BRAD WOLF – In 1958, legendary peace activist Philip Berrigan asked a youth retreat group the following question: “What’s it going to be with you? Are you going to go through life playing both ends against the middle, playing cozy, not committing yourself, sitting on the fence?” That question is as potent, and as dangerous, today as it was then. For us, and for the victims in the breach.
Category: What’s Happening In the Movement
Greenpeace remains determined to fight the corporate silencing of dissent
NICK ENGELFRIED – As Greenpeace prepares to appeal a devastating verdict in a lawsuit brought by a pipeline company, the environmental group is not only defending itself — but the very right to protest.
Close the Digital Gap Before It Becomes a Ballot Gap
DAKOTA HALL – Why the right’s “always-on” media machine wins, and how we catch up before 2026.
Stop Avelo Movement is Taking Off
COALITION TO STOP AVELO – TWO HUNDRED Anti-Avelo grassroots organizations in nearly ALL of the Avelo destination cities have joined our Coalition. Together, we will force Avelo to stop operating illegal, inhumane and unconstitutional deportation flights for ICE. Please help the Coalition continue to grow. We want to connect with activists everywhere, but especially in Detroit, Dallas, Chicago, Wilmington, DE, Mesa, AZ, and Palm Springs.
Please forward this newsletter to your network of allies – both in your own city and across the country.
Defending Democracy Is My Retirement Plan
DAVID J. SMITH – It’s time for us to do our part. We need to get out and defend democracy, not only for us but for others unable or fearful to act including immigrants (documented and undocumented), government workers, young people, and many others feeling vulnerable right now. Those of us retired are best positioned to act. We must make fighting for democracy our generation’s retirement plan.It’s time for us to do our part. We need to get out and defend democracy, not only for us but for others unable or fearful to act including immigrants (documented and undocumented), government workers, young people, and many others feeling vulnerable right now. Those of us retired are best positioned to act. We must make fighting for democracy our generation’s retirement plan.
Support, Challenges Grow for Unions
JOHN P. RUEHL – The United Steel Workers must navigate factionalism while championing labor rights amid rising anti-union pressures and global trade fragmentation.
1300 May Day Protests Are Just Part of Resistance to Trump’s Agenda
RIVERA SUN – May Day is the International Labor Day and people across the world took action.
The power and pitfalls of protest: how to speak out without falling victim to Trump’s playbook
JONATHAN SMUCKER – As mass protest surges against Trump and Musk, how can we show up as effectively as possible?
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.
What would a general strike in the US actually look like?
Calls for a general strike in the US are growing. It’s important to understand how to organize one, given their key role in overcoming tyrants around the world. By Jeremy Brecher Something is in the air: A perception that American…
Oregon scores 9th in the nation for energy efficiency
ISABEL CHARLE – Oregon ranked ninth this year on The State Energy Efficiency Scorecard. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a nonprofit research organization, ranked states based on their latest policy developments and efforts to save energy.
What to do if the Insurrection Act is invoked
DANIEL HUNTER – With the Insurrection Act looming, now is the time to learn how it might unfold and the strategic ways to respond.
Our Times Call For Nonviolent Resistance. Humor is an Important Component.
TOM H. HASTINGS – Winston Churchill once said that Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the rest that have been tried. That’s still true. And nonviolence is the worst form of uprising and resistance, except for all the other methods that have been tried.
Portland is building a model for migrant solidarity under Trump
KEVIN FOSTER – With the Trump administration’s aggressive anti-immigrant policies, community is more important than ever among migrant rights advocates. Portland’s Asylum Seeker Solidarity Collective is building trust and community through mutual aid.
Resistance to Trump is everywhere — inside the first 50 days of mass protest
RIVERA SUN – From mass refusals to boycotts to walkouts, regular Americans are bravely pushing back against the administration. Their actions are diverse and multiplying — and already having an impact.
There’s a new silent majority — and they need to be activated
NATHAN STOCK – Most Americans still support democracy and oppose political violence. The task before us then is to build a vocal majority, planning and organizing across the political divide to stand up for the values that so many of us share.
Alert! More Nuclear Power Bills Scheduled for Senate Hearing
OREGON PEACEWORKS – More Nuclear Power Bills are scheduled for Senate Hearing.
How movements can make courts play their role in defending democracy
DOUG COLTART – Even under authoritarian regimes, pro-democracy movements can still advance their goals by strategically engaging the courts.
The Legislature, Oregon AG, Governor Tina Kotek, and Relevant Agencies Take on Trump’s Depredations
OREGON HOUSE DEMOCRATS – In addition to the legislature, Oregon’s Governor, Attorney General and relevant agencies are working to respond to the harmful actions of the current administration. Here is an up-to-date timeline of Oregon’s response.
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.
From Dread to Defiance: US Resistance Is Rising … And It’s Working
RIVERA SUN – In the United States, this week (Jan. 27-Feb. 2) [saw] both authoritarian moves from the Trump/Vance Administration … and a heartening surge of resistance. In dramatic ways, people are shifting from paralyzed dread to outraged defiance. And defiance is working.
