There's no question that art plays a role. It can affect our imagination and our way of seeing the world. 

"Because Gandhi, after all, called nonviolence not only a force, but the greatest power mankind has been endowed with. And I think that this is true. And I think it's true because nonviolence is in some way the core of our nature. It's a core of what makes us human. It's what the philosopher Aristotle would have called our built-in telos. That a telos means an end goal, but it's an end goal which is embedded within us and needs to be unpacked and understood and developed. So, you can, in this sense, look at evolution and, of course, our human evolution, as a drive towards manifesting that telos, that nonviolent capacity within us. And that, I believe, is why nonviolence is so powerful."

“I failed to realize that the vast majority of people, even in a progressive environment, such as what Berkeley claimed itself to be – I sometimes wonder – there was a tremendous fear of disruption without constructive program. And that took me years, really, after the movement to learn. That you have to not only incorporate but lead with constructive program. Meaning, what are you going to build and not just what you are going to tear down?”

In these examples, you see how the conversion of a person from a state of anger and fear to a state of what Marshall Frady called a forgiving love, actually does seem to have an impact on the entire emotional-spiritual consciousness environment and affects the outcome of a situation and changes the minds of others.

A bonus segment for Nonviolence Radio, the Nonviolent Moment is a 30-minute exploration of nonviolence out of KPCA Petaluma’s Free Range Studio.Hosted by Michael NaglerIf you can somehow compass a success without a conquest, you will not have alienated your previous opponent. And that means that you will have built closer relationships, and we should remember that this is always a goal of nonviolent action.

On this episode of Nonviolence Radio philosophy professor, Jen Kling (University of Colorado at Colorado Springs), talks with Michael and Stephanie about refugees and the complex issue of resettling and caring for those who have had to leave their homes. Ensuring that people fleeing hardship at home can find a safe place to live, genuine opportunities to engage in school and meaningful work, to integrate and flourish in a new place is fraught with tensions, tensions which are often overlooked, avoided or simply ignored. Jen encourages us all to look closely at the problem and to deal with it, however imperfectly, head on:… it’s insufficient to just say, “Okay, we're just going to resettle folks,” right? And there are a number of different ways to resettle folks. Once folks are resettled or in the process, you also then have to be making sure that they have access to justice. That’s such a philosopher thing to say, but I think it’s true. And having access to justice is having somebody check up. Ii is understanding your rights, responsibilities, obligations, and opportunities; that there’s someone you can go to, that this is the kind of thing that shouldn’t be happening to you. And I think that’s why it’s so important to work through the details, to say, What does justice demand of us in this case? Because I think it actually demands a lot more than we would like to believe. I think it does. We owe it to folks, not as a matter of compassion or as a matter of mercy, but as a matter of justice because they're people too, you know, and we owe it to them.All of us in the global community have a responsibility to step up to the big work of taking care of each other, especially those who, like refugees, are vulnerable and without recourse to the rights and support they deserve. This is not a small endeavor, but it is an important one and a necessary one. In Jen’s words, “Sometimes we are responsible for fixing things we did not break.”  

Topic Scans and Links:Tariq Habash, from the US Department of Education resigns over the war in Gaza.Good Shepherd Collective campaign called No Ceasefire, No Votes.800 government employees from the US and other 12 nations published a letter protesting Israeli policies and stating that the leaders of their countries could be complicit in war crimes in Gaza.USAID, a thousand of their employees have released an open letter with the same concern.Hundreds of thousands of Germans rallied in a hundred cities against the plan that the AfD developed to deport people.Marlene Engelhorn has recently drawn attention to herself by giving away or preparing to give away 90% of her wealth. She said, “I’m creating the tax I would want to pay.”But there’s a bill before the Senate and the House which would make nonviolent protests a federal crime called the “Safe and Open Streets Act.”Mexico has brought seven US gun manufacturers to court.Truthforce.worksSolutionary climate fictionUnarmed Civilian Peacekeeping and Accompaniment — worldwide meeting, 61 organizations representing 24 countries in Geneva who called themselves the Community of Practice.Nonviolent Peaceforce are offering a trip to the Philippines.Pace e Bene — $1000 grant for innovative projects that address community violence. Apply soon!This month is the 40th anniversary of the MST - Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, Movement of Landless Workers.

