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Nonviolence News: Aug 10th, 2019

Editor’s Note from Rivera Sun:

In Nonviolence News this week, you’ll find some powerful stories.  Thirteen victories, large and small, show how change is being made step-by-step. Georgians, Russians, Hondurans, migrant workers in Qatar, and Irish and British airport workers are all striving for political and economic justice. 

In the United States, we are reeling from yet another set of deadly mass shootings. But we are also organizing. In one of the most interesting recent tactics, the American Federation of Teachers is threatening Walmart with a Back-To-School Boycott if they continue to sell weapons. Reflecting on the tragedy, nonviolence advocate Ken Butigan reminds readers that in order to break the cycle of violence, we must actively engage nonviolence in all aspects of our lives.  This isn’t an utopian vision, but rather a pragmatic reality. 

For too long, nonviolence has been marginalized and viewed as something that only great figures like Gandhi and King can wield. The truth is that ordinary people use nonviolence every single day, all over the world. As Ken Butigan says, “If violence were the default, the human species would have destroyed itself long ago, with the retaliatory and escalatory logic of violence spinning out of control and into extinction.  It is the secret history of nonviolence that has – hour by hour, day by day, year by year, century by century – kept this from happening.”

Nonviolence News strives to illuminate the truth of this statement. As you scan this week’s stories, remember: this is what humanity does, day in and day out, week by week. 

Thanks for all the countless ways we save our world each day.
Don’t forget to share the good news – Nonviolence News!
Rivera Sun, Editor

Photo credit for opening image: Native Hawaiians on the island of Kauai march in solidarity with protectors on Hawai’i Island blocking construction of a Thirty Meter Telescope on top of Mauna Kea. By Jon Letman in a recent Truthout article.

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Here’s what you’ll find in
this week’s Nonviolence News:

Victory! Success Stories
Recent Actions & On-Going Campaigns
Climate Action
Migrant Justice
Creative Action
Knowledge & Reflection
Calls-to-Action

Nonviolence News shares recent success stories so we see and remember
that nonviolent action is powerful and effective. 

Amnesty International votes to divest from fossil fuels.  Read more >>

Following pressure from Greenpeace, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are cutting ties with an association that lobbies for our continued use of single-use plastics.   Read more >> 

French bank BNP Paribas becomes 5th major bank to quit funding private prisons and detention centers.  Read more >>

1,000 emails from concerned citizens and organizing by nonprofits stopped a new oil well and pipeline in the Carrizo Plain National Monument for the second time.  Significantly, California Bureau of Land Management also stated that new wells could not be approved without weighing their impact on climate change.  Read more >>

RIP Medical Debt partners with major businesses to abolish $30 million in medical debt for families in Los Angeles.  Read more >>

Major companies in the United Kingdom cut plastic bag usage in half this year. Since 2015, thanks to a 5 pence fee, the use has dropped 90%.  Read more >>

Medicine Hat, Canada becomes the first city in the nation to end homelessness, using a “Housing First” plan. Salt Lake City, Utah also used this model to reduce its homelessness by 91% in ten years.   Read more >>

US Bank forgives credit card debt for old customers in Canada after discontinuing operations in the country.   Read more >>

France passed an ecotax on plane tickets that will help fund eco-friendly travel alternatives.  Read more >>

Denver City Council dumps two contracts totaling over $10 million in rebuke for the companies’ involvement in private prisons.  Read more >>

Timbuktu librarians rescue thousands of artifacts, manuscripts, and cultural treasures from certain destruction by Al Qaeda.  Read more >>

Threat of 48-hr work stoppage by 4,000 Heathrow Airport workers pressures the airport to make concessions and agree to further talks.  Read more >>

New York City restaurant workers saw their pay increase by 20% after a $15 minimum-wage hike, and a new report says business is booming despite warnings that the boost would devastate the city’s restaurant industry.  Read more >>

 

Around the world, people are launching nonviolent campaigns and/or using principled nonviolence to transform their communities and fight injustice.
Here are a few recent stories. 