“Choose Democracy” offers needed perspective on Trump
GEORGE LAKEY – Trump can lose when we fight. He is not invincible and he is not all powerful.
43 Lawmakers Back Youth in Climate Case Against US Government
JESSICA CORBETT – A 17-year-old plaintiff commended the federal lawmakers for “using their voices to weigh in on the importance of our rights to access justice and to a livable climate.”
Archiving as resistance to genocide denial in Gaza
ELEFTHERIA KOUSTA – Law for Palestine members discuss their database of genocidal statements by leading Israeli figures and how it can help defend human rights.
Guide to Preserving Sacred Land Near You
JIMMY VIDELE – Preserving biodiversity is among the most urgent issues of our time, and it needs to be addressed regionally to succeed.
How a Community Collaborative in Arkansas Is Pioneering Solutions to Long-Standing Social Problems
DAMON ORION – Sankofa Village Arkansas is building an “intentional community centering Black healing, liberation, and regeneration.”
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?
Enrollment in Nature Schools Soars as Families Rediscover the Benefits of Outdoor Learning
DAMON ORION – Nature schools are taking education outside the box.
A history of success drives the ongoing struggle to clean up Cancer Alley
SUE INCHES – Despite years of polluter pushback and environmental racism, Cancer Alley communities in Louisiana are still fighting for a healthier environment for everyone.
What’s the best gift for relationships this holiday season? Understanding ourselves
MELINDA BURRELL – If we’re hoping for connection rather than conflict this holiday season, we can start with ourselves. We can learn to pay attention to our bodies, our emotions, our words, and our thinking. Self-awareness might be the best gift we can give our relationships this holiday season.
White House Tree-Lighting Vigil Centers Christ in the Rubble
LAURIE GOGNE – While the Biden administration proclaims “a season of Light and Peace” as the theme of its Christmas celebrations this year and thousands gathered in Washington on December 5th to view the lighting of the White House tree, a group of around 50 activists held another kind of commemoration of Jesus’s birth.
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.”
University of Toronto students score a win for the climate – and campus protests more broadly
NICK ENGELFRIED – As student dissent faces widespread crackdowns, a victory over fossil fuel influence at the University of Toronto offers hope and inspiration.
In times of crisis we need more people power – mass trainings are the key
PAUL ENGLER – For movements trying to harness the energy that emerges during political upheavals, mass training provides a crucial means to develop leadership and bring in new participants.
Community Support Helps Keep the Orca Book Cooperative Stay Afloat
DAMON ORION – When COVID-19 hit, U.S. bookshops were an endangered species. Olympia, Washington’s largest independent bookstore survived by embracing the co-op model.
How the Dutch Climate Movement Won an Environmental Breakthrough
PAUL ENGLER – An innovative Extinction Rebellion campaign to end fossil fuel subsidies offers key lessons for the global movement.
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.
Montana’s First Worker Cooperative Is In It for the Long Haul
DAMON ORION – The custom steel fabrication and design company Crucible built a “gravel road” for other Montana worker co-ops to follow.
Five Ways to Approach the Election with a Movement Mindset
RAE ABILEAH and ANDREW BOYD – Distilling hard-earned lessons from election dilemmas faced by earlier social movements, here are five key insights to consider.
This activist group chat has been blocking a weapons shipment to Israel for weeks
MADISON BANNON – A South African WhatsApp group working with Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, or BDS, has sparked a movement to block a ship carrying military explosives bound for Israel.
Amazing True Story About Mutual Understanding on the Abortion Issue
JOSH SABEY – When political rivals meet behind closed doors, positive changes can occur in everyone involved,
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.”
In the Heart of Wall Street, Rights of Nature Activists Put the Fossil Fuel Era on Trial
KATIE SURMA – What would the world look like if legal systems rendered decisions based on what was best for the integrity of ecosystems? A people’s tribunal on the “rights of nature” is providing a model.
Georgia’s Repressive Tactics Unravel In ‘Stop Cop City’ Case
FIGHT BACK! NEWS – Georgia’s aggressive prosecution of activists in the Stop Cop City case is part of a larger trend across the U.S., where the state increasingly treats protest movements as threats to national security rather than expressions of democratic dissent.
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.
‘Failure of Leadership’: Hoffa Rips O’Brien Over Teamsters’ Snub of Harris
JON QUEALLY – If Trump ultimately wins, Greenhouse said, the snub of Harris may be something O’Brien and the Teamsters “end up regretting because a second Trump administration will probably be even more of a danger to unions (and democracy) than the first one.”
Campaign Nonviolence Organizes 5,209 Peace Activities Worldwide
CAAMPAIGN NONVIOLENCE – A culture of active nonviolence is powerful. It’s visionary. It’s active. It’s disruptive. It’s healing and transforming. And it’s here now.
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.