This episode of Nonviolence Radio welcomes @hellaJinsella from the UK peace organization, DeMilitarize Education (dED/ ). Jinsella has been actively working to raise awareness about the ties between higher education and the military. As these relationships have not generally been made public, military funding, and the accompanying environmental degradation the arms industry entails, has been able to thrive within universities without sustained challenge. DeMilitarize Education seeks to bring these connections to light. To this end, it has set up a database which tracks schools’ ties with the military and arms companies to be used as a tool to pressure the universities to break these damaging ties. Despite the size of this problem (to date, dED has uncovered over £1.3 billion worth of UK university partnerships with the military and defense sector), Jinsella remains motivated and optimistic. She sees dED as a “part of a much larger mission for the reevaluation of education…it’s a part of the decolonization movement. It’s the part of the fossil free movement. All these things that we want to see shift in our economics are represented within the higher education spaces.” And Jinsella pushes beyond even the realm of higher education, her hope and conviction that a better, more peaceful and just world is possible has led her to set aside a time each week in which anyone anywhere can join her to:simply hold the space for us to imagine peace together. Imagine world peace. Imagine what that means for our economies and care-based systems. And we meditate and actually make space for our minds to start prioritizing peace as the universal principle that we can all stand behind.

In this episode -- SchoolofNonviolence.org  Nonviolent Peaceforce in Sudan  Article by Miki Kashtan  Mother Pelican Blog  Break Through  Popular Resistance – School  Israeli Reservists Protest  Bronx Anti-War Coalition  Cop City  Illegal Pipeline in Yaqui Community  Line 5 Pipeline Trespass  Campaign Nonviolence Action Week  Black Prisoners Caucus  Code Pink

It seems there is a cultural myth that union organizing is inherently nonviolent. On the one hand, any demonstration of the power of “people” versus greed and corruption in the workplace seems to tick the box in our cultural imagination about what nonviolence looks like. Images of warehouse workers from Amazon or coffee baristas advocating for better work conditions and better pay are poignant and tell a story of The People fighting against exploitation.  Cultural memories of the Farm Workers Grape Boycott are iconic in nonviolence imagery.  It all seems so cut and dry. But for those on the inside, who participate in or are considering participating in unions,  they find themselves in a more nuanced situation, where the structures of organizing have embedded inequalities that are hard to overlook, or the methods of bargaining and protest tell an ‘old story’ of us versus them, creating enemy images and perpetuating a cultural story of good-guy/bad-guy victimization, instead of using strategies of conflict escalation, de-escalation, and transformation rooted in an ethic of bridge building and belonging. This has led to many, especially in younger generations,  feeling discontent with unions, and seeking out new ways of building Social Justice methods into labor organizing if they will join one at all. Erik Olson Fernández is proud that while he has had many years of experience organizing for nonviolent social change as a community organizer and in the labor movement with healthcare and public education unions, he began his training like Gandhi, as an attorney. Committed to bringing out the true sense of “union” in his union organizing work, he is currently working with the California Teachers’ Association and educators in Sonoma County, California, emphasizing systemic change within unions and the social structures that target the most vulnerable.  I originally got into labor organizing when I was doing community organizing work. I had gone to law school, but I had always focused more on organizing people, having grown up poor in the United States with a single mother from Mexico who struggled economically.I was looking for a way in which to change the social structure that created the poverty that I grew up in and that others were forced to live with. So, I began studying previous social movements and looked to Gandhi and King as models and studied how they did the organizing. You know, what Gandhi did in South Africa, what King, and particularly the young leaders in the 1960s Freedom Movement, did to organize their communities in the South.On this episode of Nonviolence Radio, Erik discusses the power of Unions when they are woven through and through with the principles and strategies of nonviolence. 

Quaker Pastor Parfaite Ntahuba joins Stephanie and Michael on this episode of Nonviolent Radio to discuss her wide-ranging and inspiring work cultivating and spreading nonviolence, both within her community in Burundi and across the globe. From an early age, Pastor Ntahuba had firsthand experience with both domestic and political violence and has spent her life trying to ensure that the terror and violence she endured will not be the fate of others. She identifies the insidious power of patriarchy as a root cause of violence, showing through concrete examples the way it can destroy families, distort local justice systems and become a justification for gender-based violence. Despite the hardships Pastor Ntahuba has witnessed and undergone herself, she remains hopeful and active, convinced that the practice of nonviolence can lead to real change. Just as her childhood experience in a Quaker household – a home grounded in nonviolent principles and practice – showed her a new way to live, so too can others, even ostensible ‘enemies’, once exposed to the ever-available power of nonviolence, see our world in a new light. And with this clear vision comes a sense of unity, of our shared humanity and our common goal of peace:

