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Remember the Mother’s Day Peace Proclamation

Photo Credit: Julia Ward Howe By John Elliott (1858 – 1925), Public Domain

Every year in May, peace activists circulate Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Peace Proclamation. But, Howe did not commemorate Mother’s Day in May . . . for thirty years Americans celebrated Mother’s Day for Peace on June 2nd. It was Julia Ward Howe’s contemporary, Anna Jarvis, who established the May celebration of mothers, and even then, Mother’s Day was not a brunch and flowers affair. Both Howe and Ward commemorated the day with marches, demonstrations, rallies, and events honoring the role of women in public activism and organizing for social justice.

Anna Jarvis’ vision of Mother’s Day began when she organized Mothers’ Work Days in West Virginia in 1858, improving sanitation in Appalachian communities. During the Civil War, Jarvis convinced women from both sides of the conflict to nurse the wounded of both armies. After the end of the war, she convened meetings to try to convince the men to lay aside grievances and lingering hostilities.

Julia Ward Howe shared Anna Jarvis’ passion for peace. Written in 1870, Howe’s “Appeal to Womanhood” was a pacifist reaction to the carnage of the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. In it, she wrote:

“Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country, to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: Disarm, disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence vindicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of council.”

As time went on, Congress approved the annual commemoration of Mother’s Day in May, and businessmen quickly capitalized on sentimentality and eradicated the powerful calls-to-action both women intended in the original Mother’s Day concepts. Anna Jarvis’ daughter would campaign for years against flowers and chocolates, seeing clearly the commercialization of honoring women and mothers would lead us further from the call to take action.

Consider these stories as the wheel of the year turns around. By next May, perhaps you’ll find a way to honor your mother for her social and political activism, her engagement with resolving injustice, her care for the sick, elderly, or infirm, or perhaps even her staunch opposition to the carnage of war.

Read the whole Mother’s Day Peace Proclamation here.

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ARivera New Hatuthor/Activist Rivera Sun, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is the author of The Dandelion Insurrection, Billionaire Buddha and Steam Drills, Treadmills, and Shooting Stars, the cohost of Love (and Revolution) Radio, and the cofounder of the Love-In-Action Network. She is a trainer and social media coordinator for Campaign Nonviolence and Pace e Bene. Sun attended the James Lawson Institute on Strategic Nonviolent Resistance in 2014 and her essays on social justice movements appear in Truthout and Popular Resistance. www.riverasun.com

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Teach-Ins and Nonviolent Movements

Antiwar protesters in January 1965, uwdigitalcollections - Student protesters marching down Langdon Street, CC BY 2.0

Antiwar protesters in January 1965, uwdigitalcollections – Student protesters marching down Langdon Street, CC BY 2.0

This week in nonviolent history, we celebrate the effective and versatile tactic of the teach-in. One of the largest teach-ins during the Vietnam War, for example, was held on May 21st-23rd, 1965 at UC Berkeley with 10-30,000 students attending. The State Department was invited to send a representative, but declined. An empty chair was set on the stage during the teach-in with a sign that read “Reserved for the State Department” taped to the back.

“A teach-in is similar to a general educational forum on any complicated issue, usually an issue involving current political affairs. The main difference between a teach-in and a seminar is the refusal to limit the discussion to a specific frame of time or a strict academic scope. Teach-ins are meant to be practical, participatory, and oriented toward action. While they include experts lecturing on the area of their expertise, discussion and questions from the audience are welcome.”
– Wikipedia

As a nonviolent action, a teach-in is often offered in the context of protest or resistance. The first teach-in, for example, was held at the University of Michigan in 1965 to protest the Vietnam War, and was organized as an alternative to the previously planned teachers’ strike. Instead of going on strike, the professors held a teach-in, showing up at the university, but teaching about the Vietnam War instead of their regular curriculum.

Teach-ins are a powerful method of nonviolent action that have been used in a wide variety of situations. In the United States in the 1990s, a new series of teach-ins focused on the corporatization of education and on corporate power generally, called the Democracy Teach-Ins, paved the way for the massive demonstrations, including the 1999 Seattle WTO protests; and the 2003 national Books Not Bombs student strike. In 2011, Occupy Wall St. used teach-ins to inform, educate, and mobilize the massive protests against the 1%, bank bailouts, and wealth inequality.

The year, Campaign Nonviolence is inviting teachers, peace educators, nonviolence trainers, and activists to offer teach-ins during the Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions September 18-25th, 2016.

