TOM H. HASTINGS – To me, Memorial Day will always be a peace holiday. It should commemorate the hundreds of millions who did not die from thermonuclear warfare this year. May we be so lucky until next Memorial Day.
Category: What’s Happening In the Movement
The Established Order Has Never Been Weaker – Movements Need to get to Work
CAM FENTON – All around the globe, governments are starting to move forward with reopening plans that lift some degree of COVID-19 social distancing. With that comes talk of recovery and rebuilding. While some of the attention is on green stimulus and a range of progressive demands for just and equitable recoveries, the only way we can win any such advances is through movements that are prepared to take on the fight.
Oregon Department of Agriculture Considers Permitting New Mega-Dairy, Easterday Farms, While Small Dairy Farmers Dump Milk
STAND UP TO FACTORY FARMS (Press Release) – Stand Up To Factory Farms, a broad coalition of environmental, food safety, family farming, and animal welfare organizations fighting to protect Oregon from mega-dairies, calls on Governor Brown and the Oregon Department of Agriculture to protect small dairy farmers during the COVID-19 outbreak and enact a mega-dairy moratorium on new and expanding dairies.
Oregon Steps Up Food Resources During Hunger Crisis
ERIC TEGETHOFF – The new coronavirus outbreak is devastating the economy and leading to surges in hungry people. Oregon Food Bank is stepping up to meet the challenge and believes we can emerge stronger from this crisis.
Coronavirus Is a Historic Trigger Event—So Let’s See a Social Movement Rise
PAUL ENGLER – There are times in history when sudden events — natural disasters, economic collapses, pandemics, wars, famines — change everything. They change politics, they change economics and they change public opinion in drastic ways. Many social movement analysts call these “trigger events.†During a trigger event, things that were previously unimaginable quickly become reality, as the social and political map is remade
Stockpiling Bombs vs Stockpiling Ventilators and PPE
BEN COHEN – Why didn’t we stockpile ventilators and PPE? Because our government spent our money stockpiling bombs instead.
Rights Of Nature Law Forces Revocation Of Fracking Permit
COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND – In an extraordinary reversal, two weeks ago, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) revoked a permit for a frack waste injection well in Grant Township. DEP officials cited Grant Township’s Home Rule Charter banning injection wells as grounds for their reversal.
Female Protesters Often Lead to Effective Mass Movements
RASHAAN AYESH – Gender-based violence, WhatsApp message taxes and the rising cost of bread have set off some of the largest protests in the past year, and women were among the first in the streets, often risking their personal safety.
Resistance in the US Borderlands
PEDRO RIOS – From challenging narratives justifying violence to know-your-rights trainings and cultural actions, border communities are building a powerful movement.
By Prioritizing Electability We Hurt the Movements Needed to Beat Trump
GEORGE LAKEY – The trouble with pragmatism these days is that our country is becoming less predictable by the minute. What is going on among the 40 percent of the electorate that didn’t bother to vote in 2016’s general election? How about the new voters who’ve become naturalized citizens in the meantime, or the many who’ve turned 18? How much will the Russians skew the results?
Can Civil Disobedience be seen as ‘Good Behavior’ in a Time of Climate Crisis?
ARNIE ALPERT – While New Hampshire seeks to prosecute #NoCoalNoGas campaigners for “bad behavior,†activists continue their struggle against the region’s worst offender.
Sunrise PDX Is Latest Progressive Group to Oppose Oregon Cap-and-Trade Bill
BLAIR STENVICK – A bill that would aim to regulate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon is dominating this year’s short legislative session. But while the political dynamic in Salem is mostly focused on Democrats who support the bill and Republicans who oppose it, the bill is also receiving pushback from progressive environmental groups in Portland.
Epidemic Violence on Indian Reservations Must Be Addressed
GAIL SKENANDORE and TOM HASTINGS – We believe a light needs to shine on the pockets of escalating violence on Indian reservations. The intersection of guns, drugs, poverty, scant education, substandard health care, high unemployment, and corruption are literally producing conditions that invariably redound the hardest and worst on young people of color.