 In this special episode of Nonviolence Radio, Stephanie and Michael return to an interview from 2017 with Arun Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, who died at the age of 89 earlier this year. In what follows, we get to revisit some special moments from that program. We hear Arun speak about how his grandfather taught him about the broad and inclusive nature of nonviolence, about the power of anger (properly used) and about Gandhi’s promotion of the charkha (spinning wheel) as a key tool for achieving Indian independence: what might be our charkha today? Arun speaks clearly and tenderly about lessons from his grandfather and these clips from that interview help to bring to light not just Gandhi’s principles, but a sense of his personality.[From my grandfather] I realized that nonviolence was not just about not fighting, it was about not exploiting, and not wasting, and not harming people in different ways. Actually, it’s passive violence, non-physical or passive violence that fuels the fire of physical violence. So logical, if we want to put out that fire of physical violence, we have to cut off the fuel supply. And since the fuel supply comes from each one of us, we have to become the change we wish to see in the world.These selections from Arun Gandhi’s interview are followed by lots of good news in the Nonviolence Report.

In this episode of Nonviolence Radio, Gwen Olton, co-director of the MK Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, talks to Stephanie and Michael about her effort to shift the way we understand and engage in conflict. Gwen encourages us to see conflict as normal. Given our varied backgrounds, needs and aims, we will inevitably find ourselves in conflict with others and we need not avoid this or dream of eradicating conflict entirely. Conflicts become problematic when they are entwined with fear, and this can happen when the authorities called upon to help lack the tools needed to de-escalate them: ...we’ve outsourced our support systems to authorities, and they’re not equipped. And there’s a lot of other reasons that we don’t want to use authorities for all our conflicts. Like it leads to this punishment cycle and many of us are not actually getting support with our conflicts when we go to authorities. We're getting just more entrance into a system that causes more harm.Rather than fuel this broken system, Gwen suggests that we approach conflict with a sense of curiosity and confidence, remembering that each of us has the capacity to find resolution. And while resolution does not demand interference from a formal authority, it is greatly helped with support from others, more specifically, third parties who can “hold space for you in a way that helps you get creative and constructive about your conflict instead of jumping on an anger bandwagon.”

In this episode --Traute Lafrenze and the White Rose Traute Lafrenz who passed away at her home in South Carolina. She was 103 and the last surviving member of the White Rose.Zan, Zindagi Azadi – Woman, Life, Freedom Alliance for Democracy and Freedom in Iran Alliance for Democracy and Freedom in IranCharter of Solidarity and Alliance for FreedomUSPS Upgrading to Electric Fleet Conscientious Objectors in Israel Comment from Shimri ZameretGlobal Gandhian Movement for Swaraj Earth4All Earth4All has been praised because it’s very clear-eyed on the impending destruction of the environment, the economy, as it lays out five paths to a systematic rescue.Mediation Response UnitsMediation Response Unit are having a series of online breakfasts

In this news segment – Rage Against WarPositive Peace - International Holocaust Remembrance Association - Compassionomics Le Chambon - Lest Innocent Blood be Shed Indigenous Communities Gaining Titles to TerritoriesChipko to EQATComposting in San FranciscoPeru and the Paradox of RepressionConstructive Programs

This episode of Nonviolence Radio welcomes journalist and author, Thomas Ricks. Thomas talks to Michael and Stephanie about his new book, Waging a Good War. A military history of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968. Together the three explore the ways in which the American Civil Rights Movement framed nonviolence within a military context to advance its goals. Through a deep and practical understanding of the language and methods of violence, leaders of the Civil Rights Movement were able to use nonviolent action as a powerful, strategic and even aggressive agent for change. The interview makes clear that effective nonviolence is not embodied in spontaneous, impromptu performances, but in deliberate, intentional and meticulously planned actions. Such efforts required dedication and sacrifice, a commitment to and a faith in a greater good along with a willingness to learn, to practice, to collaborate and cooperate:"One of my favorite moments in one of the Nashville demonstrations is a guy spit in a demonstrator’s face. And the demonstrator had been trained – when somebody spits in your face, ask the guy for a handkerchief. And the mob – this guy assaulting the kid, reached in his pocket for a handkerchief and then said, “Hell no.” But for that one moment, there had been human connection."Ultimately, nonviolence is founded on precisely this human connection, our innate and enduring kinship with one another. This conversation reveals the way that nonviolence can become a powerful force, sometimes fueled by anger at senseless suffering, cruelty, racism and discrimination. But nonviolence does not merely unleash a torrent of rage, instead it carefully and consciously channels anger towards a justice that belongs to everyone.

