Category: What’s Happening In the Movement

Straight Talk to Democrats (and the Rest of Us)

DR. PRU LEE – Dear Democratic Party: I need more from you. You keep sending emails begging for $15, while we’re watching fascism consolidate power in real time. This administration is not simply “a different ideology.” It is a coordinated, authoritarian machine — with the Supreme Court, the House, the Senate, and the executive pen all under its control. And you? You’re still asking for decorum and donations. That won’t save us. I want strategy. I want fire. I want action so bold it shifts the damn news cycle — not fits inside one.

Guide to Becoming an Environmental Leader and Inspiring the Next Generation of Eco-Defenders

SAM DAVIS – Your community needs leaders who care about the environment. As climate change, pollution, and loss of biodiversity threaten our planet’s health, we can’t afford to wait for governments or corporations to solve these problems. We need individuals who are willing to take action, inspire others, and make a difference. And those differences need to happen right in our backyards.

How to Make an Impact at a Protest

LAURIE WOODWARD GARCIA – Protesting is a powerful tool for civic engagement, allowing individuals to voice their concerns, demand change, and unite with others around shared causes. To make the most of your participation, it’s essential to be prepared, informed, and strategic. Here’s a guide to help you make a meaningful impact at a protest.

Nonviolence News Reports 366+ Success Stories in 2024

RIVERA SUN – Upon reflection, 2024 was not just a year of disaster and political upheaval. It was also the year that Julian Assange was finally freed. It was the year Net Neutrality was restored. It was the year that corrupt leaders fell from power in South Korea and Bangladesh. When we remember all of these, we also remember the most important thing of all: nonviolent action achieved all this. What will we use nonviolence to accomplish in 2025? 

This Year’s Nobel Peace Prize Focuses on Nuclear Weapons Abolition

PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY – In Japan, the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are known as Hibakusha. The Hibakusha have worked heroically and successfully to prevent any additional wartime nuclear attacks. Today in Oslo, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo “for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.” Nihon Hidankyo translates as “The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations.”

A New Wave of Movements against Trumpism is coming

MARK ENGLER and PAUL ENGLER – Our past experience tells us that coming months and years will offer moments that trigger public revulsion. Social movements provide a unique mechanism for responding, creating common identity and purpose between strangers and allowing genuine, collective participation in building a better democracy. If we are to make it together through Trump’s second presidency and emerge in its aftermath to create the world we need, this may be our greatest hope. Indeed, it may be our only one.

Kris Kristofferson: His Anti-War Legacy Amidst His Musical Career

CHRIS HOUSTON – American country musician Kris Kristofferson was a military veteran and anti-war activist. He continued his advocacy against the Gulf Wars and benefit concerts for Palestinian children despite the negative impacts that both had on his career. Kristofferson died on September 28 at his home in Hawaii, aged 88. Stephen Miller’s 2009 biography quotes Kristofferson, “I found a considerable lack of work after doing concerts for the Palestinian children and for a couple of gigs with Vanessa Redgrave and if that’s the way it has to be, that’s the way it has to be. If you support human rights, you gotta support them everywhere.”

Jury defies judge and refuses to convict Palestine Action activists

SKWAWKBOX – A jury at Bradford Crown Court has defied a judge’s attempts to rule out any legal argument about the imperative of disrupting Israel’s genocide in Gaza and has refused to convict four Palestine Action ‘actionists’ who caused over half a million pounds’ worth of damage to a Teledyne weapons factory supplying missile parts to Israel.

To address the climate emergency, foundations must spend big on movements

MARGARET KLEIN SALAMON – Philanthropy has a unique and critical role to play in addressing the climate emergency. By acknowledging the calamity we face and adjusting their operations, philanthropies can lead society into the “emergency mode” necessary to avert disaster. The time for half-measures, white papers and panel discussions is over. Philanthropy must act now, boldly and decisively, to help save our planet for future generations.

Campus Protests: How to Lose

DR. TOM H. HASTINGS – Basic Negotiation 101: Make a demand. Let the other party know what your best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA) is. Stick to it and impose costs if you are able. Do so without rancor or identity slurs, which saves face for everyone. Preserving everyone’s dignity in the throes of conflict is crucial and ultimately allows your enemy to become your opponent and ultimately your partner in a collaborative path forward. 

Extinction Rebellion: Navigating the Great Paradox of Climate Action

GAIA MARTINO – The core characteristics of XR are all part of a strategy of political prefiguration. As a young female foreigner, Gaia Martino witnessed first-hand XR’s efforts to be as inclusive as possible and to adopt a care culture coherent with the group’s vision for change. As a participant of many organizational meetings, Marino also witnessed first-hand XR’s successful efforts to grant organizing autonomy to local chapters. Nonviolent action, inclusivity, autonomy and care culture are all coherent with XR’s design to create a paradigm shift in how people organize for environmental justice. To obtain a culture that will heal the planet as well as society, we must rise above the paradox that climate action must simultaneously be local and transcend the local. And for this, everyone must believe they can play a small part in shaping, setting up and enacting change.