Blocking Trains and Removing Coal, Climate Activists Fight to Close One of New England’s Largest Power Plants
SARAH FREEMAN-WOOLPERT and ARNIE ALPERT – By escalating from symbolic actions to obstruction, the #NoCoalNoGas campaign is mounting a serious challenge to the fossil fuel industry with a growing network of climate activists.
1970 New York Times Ad Helped Spark an Environmental Revolution. 50 Years Later, 2020 Ad Hopes to Make History Again
DENICE ZECK – On Sunday, February 2, Earth Day Network ran a full-page ad in The New York Times announcing a global day of activism to mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, 2020. The advertisement ran nearly 50 years to the day that a full-page ad in The New York Times used the words “Earth Day†for the first time. The ad changed everything about environmental awareness.
New York City about to Divest from the Nuclear Weapons Industry?
MOVE THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS MONEY – In January 2018, New York City decided to divest the city’s $189bn pension funds from fossil fuel companies within the next five years. Now the city looks set to also divest from the nuclear weapons industry.
New Film Exposes How US Undermined Iran’s Government and Brought About Today’s Crisis
WINSLOW MYERS – The enthralling new documentary directed by Iranian film maker Taghi Amirani and edited and co-written by the renowned film editor Walter Murch (“Apocalypse Nowâ€; “English Patientâ€) is a meticulous backward look at an event that still determines much of the resentment Iran feels toward the government of the United States—and Britain: the 1953 coup which overthrew Mohammed Mossadegh, the democratically elected leader of Iran.
10 Good Things About 2019
MEDEA BENJAMIN – Remembering some of the gains in the difficult year of 2019 can help inspire us for the critical struggles ahead.
Overcoming White Nationalism Has Been a Winning Strategy in the Past and Can Be Again
LESLIE D. GREGORY and TOM H. HASTINGS – We can regain our global image as champion of human rights, which is currently undone. We can be the leader in environmental protection, which Trump is wrecking. And we may even catch up to the rest of the tech-advanced world in universal health care if we choose to drop the politics of division and start the politics of unity.
Can now really be the best time to be alive? A dialogue across generations
YOTAM MAROM and GEORGE LAKEY – A worried young organizer confronts a movement elder who believes that now — in the midst of deep crisis — is our best chance to make big progressive change.
Beyond Changing Light Bulbs: 21 Ways You Can Stop the Climate Crisis
RIVERA SUN – We can all pitch in to help save humanity and the planet. And I don’t mean just by planting trees or changing light bulbs. Climate action movements are exploding in numbers, actions, and impact.
Inside 350.org and Why They Rise for Climate
350 not only networks people together at the grassroots level, but connects fellow climate change activist groups and unites them for major conglomerate projects and demonstrations. It helps smaller organizations make big changes together. There may not be a more significant presence in climate change activism than 350.
‘Choose Love’ to Stop Violence, Sandy Hook Mom Says On Eve of Shooting’s 7th Anniversary
KC BAKER – Learning how to manage emotions and deal with adversity can help prevent violence, says Scarlett Lewis of the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement
Brown Needs to Join Urban and Rural Oregonians in Standing Against Jordan Cove
KRISTINE CATES and EMMA MARRIS – Seldom does one issue unite Oregonians like this one. Last month, nearly 1,000 of us from all over the state met at the state Capitol to demand that Gov. Kate Brown do all she can to stop the ill-advised Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas export terminal and Pacific Connector fracked gas pipeline. . . . Governor, the time to oppose the Jordan Cove LNG project is now.
Rights, Wrongs and The Golden Rule
CRAIG CLINE – We humans are the most powerful members of the animal kingdom. Let’s unite in seeing “animal wrongs†and acting to DO SOMETHING about them. For humane humans, that’s The Golden Rule thing to do.