In addition to the Nonviolence Report (covering nonviolence in the world which is often overlooked by mainstream media), Stephanie and Michael welcome two inspiring guests on this episode of Nonviolence Radio: director of the Regional Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolent and Strategic Action in the Americas, Maria Belén Garrido, and the executive director at the Center for Mediation, Peace, and the Resolution of Conflicts based in the US and Ecuador, Jeff Pugh. Together they explore effective ways to expand the scope of nonviolent action through local, grassroots education initiatives. This means courses that are geared towards – and often taught by – by people on the ground, members of the communities in conflict. This model has been extremely effective throughout Latin America where trainings and courses are bringing people together to learn strategies and exchange stories. This more decentralized kind of education is better able to address particular, situation specific issues; it uses local languages and presents its ideas free from academic jargon.This has led to a growing network of nonviolent activists and movements, from Peru and Venezuela to Ecuador, Honduras and Nicaragua. "To supplement courses and blogs, there is now a database dedicated to collecting examples of nonviolent action in Latin America. This powerful resource highlights not only the wide range of nonviolent actions that are at play in this part of the world, providing activists with concrete examples of practices that work, but also reveals its long history: we decided to create this database, to promote the research for other scholars, but also for the activists to see new tactics, different tactics, as Jeff mentioned, not just protest. Because strategic nonviolent action is not just protest in the streets, but all the different actions that people, in their own country, that speak their own language, are doing – or they have been doing in the last 20 years."The work done by Maria and Jeff and their organizations helps to show how communities in conflict  already have a tremendous amount of strength and knowledge which can be channeled towards peace.

This week, Nonviolence Radio brings together four voices, each one exploring a different aspect of nonviolence. We hear from religious scholar, activist and writer, Francesca Po; advisor to the Secretary General of Pax Christi International, Marie Dennis; pastor at Clackamas United Church of Christ, Adam Erickson; and senior lecturer in the Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies Program at DePaul University, Ken Butigan. Their varied interests help us to trace the deep roots of nonviolence in our history; to understand how contemporary, post-New Age ‘Self Religion’ breeds curiosity and tolerance; to see the ways the Catholic Church is becoming (again) a source of and support for nonviolence education  and finally, to recognize that the ‘scapegoat mechanism’ rests on a misunderstanding of scripture and can be fruitfully replaced with an empowering model of nonviolent action.These four speakers, given their distinct perspectives, enlarge and enrich our understanding of nonviolence and reveal it to be a dynamic and powerful force, one with a long past and an increasingly mighty present.

This week, we have two interviews from Nonviolence Radio, the first with peace activist, religion scholar and author, Francesca Po; the second with Jared Spears and David Fix from the E.F. Schumacher Center for New Economics. Francesca and Stephanie explore the concept of ‘self-religion’, the subject of Francesca’s chapter in the upcoming book, Religion and Peace. Self-religion, as Francesca describes it, is a deliberately chosen religious outlook drawn from diverse religious sources. This kind of ‘pick and mix’ religion reveals in individuals an ‘ability to hold multiple religious authorities or multiple worldviews in their ideology’. And this, Francesca suggests, plays a key role in conflict resolution as the ability to acknowledge a range of different authorities allows people to recognize divergent beliefs as legitimate and valuable. Stephanie and Michael’s second interview takes a deep dive into various aspects of an economics of peace. David and Jared explain some of the activities carried out at the Schumacher Center for New Economics, from local currencies to community land trusts. Together they discuss and start to illuminate a different vision of economics, one which is grounded in smaller, local communities where people are empowered to make choices as to how they want their societies to be structured and which values will serve as their foundations. The Schumacher Center offers resources, information and support as we endeavor to create communities ‘where people can develop their own economy that isn’t reliant on degrading anybody or degrading the natural resources, and is really meant to uplift everybody’.