Imagine . . . where could you offer a teach-in? How about a de-escalation training with your local police department? Or perhaps a teach-in on climate change at your city council meeting? What if you offered a teach-in on living wages to your local business associations? Maybe you could offer nonviolent communication training for the youth groups in your area . . . the possibilities are endless, and they all help to bring the skills and knowledge of a culture of active nonviolence into our communities.

Join the growing movement for a culture of active nonviolence by organizing a teach-in in your area or online during the Week of Actions September 18-25th.

Learn more about the history on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teach-in

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ARivera New Hatuthor/Activist Rivera Sun, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is the author of The Dandelion Insurrection, Billionaire Buddha and Steam Drills, Treadmills, and Shooting Stars, the cohost of Love (and Revolution) Radio, and the cofounder of the Love-In-Action Network. She is a trainer and social media coordinator for Campaign Nonviolence and Pace e Bene. Sun attended the James Lawson Institute on Strategic Nonviolent Resistance in 2014 and her essays on social justice movements appear in Truthout and Popular Resistance. www.riverasun.com

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Remembering Nonviolent History: Blue Revolution – Kuwaiti Women Gain Suffrage

KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT:  Kuwaiti women demonstrate in front of the parliament building in Kuwait City to demand their political rights, 07 March 2005. As a battle has raged in the Gulf emirate over political rights for its disenfranchised women, female activists and their liberal supporters staged the rally the morning the parliament was scheduled to discuss a government request to speed up the debate on a women's rights bill. The bill, approved by the cabinet last May and opposed by Islamic hardliners, calls for amending article one of the 1962 electoral law which limits voting and candidacy to male citizens whereas the constitution stipulates gender equality.  AFP PHOTO/YASSER AL-ZAYYAT  (Photo credit should read YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP/Getty Images)

KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT: Kuwaiti women demonstrate in front of the parliament building in Kuwait City to demand their political rights, 07 March 2005. As a battle has raged in the Gulf emirate over political rights for its disenfranchised women, female activists and their liberal supporters staged the rally the morning the parliament was scheduled to discuss a government request to speed up the debate on a women’s rights bill. The bill, approved by the cabinet last May and opposed by Islamic hardliners, calls for amending article one of the 1962 electoral law which limits voting and candidacy to male citizens whereas the constitution stipulates gender equality. AFP PHOTO/YASSER AL-ZAYYAT (Photo credit should read YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP/Getty Images)

This week in nonviolent history commemorates the successful conclusion of Kuwait’s Blue Revolution. On May 17th, 2005, Kuwaiti women gained suffrage after more than 40 years of struggle. The women used a wide variety of approaches to achieve their goals, including lobbying, introducing repeated legislation, protests and demonstration, marches, rallies, and mock elections.

Like many women’s suffrage movements around the world, the Kuwaiti women escalated their actions and campaigns, shifting from legislative and legal efforts into nonviolent direct action. The history of their multi-decade effort is complex, spanning from the 1960s when Kuwait won independence from the United Kingdom, through the Iraqi occupation in 1990-1991,and onward another 15 years until a series of nonviolent actions, changing political climate, and increased pressure finally won the vote for the women of Kuwait.

The movement first began to apply bolder methods of nonviolent action in 1996 when 500 women stopped working for an hour to demand suffrage. Then, as the Global Nonviolent Action Database reports, “In 2002, several women held a demonstration near two voter registration centers in Kuwait. The demonstrators waved banners outside the two centers, but were eventually asked to leave. Kuwaiti women continued to be very assertive in 2003. There were reports of demonstrations involving more than 1,000 women in a country with a total population of two million. The campaign also unsuccessfully sued both the Minister of the Interior and the Speaker of Parliament. During the elections of 2003, women established mock ballots that allowed hundreds of women to cast symbolic votes for real candidates.”

In March of 2005, after highly visible and captivating actions, 1,000 demonstrators gathered outside of the Kuwaiti parliament to continue their demand for basic voting rights. Many women wore pale blue to represent the struggle for suffrage, leading to the moniker, “The Blue Revolution.”  On May 17th, Kuwaiti parliament passed the long-awaited suffrage bill, granting women the right to vote and run for elected office.

The Blue Revolution is part of the Color Revolutions, a series of nonviolent movements that erupted from the 1970s to present day, with a peak in the late 90s and early 2000s. These movements include, the Carnation Revolution in Portugal, the People Power Revolution (also known as the Yellow Revolution) in the Philippines, the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, the Rose Revolution in Georgia, the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine, the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon, the Denim Revolution in Belarus, the Green Revolution in Iran, among many others. The use of identifiable colors and symbols was often used as an intentional tactic of solidarity and visible protest.

