Rivera Teaching in Madrid 5
Rivera Sun teaching the “Spectrum of Allies” during a strategic nonviolent action workshop.

Welcome! If you are looking for a workshop in your area, please see our upcoming events page. There may be one near you! 

Workshop Offerings: Rivera Sun offers workshops on many aspects of nonviolence, movement building, and action. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, please email her and she’ll see if she can tailor something to your needs. rivera(at)riverasun.com

“Rivera Sun lives, breathes, and shares knowledge and insights of extraordinary depth in the complex world of nonviolent movement strategy, tactics, analysis, and campaign planning. My students flocked to her every time she made an appearance at Portland State University and they demand her return again and again. She helped produce a new generation of young leaders with strong analytical skills with her unique approach to activating hearts, minds and informed imaginations.” – Dr. Tom Hastings, Coordinator, Conflict Resolution BA/BS degree programs, Portland State University

Dandelion Insurrection Study Guide Online Course: 
From the cacerolazo to marches to the murmurations, The Dandelion Insurrection is full of lessons, examples, and ideas for anyone interested in making change through nonviolent action. This 8-week course engages hearts and minds, creativity and imaginations! Contact Rivera Sun to set up a special group.

Seeds of Change Workshop: Ordinary people like you have made change using the tools of Dr. King, Gandhi, Jesus, and Cesar Chavez. Learn these strategies for change and apply them in your community. This workshop covers the basic dynamics and strategies of nonviolent action. Participants discover how to envision and build campaigns, become familiar with the 198 methods of nonviolent action, and learn to connect the dots between the many issues our communities face. Bring friends, neighbors, elders, and students. Together we’ll explore how ordinary people can make extraordinary change!

Collaborative Strategy for a Movement of Movements: This workshop looks at natural systems and general systems theory to teach interconnection, solidarity, collaboration, and strategy for self-organizing, multi-nodal movements. If that sounds like a mouthful, don’t worry! This engaging class is for everyone. We’ll examine the many movements for social justice and connect the dots between them. You’ll leave inspired, connected, and intrigued about how you can move into nonviolent action from a place of collaboration and cooperation.

Campaign Design Workshops: this focused session is intended to assist people in planning specific campaigns for change. Participants are encouraged to come with an issue in mind. The workshop will bring people through analysis, design, selection of tactics, movement-building, positioning and messaging.

A Message From Rivera Sun: Nonviolent action is a tool of the people for waging struggle for social and political change. In 2012, I began researching the field of strategic civil resistance (another word for nonviolent struggle) in preparation for writing my novel, The Dandelion Insurrection. The plot centers around a people’s movement for democracy against a hidden dictatorship. Believe it or not, I ran a search on the phrase, “How to get rid of a dictator, nonviolently” and discovered that this was not the arena of fiction . . . it had been done all over the world by people like you and me.

The Dandelion Insurrection has been a tremendous success, inspiring ordinary citizens to get involved in the extraordinary movements for social change that are sweeping our planet. Since completing the novel, I have continued to deepen my understanding of nonviolent struggle … the real-life story of our times seems to require such knowledge! In 2014, I studied strategic civil resistance at the James Lawson Institute with Rev. Lawson (Civil Rights strategist), Erica Chenoweth (author, Why Civil Resistance Works), Ivan Marovic (organizer for Otpor! in Serbia), Tom Hastings (peace and justice activist), Mary Elizabeth King (organizer for SNCC), and many others.  Since then, I’ve written hundreds of articles on nonviolence, cohosted nationwide syndicated radio shows on resistance, and held workshops nationally and internationally on strategy for nonviolent struggle.

Rivera Sun leading a workshop on strategic nonviolent action.
Rivera Sun leading a workshop on strategic nonviolent action.

This experience inspired me to start organizing workshops on nonviolent action for ordinary people. I teach nationwide, and even internationally. Please contact me if you would like to schedule a workshop or public talk in your area. Contact us here.

If you are looking for a workshop in your area, please see our upcoming events page. There may be one near you!

Dandelion Insurrection Study Groups on Making Change Through Nonviolent Action!

Along with workshops, another way to study nonviolent action is to set up a reading group to read The Dandelion Insurrection and use the accompanying study guide to learn strategic nonviolent action. Learn more here.

Rivera Slider Workshop 5 Book Group
A book group in Newaygo, MI works with the Dandelion Insurrection Study Guide to Making Change Through Nonviolent Action

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