In Part 2 of this two-part episode, we continue our discussion around the protest movement currently underway in Iran by speaking with Iranian-born Leila Zand, who now lives in the US and focuses on Track 2 Diplomacy in Iran/U.S. relations, as well as Citizen Diplomacy with  CodePink. Having been raised in the throes of both the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and the Iran-Iraq War which followed shortly after, Leila uses her personal experience to illuminate the radical socio-economic, cultural, and religious shifts that the Iranian people have experienced in such a short time period, and how this impacts what is being expressed by women and young people on the streets today. Together, Stephanie and Leila discuss the possibilities in this context for creative, nonviolent solutions, when there are also active and destabilizing risks like widespread anger, devastating sanctions, and threats of armament. In spite of this, at Nonviolence Radio we know that one thing is for certain– wherever there is conflict and violence, we will find nonviolence in action, even if it's small. There’s always something we can do.For more on nonviolence in Iran visit the Metta Center.

On Sept. 13, 22 year old Mahsa Amini was detained by the Iranian morality police and died in their custody three days later, allegedly at their hands. Protests have erupted across Iran and with solidarity actions taking place among the diasporic community across the world. A women- and youth-led movement has taken shape, and people are willingly facing brutality and even death in the streets, with slogans such as “We are all Mahsa” and “Life! Liberty! Freedom,” as women in particular cut their hair and burn their hijab (headscarves) to defy government regulation on their capacity for self-determination and unequal status before the law.At the root of these protests is the call for revolution, no less than the complete reversal of the Islamic Republic instituted in 1979 with the ousting of the Shah, while others simply hope that some aspects of the repressive regime will subside.In part one of this two-part Nonviolence Radio episode, we interview Mehdi Aminrazavi for his perspective on the protest movement and what he is hearing from his friends and family in Iran. Born in Mashhad, Iran, Dr. Aminrazavi participated in the protest movement to oust the Shah. Now a scholar of philosophy and mysticism, he is the Kurt Leidecker Chair in Asian Studies, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies Program, and professor of religion and philosophy at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia.In part two (which will come later in a separate post), we will speak with Leila Zand, who was born and raised in Tehran, and is now working on her dissertation about Track 2 Diplomacy for Iran/U.S. relations. She is a leader for Citizen Diplomacy with Code Pink.For more on nonviolence in Iran visit the Metta Center.“Because the internet generation, even though they lived in Tehran and Mashhad and Shiraz and Isfahan, but they really were a part of this global culture that was very different from their parents. Whereas I or my wife would listen to these morality police and their advice and say, ‘Oh, sorry. It won’t happen again.’ These kids, 15 and 16-year-olds, wouldn't listen. They would confront them. They would fight with them. They would get arrested. They would be imprisoned and tortured and so on.And so, as the younger generation came up, they not only looked down on my generation, as to, “Why did you do this to this country? You know, change is good, but for better, not worse. And you took the country back centuries. Why?” And so, they became more defiant and more defiant.” – Mehdi Aminrazavi

“Every individual should be deliberately and consciously living their life in a peaceful and nonviolent way. And that is the basic self-transformation which is important for the Culture of Peace. And that is the thing that we have been telling again and again, that peace is something very individual to all of us. Yes, we create the communities. We create the nations. But individuals do it. Nations do not stand and communities do not stand without the individuals. So, that is the point. If we change – it is a painstaking, long-time effort, but we do that. We have to do one person at a time, and that is very important. ... So, that is a big, big challenge that we face all the time. But we cannot give up. Civil society cannot give up. We are the conscience of humanity, and we try our best to bring it out.” – Ambassador Anwarul ChowdhuryIn this week's episode of Nonviolence Radio, Stephanie and Michael speak with Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury about the UN Culture of Peace and Nonviolence, its history, and the challenges that it faces within the UN system. He rejects the framing of nonviolence as idealism, and instead embraces it as a practical plan of action that, over the long term, leads to the self-transformation of individuals and societies, and is thus fundamental to the realization of the UN's broader goals. At the same time, he warns that a UN consumed by bureaucracy, internal politics and putting out daily fires, is one which loses its capacity for this long-term vision. As the conscience of humanity, civil society must therefore continue pushing for peace and nonviolence as fundamental not only to preserving the UN’s relevance, but also to bringing about peace for future generations.

