Disrupting Violence-As-Usual With Campaign Nonviolence
What does it take to build a culture of nonviolence? All of us.
Culture is built day in, day out, by the actions of millions of people. It’s built of small things—like favorite foods or games we play or the movies we watch. It’s built of large things—like military policy, holidays, values, and beliefs.
In September 2022, over 320,500 people (and more around the world) took a step out of the ordinary to challenge and transform the primacy of violence in our culture. During the ninth annual Campaign Nonviolence Action Days (Sept 21-Oct 2), the expanding movement for a culture of peace and active nonviolence coordinated 4,622+ actions and events, working with more than a hundred partner groups across the United States and globally. From ending gun violence to abolishing nuclear weapons, the individuals and organizations involved connected the dots between their issues, forming a movement of movements that strives to transform all forms of violence. This could be direct (fights, gun violence, domestic abuse) or systemic (racism, sexism, poverty) or environmental (toxins in the watershed, species extinction, climate crisis) or others.
During the Campaign Nonviolence Action Days, it’s heartening to see people intentionally challenging and transforming all these forms of violence. Here are some specific examples:
Some groups are creating alternative cultural practices, such as giving out awards to groups and individuals for advancing Dr. King’s vision of the Beloved Community. Or painting a giant peace mural in a public park. In Hillsboro, OR, a group planted a peace pole at a Habitat For Humanity site as a visible reminder of humanity’s yearning for peace. Meanwhile, in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, an impressive 43 peace poles were put up in schools, community centers, city parks, and faith centers. One man put nonviolence posters on the side of his camper van as he drove across six states. Another group held a peace and nonviolence music concert in Austin, TX. On September 21st, the International Day of Peace, and on Oct 2nd, the International Day of Nonviolence, many cities and towns asked their public officials, city council, or mayors to make proclamations. Others helped their faith groups host talks or sermons on nonviolence, including 144 United Church of Christ congregations debunking Just War Theory from the pulpit on Just Peace Sunday. Still others offered peace and nonviolence themed teach-ins with school children.
It’s easy to overlook the importance of actions like this. We assume that the default of our culture is benign, but it’s not. It normalizes violence, injustice, and abuse through “a thousand nicks and cuts.” It shows up in the violent “heroes” of cinema or the military salutes at sports games. It manifests as high rents, evictions, and sweeps of unhoused encampments. It’s embedded in low wages, unfair hiring practices, and racial disparities. It causes gun violence, suicide, domestic abuse, and much more. It seeps into policies like mass incarceration, immigration, and military spending. The pervasiveness is shocking.
During the Action Days, activists revealed how commonplace extreme violence has become in our society. They used direct action to challenge the sale of automatic assault rifles at local gun shops in Portland, OR. They protested the glossy war booths at a major weapons and surveillance convention in National Harbor, MD. They held demonstrations at military bases in Knob Noster, MO, and Tucson, AZ, and opposed nuclear weapons at the United Nations in New York City.
Reducing violence, healing from trauma, and making tangible change, people found numerous ways of opposing direct violence, especially gun violence. In Atlanta, GA, youth coordinated an art summit to heal from violence. Sandy Hook Promise held hundreds of events nationwide during their Start With Hello Week to prevent the social isolation that has contributed to school shootings. In Honolulu, HI, organizers made a Zone of Peace & Nonviolence in a housing center, putting up a sign and holding a march to support the initiative. Twin Cities Nonviolent organized 12 Days Free From Violence, uplifting anti-violence, peace, justice, and nonviolence work. They also held a Campaign Nonviolence March, in which each person carried a sign for a nonviolent solution they support. To reduce the number of handguns and other weapons in the community, Nonviolent Santa Fe supported a gun buyback program in New Mexico. In Opelika, AL, youth held a rally against violence, honoring a friend who recently committed suicide. Earlier in the day, they participated in a workshop against bullying and to prevent youth suicide. Chicago groups held a bike rally for peace and a drum circle for healing. In Sudan and Tanzania, large anti-violence and peace actions gathered hundreds of people.
Actions to divest from violence and re-invest in nonviolence brought together the issues of climate and peace. Not only are millions of US residents actively participating in industries and systems that churn out violence, injustice, and harm, trillions of dollars—both private and public—are funding destruction. Groups in multiple cities rallied during the Campaign Nonviolence Action Days to get their banks, cities, and local institutions to divest from weapons and fossil fuels. In Lancaster, PA, peace activists built on their city divestment effort by asking officials to contact the federal congress to urge lawmakers to cut military spending and fund social services. A group in Santa Fe, NM, pushed their city council to make a similar request.
Preventing violence toward the Earth, people took action in dozens of cities to protect the water, air, land, animals, climate, and ecosystems. Backbone Campaign coordinated a dozen creative actions to remove the dams on the Snake River, including light projections and overpass banners. In Nairobi, Kenya, youth and others cleaned up garbage and pollutants in the city. Another person held a march for wildlife and put up signs preventing hunting in protected areas. An animal sanctuary in Good Hope, GA, hosted an event that connected personal peace and animal rights. Activists in Austin, TX, held an intergenerational climate protest at the state capitol.
This is just a glimpse of the thousands of actions that took place as people in small towns and large cities nudged our world in the direction of nonviolence and disrupted violence-as-usual. From the Campaign Nonviolence Youth Collective’s Mutual Aid and Acts of Kindness to a skateboard ride-in for racial justice on campus, it’s an inspiring vision to imagine hundreds of thousands of people moving into action together. We can find solidarity in the shared longing to end violence. As the poem by Warshan Shire goes, “at night I hold an atlas in my hands and ask, where does it hurt? Everywhere. Everywhere.” While it is heart-wrenching to see the many ways that people are hurting, it is heartening to join with millions of people working to heal, transform, and change our culture. Campaign Nonviolence is about mobilizing people into action, connecting our issues, and seeing the strength of our vision for a profoundly different world. As we enter into our tenth year of the Action Days, we’re also expanding into year-round organizing through the formation of Campaign Nonviolence Affinity Groups. These small teams of 5-15 people meet and take action monthly.
Ending violence in our culture is hard work. It takes all of us. It requires vision, fortitude, and stamina. With so many kinds of violence embedded into everyday life, we have to be persistent in challenging, uprooting, and changing them. That’s one reason the Campaign Nonviolence Action Days are so powerful—there’s nothing like seeing the photos and faces from the movement to remind you that you’re not alone in wanting a better world. In a culture that normalizes, glorifies, and institutionalizes violence, it can feel deeply affirming to see how people are standing up. Join us.