How native people across the Pacific are resisting dispossession of sacred land.  Read more >>

Thousands of Georgians resist Russia‘s attempts to control their country.  Read more >>

Migrant workers in Qatar hold rare strikes over terrible working conditions as they construct the facilities for the 2022 World Cup.  Read more >>

Honduran protesters demand the resignation of the president. Read more >>

Honduran prisoners and allies launch hunger strike to object to inhumane conditions in a maximum security prison.  Read more >>

Irish airline pilots vote to strikeRead more >>

High profile activists and celebrities call for people to boycott SoulCycle and Equinox over planned board chairman’s fundraiser for Trump.  Read more >> 

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women billboard campaign arrives in Michigan.  Read more >>

US teachers union threatens boycott of Walmart over their decision to continue selling guns. The threat from American Federation of Teachers comes just in time for back-to-school shopping, one of the biggest sales periods of the year.  Read more >>

10,000 people sign on to a new grassroots movement of Christians opposing Christian Nationalism in the United States.  Read more >>

Flash mob protest blocks rush hour traffic at the gates of trident nuclear weapons at Bangor Submarine Base in Washington State on the 74th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Read more >>

 

Living sustainably and protecting our planet are forms of “nonviolence toward the Earth”, which is inseparable from embodying nonviolence toward ourselves and all others. Here are recent stories of nonviolent climate action. 

 Germany’s largest labor union urges its 2 million members to join the student-led climate strikes.  Read more >>

56 Australian climate activists arrested in Brisbane.  Read more >>

19 year old Giovanni Tamacas went on hunger strike for 10 days in the US capital to protest about a ‘criminally complicit’ government’s inaction.   Read more >>

Doctor holds 15-day hunger strike to decry government inaction on climate change.  Read more >>

University of Michigan students hold die-in for climate action.  Read more >>

For a sustainable climate and food system, regenerative agriculture is key.   Read more >>

As millions of humans become migrants and refugees from war and climate disasters, the struggle for migrant justice continues to grow.

Guatemalan students occupy university in opposition to politicians’ meeting, especially their support of Trump’s immigration policy.  Read more >>

Maine Jews march for migrant justice, saying “Close the camps”.  Read more >>

Twin Cities Jewish community blockades ICE building. Read more >>

Jewish activists were arrested Monday for protesting at the Los Angeles office of the GEO Group, a private prison company that runs federal migrant detention facilities decried by critics as “concentration camps.”  Read more >>

Group releases map of ICE contracts in all 50 states, including names of company and size of contracts.   Read more >>

Nonviolence unleashes humanity’s amazing creativity. Here are a few stories that show how people used a creative approach to work for change.

Palestinian Youth Orchestra is an act of resistance, using skype to circumvent travel bans and travel permit denials, and showing the beauty and talent of young Palestinians.  Read more >>

“No tears. No blood.” Hong Kongers hold huge laser show to protest after police arrest people with “offensive weapons”, i.e. laser pointers.   Read more >>

Hong Kong protesters use flash mob style tactics to evade police.   Read more >>

Editor’s Note: usually, we report on what activists are doing to achieve their goals. This story is on the creative tactics of the other side.   Russian government tries to diminish protests by holding last-minute organized street festivals with kebabs and rock music in an attempt to lure young protesters away from demonstrations.  Read more >>

In the field of nonviolence, people around the world are deepening their understanding of how nonviolence works to make change and wage peace.

International Center on Nonviolent Conflict’s free, online course on civil resistance is now open for applications.  Read more >>

After El Paso shootings, Ken Butigan reflects on the need for nonviolence in a violent world.   Read more >>

Can there be democracy without nonviolence? Metta Center’s Nonviolence Radio interviews Jamila Raqib from the Albert Einstein Institution.   Read more >>

Here are a few actions and events requesting your participation. 

Global Appeal for Peace organizes international community to oppose war and uphold international law.  Read more >>

#FreeJulianAssange August actions are being held globally on Aug 18, 23, 24th.  Read more > >

The River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding and partners are launching a webinar series on “Neighborhood Justice” – a program that grows and adapts their peacebuilding and community justice work.  Read more > >

Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions September 14-22, 2019, Everywhere. Host or join a march, rally, protest, or other event or action for a culture of peace and active nonviolence.  Learn more >>

Sept 20-27th, join the Global Climate Strike. (It’s not just for the kids, any more. Get ready to go on strike.) Read more >>

Oct 5th is a Day of Action Against Domestic Violence. Hold or join a 2-min die-in protest.  Learn more >>

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Activist/Author Rivera Sun is a nationwide speaker and trainer in strategy for nonviolent movements. She is the author of nine books and novels focusing on nonviolence, including The Dandelion Insurrection, The Roots of Resistance, and The Way Between.  For four years, she cohosted nationally-syndicated radio programs on nonviolent struggle. Rivera Sun has worked for Campaign Nonviolence, Metta Center for Nonviolence, and Nonviolence Now, among other groups. Find out more about her work at: www.riverasun.com

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