't like to talk about issues that make them uncomfortable. For example, in 1982, a reporter asked Reagan's press secretary if the president was aware of the AIDS epidemic. He answered, "I don't have it. Do you?" And then he laughed, and moved on. Problems that matter to people in the margins can get laughed at, or forgotten or set aside for more palatable topics. The issues get stuck. Getting them unstuck requires a large amount of force. It takes an uncomfortable action to make people talk about uncomfortable topics.

Is White Supremacy A Mental Disorder?

August 6, 2015 Herbert Dyer, Jr., www.counterpunch.org , , ,
One of the myriad ways that whites control the “race relations” conversation is to delegitimize or at the very least minimize analysis of their history of oppression. A favorite ploy in this exercise is to “flip the script,” as it were, so that all critiques – particularly by blacks – of historical or current white supremacy are immediately condemned and shut down as, at best irrelevant and at worst, oppressive to them. They thus not only obscure and deny white agency in black folks’ oppression, but position themselves as the true and still beleaguered victims of racism. This is what my erstwhile professor was doing. Baldwin’s calling out of whites for their long and sordid history of black oppression was for him and Baldwin’s “bulk” of whites summed up in the cynically contrived catchphrase of “reverse racism.” What the good professor and the masses of white folk refuse to acknowledge is that whiteness, white supremacy, and their operative tool, white racism, determine and define what is “accurate,” “valuable” and “worthy” of review even about oppression that they do not face, including most especially racism.

Sowing The Seeds Of Hope: From Congress To The White House

August 5, 2015 NCNR and Campaign NonViolence, www.facebook.com , ,
By NCNR and Campaign NonViolence - Our work together continues our struggle against war, poverty, ecocide, and environmental destruction. Elections take place one day every few years. Saving our planet from war, poverty, and ecocide is for every day of the year. Join us for our day of action together! JOIN NCNR AND CAMPAIGN NONVIOLENCE FOR A DAY OF ACTION on September 22, 2015 in Washington, DC on Capitol Hill, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, and The White House speaking out to those in power about the continuing wars, needless poverty, and our reliance on fossil fuels that has led us to the climate crisis threatening Mother Earth. We go to Capitol Hill focusing on just one member of congress, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who represents what is wrong with our system of government. Ryan promotes policies and laws hostile towards the poor.

Black Unionists Try To Save South Africa From Becoming Failed State

July 30, 2015 Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, www.blackagendareport.com , , ,
By Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo in Black Agenda Report - As NUMSA takes an increasingly central role in the struggle for full economic sovereignty and for the complete economic freedom of workers and the rural poor, the importance of international solidarity cannot be underestimated. In this interview Jim and Vavi discuss: (1) NUMSA’s and Zwelinzima Vavi’s expulsion from COSATU, and the united stand by NUMSA’s and seven other COSATU affiliates to continue to fight for the rights of South Africa’s workers; (2) NUMSA’s formation of a United Front to galvanize other trade unions, as well as grassroots organizations, in the fight against inequality, poverty, and unemployment in South Africa; and (3) The formation of a worker’s party to contest elections and advance much-needed economic change in South Africa.

Violent Protests Erupt After Istanbul Peace March Canceled

July 29, 2015 NBC News, www.nbcnews.com , ,
By NBC News - Protesters hold signs reading "peace" after a peace march was banned by authorities in the Aksaray district of Istanbul on July 26, 2015. Violence in Turkey erupted after the killing of 32 people in a suicide bombing on July 20 in the Turkish town of Suruc on the Syrian border carried out by a 20-year old Turkish man linked to ISIS. A protester shields himself from water cannons during clashes with Turkish police officers on July 26 in Istanbul's Gazi District. Tensions across the country are high, with police routinely using water cannons to disperse nightly protests in Istanbul and other cities denouncing ISIS and the government's policies on Syria. A woman walks past graffiti reading "Everywhere Taksim- Goverment Resign" during clashes with Turkish riot police in the Gazi District on July 26. Turkey's military on July 25 carried out a new wave of air and artillery strikes against Islamic State jihadists in Syria and Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, in an escalating campaign Ankara says is aimed at rooting out terror.
«12345678910»

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Donate Here

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! 

Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Donate Here
Sign Up To Our Daily Digest

Independent media outlets are being suppressed and dropped by corporations like Google, Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for our daily email digest before it’s too late so you don’t miss the latest movement news.