Thunberg Points the Way to Effective Climate Change Action
DR. TOM H. HASTINGS – Greta Thunberg was just a little girl in Sweden who learned about the emerging threats to all of us–literally to every human being on Earth and to all species–from anthropogenic (human-caused) climate chaos. Now Thunberg has greatly increased the momentum of the climate chaos resistance movement.
How Soldiers Brought a Halt to the U.S. War Machine
ROGER BYBEE – Opposition to the Vietnam war burst into a wide range of activism, including wearing anti-war buttons while in uniform, petitions and demonstrations, guerrilla theater, staging hearings about war crimes, and throwing away the medals they earned in Vietnam.
Movement Violence Can Lead to a Decline in Public Support
J. MUNOZ and E. ANDUIZA – The choice between violence and nonviolence is available to any protest movement. Opting to engage in violence is more costly to the movement because it increases the chance of state repression and also reinforces the claims of those who oppose the movement. The academic research on this topic shows that nonviolent movements are more successful in achieving their long-term goals, whether influencing policy or bringing about regime change. Many researchers theorize that broad-based public support for protest movements is instrumental to their success and that the use of violence may weaken this support.
PLOWSHARES FOUND GUILTY
KINGS BAY PLOWSHARES 7 – More than 18 months after they snuck onto the site of one of the largest known collections of nuclear weaponry in the world, a jury found the Kings Bay Plowshares 7 guilty of all four of the charges brought against them.
Taking Next Steps toward Nuclear Abolition
KATHY KELLY – Many who are working for the abolition of nuclear weapons are deeply disturbed by the madness of maintaining nuclear weapons arsenals and believe such weapons threaten planetary survival. They are joined by people everywhere who worry that, similar to the 1930s, citizens of countries possessing nuclear weapons sleepwalk toward utter disaster.
Extinction Rebellion Targets Arms Industry: Disarm to Decarbonise
EXTINCTION REBELLION – On October 17, XR Peace joined with other anti-arms trade activists to stage a day of action targeting key players in the polluting, oppressive arms industry.
Expanding the Concept and Practice of Nonviolence
MIKE YARROW – True “nonviolence” is an affirmative presence of an alternative force for change, which Gandhi called, “a force more powerful.†Martin Luther King Jr.’s statement is, “. . . true nonviolence is more than the absence of violence. It is the persistent and determined application of peaceable power to offenses against the community.â€
Americans Want Abolition of Nuclear Weapons, not just Limitations!
TIMMON WALLIS – September 23, 2019: A NuclearBan.US poll, conducted on its behalf this week[1] by YouGov, reveals that 49% of Americans think that the US should work with the other nuclear armed countries to eliminate all nuclear weapons from all countries, in line with the 2017 UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (“Nuclear Ban Treatyâ€). Only 32% think that the US should continue to ignore the new treaty and hold on to its nuclear weapons regardless of what other countries think or do, while a further 19% say they “don’t knowâ€.
How the Youth-led Climate Strikes Became a Global Mass Movement
NICK ENGELFRIED – It began as a call to action from a group of youth activists scattered across the globe, and soon became what is shaping up to be the largest planet-wide protest for the climate the world has ever seen. The Global Climate Strike is the result of a whole new generation taking bold action and could be the turning point for grassroots resistance to fossil fuels.
Following Outcry, Armenian Government Steps Back on Controversial Mine Project
ANI MEJLUMYAN – Two weeks after declaring that it would go ahead with a long-debated gold mine project, Armenia’s government has reversed course and said that it will continue to study whether it would in fact be safe for the environment.
Immigration Resistance Has Many Faces
ANDREW MOSS – For the most part, major news organizations like the New York Times, CNN, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times have provided comprehensive, accurate coverage of major immigration-related developments. Significant policy changes and their impacts on people have been presented with careful regard for both detail and larger issues. This is as it should be. Nevertheless, coverage often falls short in underplaying a critical dimension of unfolding events: the extraordinary depth and breadth of resistance to the Trump administration’s policies.