In this week's episode of Nonviolence Radio, Stephanie speaks with interdisciplinary sociologist Ruba al-Hassani to bring context and understanding to the current protests in Iraq, and how they differ from the nonviolent Tishreen/October movement of 2019. To provide context to each of these movements, she first gives a deep explainer of the ethno-based consociational and power-sharing model of government that was imposed by the United States following the 2003 invasion, and why Iraqi citizens consider it a failure. Secondly, she explains how armed groups managed to gain seats in parliament after the fight against ISIS, and the obstacles this is creating for the formation of a functionable and representative government.To draw it all together, Ruba describes why the 2019 Tishreen movement insists upon a governance model that is democratic and representative on the basis of merit, as opposed to sectarianism, and what the current protests led by Muqtada al-Sadr might mean for Iraqi people as they conflict with these goals. Despite the deeply unpredictable future of the country, she draws hopefully on the nonviolent and feminist means utilized by the Tishreen activists and considers how the movement elevated public consciousness, while also challenging the status quo and legitimacy of violence as a political tool."But this is another phase, another stage in this revolution. And I think it’s still continuing, in a way. Many people claim that the protest movement has been crushed. But just because there are no street protests, it doesn’t mean that the momentum has been lost. .... There’s greater thirst for knowledge about the constitution, about their rights. ... And now we're seeing more dialogue amongst the people. Politicians are not necessarily engaging in dialogue, but the people are, both online and offline. They’re thinking. And the protest movement has caused a shift in the public consciousness, in the collective consciousness. And this shift will be there for a long time to come. Iraq is not the same after the 2019 October Movement, and I don’t think it ever will be."Music by: Farida Mohammed Ali -- Maqam al hanabat

When Paul Cox was called by his draft board to serve in the U.S. war on the people of Vietnam, he did not feel he could, or should object. Once he arrived, however, he began questioning the motives and purpose of the war and felt it was a duty to do something about it, finding a community of other GIs and veterans who were also opposed. In this interview, Paul describes his experiences as part of a resistance movement within the military to the Vietnam War, and helps us to understand the larger implications of this largely untold history, including the power of overcoming political polarities in the work of peace, and the role of military personnel in ending war.

In this week's episode of Nonviolence Radio, Michael and Stephanie speak with members of the Nonviolent Global Liberation community (NGL) about their collective and individual experiments in nonviolence, including the process of building and working within the NGL community. Their commitment and resolve to explore and address all areas of life, from market economies to home life, to the event greater question of what it means to be human and deeply experience our shared humanity, reminds us that to paraphrase NGL's co-founder, Miki Kashtan, that freeing ourselves from our habits and conditioning of violence, to truly build a nonviolent world, requires both "systemic analysis and individual tenderness." 

This week, Nonviolence Radio hosts three exceptional guests: Tim Pluta and Adrienne Kinne, two former veterans now working for peace, and writer and activist, Lawrence Cox. Tim and Adrienne talk to Stephanie and Michael about their recent work in Western Sahara with three women from the Khaya family who have been forcibly detained in their home for well over a year. The suffering they have endured is horrifying and Tim and Adrienne are drawing on the strategy of nonviolent civilian accompaniment as a means to support them. But their aim extends further: they hope to raise awareness about the plight of Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa, and far too often unseen by the world. Lawrence Cox continues the discussion about colonization, but through the lens of Burma. His interview ends with some hopeful conclusions about the end of empire. Despite the ongoing and profound injustice we see in Burma and in the world, Lawrence speaks optimistically about the future. He encourages us to acknowledge that there may be no single path out of our present difficulties, perhaps though, a single, clear route is not the right way to conceive of the way forward:…there’s something really quite liberating about stepping slightly back from that and going, “Some of the time, it may be okay not to have an exact plan. Either a vision of what the future world we want will be, or of the exact steps that will get it there.” And then even, you know, as in Asia, to find out that there wasn’t one path out of empire. There were lots of different ones. And some of them, in retrospect, we might think that was a better way out. Others, we might think that was not a great way out. But actually, there were lots of different routes out of empire.The possibility of many roads out of current difficulties creates space for creative and surprising approaches, ones which arise in response to particular circumstances, empowering local actors to establish genuine and lasting change.

In this episode, we hear from Kazu Haga from the East Point Peace Academy and Robin Wildman from Nonviolent Schools RI, exploring different aspects of nonviolent trainings to diminish the violence in our cultures.In the Nonviolence Report, Michael Nagler begins with the importance of “Thou Shall Not Kill” in the cultures of the world, and how that message is critical to counter America’s rising violent gun culture.

