By Maria J. Stephan | – ( Waging Nonviolence) – In his March 1956 sermon “When Peace Becomes Obnoxious,” Martin Luther King, Jr. responded to a headline in a local Alabama newspaper that read, “Things are quiet in Tuscaloosa today. There is peace on the campus of the University of Alabama.” The headline was referring […]
How Persistent Student Organizing Forced the University of Michigan to Divest from Fossil Fuels
By Jonathan Morris | – ( Waging Nonviolence ) – Last month, the University of Michigan became the latest to accept the obvious — that investing in the destruction of society is fundamentally counter to the mission of higher education. With its endowment of $14.2 billion, Michigan now becomes one of the largest public universities […]
Young Indigenous organizers are taking the fight against oil pipelines to Biden
( Waging Nonviolence)- Hundreds of people rallied in front of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers headquarters in Washington, D.C. on April 1 to deliver 400,000 petition signatures calling on the Biden administration to stop a pair of major oil pipelines threatening Indigenous nations’ land and water. “We as Indigenous people are done being silenced,” […]
Anti-Asian violence shares the same roots as the hatred plaguing all communities of color
By Emma Jordan-Simpson and Cathy Kim | – ( Waging Nonviolence ) – Prejudice against Asian-Americans is nothing new. Sadly it is as American as apple pie and Jim Crow. Whether it’s the “yellow peril” of the late 19th century that gave rise to the Chinese Exclusion Act, FDR’s establishment of Japanese-American internment camps or […]
Harlem Ashram: The roots of revolutionary nonviolence in the United States are in the Black community
By Joanne Sheehan | – ( Waging Nonviolence) – Many are wondering how to respond to the current white supremacist threat. We only have to look to history — to those who organized against the brutal culture and laws of segregation in this country — for inspiration on the importance of relationship building, creative strategies […]
How Defeating the Planet-Killing Keystone XL Oil Pipeline built a Bolder, Savvier Climate Movement
By Nick Engelfried | ( Waging Nonviolence) – When President Biden rescinded a crucial permit for the Keystone XL pipeline last week, it marked the culmination of one of the longest, highest-profile campaigns in the North American climate movement. The opposition to Keystone XL included large environmental organizations, grassroots climate activist networks, Nebraska farmers, Texas […]
Why We need to prepare for ongoing insurrectionary violence and address its root causes
By Maria J. Stephan | – ( Waging Nonviolence ) – Following the Jan. 6 insurrectionary attack on the U.S. Capitol and on the country, the FBI has warned of violent actions being planned in all 50 states and D.C. nationwide next week. Last week’s assault, which was incited by Donald Trump, enabled by GOP […]
Climate activists mount utility strike to urge the shutdown of New England coal plant
By Barbara Peterson | – (Waging Nonviolence) – Santa is not the only one giving out coal this year. Climate activists like Johnny Sanchez and Sonja Birthisel in Portland, Maine, recently sent their utility company an envelope of coal instead of payment towards their electric bill. This symbolic act of defiance, organized by the No […]
What Trump’s claim of a ‘stolen election’ means for activists today
By George Lakey | – ( Waging Nonviolence ) – I’m encountering a great deal of alarm among progressive activists regarding continued Republican claims of a stolen election. Do these anti-democratic efforts mean a coup attempt is under way? Despite being among the first to write about the possibilities of a coup, I have to […]