Film ‘Official Secrets’ Reveals the Depth of Deception Behind the Iraq War
SAM HUSSEINI – A new film depicting the whistleblower Katherine Gun, who tried to stop the Iraq invasion, is largely accurate, but the story is not over, says Sam Husseini.
Rotary International as a Model for Statecraft
WINSLOW MYERS – The United States is strong enough to lead the way into a new paradigm of self-interest, where dominance is replaced by a global network attuned directly to meeting human and ecosystem needs. Anything less threatens everyone’s survival. If we can offer help to our adversaries because we see it as self-interest, a different world is possible.
It’s In Our Hands Now: Localizing Resistance to Fight Climate Change
OAKLEY HILL – As the climate crisis becomes more prominent and imminent, the world has looked to the top echelons of global power to save us from ourselves. Too often, we look for top down change when problems so profound and systemic must also be addressed from the bottom up. Everyday citizens can slash emissions and move the planet toward environmental sustainability—especially if they leverage their power at the community and city levels. Around the world, this is already a growing reality as hundreds of communities take matters into their own hands to resist the climate crisis and build alternative institutions.
Ongoing Dread in Gaza: Israel Continues Attacks Against Civilians
KATHY KELLY – Palestinians in Gaza cope with constant tension. Denied freedom of movement, they live in the world’s largest open-air prison, under conditions the United Nations has predicted will render their land uninhabitable by 2020.
New Common Cause Site Tracks Which Members of Congress Have Actually Read the Mueller Report
DAVID VANCE – Common Cause is tracking which members of Congress have read, or not read, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian attacks on the 2016 presidential election. The new easily searchable “Will Congress Act?†website (willcongressact.org) allows people to see whether their Members have read the report and contact them to ask that they read it if they have not.
Using Nonviolence and Trust to Keep the Peace
TOM H. HASTINGS – Building trust is what our public discourse and decision-making is about. While Trump lies an average of 12 documented times each day and wrecks trust, millions of us average folks are working to rebuild it at every level.
In Afghanistan We Have Three Dreams
DR. HAKIM YOUNG – We’re the Afghan Peace Volunteers in Kabul, and we have three dreams. Our three dreams are about reuniting with nature and 7.7 billion other human beings! Our dreams aren’t prescriptions. They’re music and movements, distilled from today’s nightmares.
The Antiwar Movement No One Can See
ALLEGRA HARPOOTLIAN – What if there’s an antiwar movement growing right under our noses and we just haven’t noticed? What if we don’t see it, in part, because it doesn’t look like any antiwar movement we’ve even imagined?
Vision is Finally on the Rise in U.S. Politics
GEORGE LAKEY – From grassroots movements to presidential hopefuls, the importance of creating visionary plans for change is no longer being ignored.
Anti-Occupation Coalition Grows Stronger in the Face of Israeli Military Violence
RAFI ELLENSON – When diaspora Jews and those living in Israel join with Palestinians, they forge a more powerful and just movement to end the occupation.
UN Secretary General Reminds the World of the Importance of Disarmament
ALYN WARE – On May 24, the International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament, UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres released a video message highlighting the importance of disarmament, in particular nuclear disarmament.
Strategic Bottom Line: Go for the Money
RIVERA SUN – With divestment, strikes, boycotts, shareholder action, and more, activists’ campaigns need to find strategic and creative ways to pressure business into taking more ethical, just, peaceful, and sustainable practices.
What Does it Mean to Teach Peace?
ELLEN BIRKETT LINDEEN – What does it mean to teach peace and how would one do it? I think the why is obvious.
The Prosecution Of Julian Assange Is A Threat To Journalists Everywhere
KEVIN ZEESE and MARGARET FLOWERS – The arrest of Julian Assange not only puts the free press in the United States at risk, it puts any reporters who expose US crimes anywhere in the world at risk.