Nigerian writer and activist Amos Oluwatoye joins Stephanie and Michael on Nonviolence Radio this week to talk about his path to nonviolent activism. He traces his path through radical Marxism and student activism to religious activism to a kind of synthesis and expansion of them all. At university, acting as a leader of his community, Amos was pushed to make difficult choices, choices in which legitimate anger had to be channeled patiently and constructively – nonviolently. He explains how he has learned to have faith in the power of nonviolence, how he has worked for it consistently, even in the face of violent oppression by police and government. We also hear Amos reflect on the history and tradition of nonviolence within his ethnic group, the Yoruba. He talks about the Yoruba practice of respecting elders and describes one beautiful method of conflict resolution: "If there is a conflict in a community, to set time, the first set of people should go and meet the traditional rulers. We still have elders that resolve conflicts. They have various strategies and tactics. We start with storytelling. If there is a conflict between one family and another, concerning who possesses a particular land, an elder can start with a story of how the forefathers of the conflicting partners – how they were friends in the olden days, what they did together."Listening to our elders (and more broadly, listening to each other), learning through stories – these are simple yet powerful practices that Amos brings to life, revealing them to be accessible and effective nonviolent strategies for all of us.

This week, Nonviolence Radio broadcasts a talk by peace researcher and award-winning author, Maria Stephan. Maria is chief organizer and co-lead at the Horizons Project and collaborated with Erica Chenoweth on the book, Why Civil Resistance Works. In this episode, she explores how nonviolence might be effectively used in Ukraine – and the ways it already is:… right now, inside Ukraine, in towns, villages, cities that have been invaded and occupied by Russian forces, you are seeing actions by ordinary unarmed civilians to stop, thwart, and slow the invasion of Russian troops, tanks, convoys, including these scenes in Kherson and Melitopol, where you've had literally people putting their bodies in front of tanks and convoys. In some cases, forcing them to turn around and leave the cities or towns.Given past work on Syria, Maria understands the nuances of nonviolent tactics such as sanctions and is able to explain how they might be used constructively, as a way gradually to dismantle ‘key pillars’ of power within Putin’s regime. Her sense of hope, her conviction that nonviolence truly works, rests on concrete evidence that is too often overlooked by mainstream media. Michael’s Nonviolence Report following Maria’s talk is also firmly grounded in evidence, the evidence of hard science. Instead of the usual round-up of nonviolent action taking place across the globe, Michael offers us a cogent and compelling account of how contemporary physics dovetails with the ancient Vedanta tradition, revealing our individual consciousness – here and now – to be a vital force in shaping the world we inhabit.

Qamar Jafri visits Nonviolence Radio this week to talk with Stephanie and Michael about the Pashtun Protection Movement, committed to bringing about justice through nonviolent means, even in Pakistan, a place which has suffered from entrenched violent conflict. This interview explores not only the ways the Pashtun Protection Movement effectively uses nonviolent resistance to end oppression and injustice – for instance,  marches, sit-ins, direct calls for government reform, but also highlighting the constructive aspect of nonviolence.  Building off the legacy of Bacha Khan’s interpretation of the Pashtunwali, the Pashtun Protection Movement reflects a sense of justice that does not devolve into an endless cycle of retribution and revenge but one which continues to grow through concrete practices, through “deradicalizing, countering violent extremism, through literature, through education, and through contact – like making study circles, groups, seminars, conferences, workshops.” Because of this ongoing formative education in nonviolence, youth today see that “the response to this violence should be nonviolence.”Qamar explains some key elements of effective nonviolence in the Pashtun Protection Movement today: inclusion of women, of victims, of children’s voices; use of local knowledge recognizing and relying on the expertise of indigenous people; establishing both practical networks on the ground as well as formal legal support, and turning to modern social media to bypass distorted reports from state run media outlets. After all, it is through contact with one another that we see our common humanity and the very real possibilities we have to make peace.

