Plastics Protest, Ceasefire Encampments & Funeral For Nature

Editor's Note From Rivera Sun

Students across the United States – and beyond – are setting up protest encampments, demanding that their universities and colleges divest from Israel firms, particularly weapons and military contractors. They also want their institutions to call for a ceasefire and stop punitive measures against student protesters opposing the war in Gaza. The arrest of 100+ students at Columbia University has galvanized students to stand up for their right to protest, even in the face of escalating suspensions, arrests, and other repression.

In other places, student organizing is taking the lead in demanding mass transit in British Columbia, opposing budget cuts in Argentina, and demanding climate justice. But the students are not the only ones who should be rightly alarmed at the crackdown on protests. The Supreme Court decided not to review a lower court ruling that makes protest organizers face potentially ruinous financial consequences if a single attendee at a mass protest commits an illegal act. This law will likely abolish mass protest in the states it affects – Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

In more Nonviolence News, thousands of Indigenous Peoples gathered in Brasilia to push President Lula to make good his promises to recognize and safeguard Indigenous lands and cultural rights. Portugal’s president made an important statement that the nation takes full responsibility for their role in enslaving 6 million Africans in the colonial slave trade and that reparations may need to be paid. A transgender teen athlete’s testimony persuaded the New Hampshire legislature to vote against an anti-trans bill. North Texas organizers are going door-to-door mobilizing their community to stop a police training facility dubbed “Cop City Dallas” after the much-protested facility in Atlanta, GA. And a march to “End the Plastics Era” was followed by a die-in underneath a sculpture of a tap pouring out a stream of plastic waste. The actions took place outside a summit for a global treaty on plastic pollution held in Ottawa, Canada.

Find these stories and more in Nonviolence News>>

One of my favorite stories this week was the somber ‘Funeral for Nature’ held in London by climate groups. Thousands gathered to mourn the collapsing ecosystem. Four hundred were garbed in striking Red Rebels costumes; the rest wore funeral blacks. The United Kingdom has lost 97% of its wildflowers since WWII and 43% of its bird species are in decline. Our grief is powerful and its expression is needed.

In solidarity,
Rivera Sun