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ARivera New Hatuthor/Activist Rivera Sun, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is the author of The Dandelion Insurrection, Billionaire Buddha and Steam Drills, Treadmills, and Shooting Stars, the cohost of Love (and Revolution) Radio, and the cofounder of the Love-In-Action Network. She is a trainer and social media coordinator for Campaign Nonviolence and Pace e Bene. Sun attended the James Lawson Institute on Strategic Nonviolent Resistance in 2014 and her essays on social justice movements appear in Truthout and Popular Resistance. www.riverasun.com

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Remembering Nonviolent History: Freedom Rides

Freedom-Rides-by-Rivera-5-5-16By May 1961, federal law had already ruled that segregation on interstate, public buses was illegal. Southern states, however, maintained segregation in seating, and at bus station bathrooms, waiting rooms and drinking fountains. The Interstate Commerce Commission refused to take action to enforce federal law. To change this, the Civil Rights Movement (CORE, SNCC, NAACP) began a series of Freedom Rides on May 4th, 1961, 55 years ago. By the end of the campaign, 436 individuals had participated in at least 60 separate Freedom Rides, ultimately forcing the Interstate Commerce Commission to enforce federal law and desegregate interstate bus services.

The Freedom Riders drew inspiration from the Journey of Reconciliation in 1947, led by Bayard Rustin and George Houser. The Freedom Rides campaigns followed on the heels of the highly visible lunch counter sit-in campaigns that began in 1960. Diane Nash, a veteran of the Nashville, Tennessee, campaign, was one of the lead organizers of the Freedom Rides, and it was at her urging that the demonstrators persevered through the extreme violence, carrying on to success despite life-threatening situations.

The Freedom Riders’ nonviolent strategy led to careful and effective tactics, placing themselves symbolically in challenging places—black riders sitting up front, white and black sitting together—but with one rider observing Southern segregation customs in order to avoid arrest and contact CORE to arrange bail for those jailed.

Strategy, training, and discipline were essential components of preparation for the Freedom Riders. Over the four months of the campaign, they were beaten, arrested, attacked by mobs; the buses were set on fire, the KKK surrounded them and threw tear gas into the locked buses; at times, Greyhound and Trailways bus lines refused to protect or transport them; hospitals denied care and ambulances would not carry injured Freedom Riders. All Freedom Riders practiced flawless nonviolent discipline despite massive provocation.

On May 14, Mother’s Day, in Anniston, Alabama, Ku Klux Klansmen, some still in church attire, attacked the first of two buses arriving and departing from the station. The driver tried pull away, but was blocked by KKK members. The tires were slashed. A few miles outside of town, the crippled bus was forced to stop by the KKK, who firebombed it. The mob held the doors shut, intending to burn the riders to death. The riders escaped the bus, but were then severely beaten. Only warning shots fired into the air by highway patrolmen prevented the riders from being lynched. The second of the two buses arriving in Anniston, Alabama, likewise faced violent attacks, leaving Freedom Riders semi-conscious in the back of the bus.

Throughout the summer, the Freedom Riders persevered, facing violence, intimidation, and arrests. The nation was shocked by both the violence and the knowledge that southern authorities were ignoring federal laws—the fearless nonviolence of the Freedom Riders gained sympathy and respect. The Freedom Riders escalated until September, when the ICC, faced with the likelihood of more nonviolent direct action campaigns, issued new policies enforcing the desegregation of interstate buses. On November 1, 1961, when the new ICC rules took effect, passengers were permitted to sit wherever they pleased on interstate buses and trains; “white” and “colored” signs were removed from the terminals; racially segregated drinking fountains, toilets, and waiting rooms serving interstate customers were desegregated; and the lunch counters began serving all customers, regardless of race.

The Freedom Rides are a powerful example of the use of nonviolent direct action to enforce justice and fair laws. Remember, by 1961, federal law forbid segregation on interstate buses. Using nonviolent action, the Freedom Riders exercised their rights, upheld the law, and refused to cooperate with injustice.

ARivera New Hatuthor/Activist Rivera Sun, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is the author of The Dandelion Insurrection, Billionaire Buddha and Steam Drills, Treadmills, and Shooting Stars, the cohost of Love (and Revolution) Radio, and the cofounder of the Love-In-Action Network. She is a trainer and social media coordinator for Campaign Nonviolence and Pace e Bene. Sun attended the James Lawson Institute on Strategic Nonviolent Resistance in 2014 and her essays on social justice movements appear in Truthout and Popular Resistance. www.riverasun.com

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