This week’s Nonviolence Radio show shares the stories and wisdom of two guests: Osama Elewat, an activist from Combatants for Peace (a volunteer organization that brings together ex-combatants from Israel and Palestine to find peaceful solutions to the cycle of violence in the region) and Michael Beer, the director of Nonviolence International (an organization that advocates for active nonviolence and supports creative constructive nonviolent campaigns worldwide). Both guests speak about the power of nonviolence in practical terms, revealing how its strategies can be effective even in the face of terrible conflict, specifically in Palestine and Western Sahara. Real change in Palestine-Israel relations, Osama suggests, calls for a dramatic shift in perspective: we must see the process itself as the end and we must realize that the foundation of the conflict resolution process is the rehumanization of our perceived enemies:"…we are honored to plant this seed of different ideas for resistance. If it doesn’t work now, it will work in the future. We are sure the situation will change in the future. And we want to tell our grandchildren in the future, if they ask us about what we have done to end this conflict, we want to say that yes, we saw each other as human beings. "This profound yet simple idea can take many forms and Michael talks about how it can be expressed in a range of nonviolent tactics. He encourages us to see that these tactics are already at work all around us, they are simply often overlooked. By becoming more conscious of the many creative forms nonviolent action now takes, we can choose take part ourselves, to strengthen existing expressions of nonviolence and enlarge its scope:"We want people to realize that nonviolent action is used in every country in the world, almost every single day. It’s used on a vast scale. And we want people around the world to realize that there’s an enormous toolbox of actions and tactics that people can consider to use. "Osama and Michael ask that we open our eyes to the reality of persistent violence in the world, that we become aware of suffering, whether or not it is on the front pages. But most important, they show us the ways in which nonviolent action is simultaneously powerful and accessible – by taking small steps, we can all work nonviolently to bring about change.

Joanne Sheehan of War Resisters League and War Resisters International joins Nonviolence Radio to share insights and strategies for resisting militarization and ending war through nonviolence, with a focus on current events of the war in Ukraine. 

Dr. Vandana Shiva joins us on Nonviolence Radio this week to discuss her latest book from Synergetic Press, Philanthrocapitalism and the Erosion of Democracy: A Global Citizens'  Report on the Corporate Control of Technology, Health, and Agriculture. 

This week, Michael and Stephanie talk about reparations (and more) with UC Berkeley professor emeritus, Charles Henry, who is also the former president of the National Council for Black Studies and former chair of Amnesty International USA. In 2007, years ahead of his time, Professor Henry wrote a book on the issue of reparations, Long Overdue. The Politics of Racial Reparations. Reparation, Professor Henry reminds us, is about repairing and thus is far more than a financial transaction; it cannot be tidily achieved with a one-off check intended to close definitively the chapter on hundreds of years of slavery and discrimination. Rather, reparation is intimately linked to restorative justice -- the need to recognize a wrong done, to listen to voices expressing pain and anger and suffering, to atone and finally to find a sense of closure that all parties can feel. Ultimately, Professor Henry says, reparations can lead to rebuilding of community in such a way that the desire for vengeance is diminished and fear can be replaced by hope for a more just and loving community, one where people know they belong:Instead of retribution what we want is restorative justice. It’s the kind of thing that Martin Luther King talked about when he was asked about violence, and when you’d have discussions of KAMU and others. Vengeance or retribution only leads to more violence. King, when he talked about colonialism, he would say, the objective of African Americans is not to separate in a separate colony or to kick whites out of the country as in colonial Africa, but to live in the same country. To reconcile with white Americans -- and to have that, you need restorative justice not retribution.If we think, as Professor Henry suggests, of reparations as a process instead of a payment, it can become the basis for an ongoing, dynamic, harmonious relationship with our history and with each other. 

On today's show we honor the life and teachings of Buddhist monk and peace activist, Thich Nhat Hanh, or Thay as he is lovingly referred to by his students. Thich Nhat Hanh passed away at the age of 95 on Friday, January 22, and leaves a legacy that goes beyond Buddhism and into the heart of what it means to be human, and how to put compassion and nonviolence into practice. His teachings have shaped many lives and will continue to do so. We are pleased to be able to share with you, thanks to receiving permission from his monastery, Plum Village, this dharma talk by Thay, entitled The Art of Being Peace from May 13, 2008 at the 5th International Buddhist Conference. The talk includes chanting and a meditation at the end. 

This week, Stephanie and Michael are joined by community leader, Natasha Juliana, who is currently hard at work on “Cool Petaluma,” a project that aims to heal the climate from the ground up. Aware at how easy it is to become overwhelmed by the climate crisis, paralyzed by its magnitude, Cool Petaluma starts with concrete, inclusive and non-political actions taken at a grassroots level. This allows people to see that there are in fact ways each one of us can help the earth right now – and part of that comes through building conscious and caring communities wherever we are:“I’ve always believed that individual actions are the on-ramp to larger collective action and participation. It’s the way we get introduced to a new way of thinking and ideas…the first actions that [those involved in the project] take are around emergency preparedness. Because as we move into this climate disruption, we are going to see more – as we have already over the last four or five years, more fires, more floods, you know, depending on where you are in the country. All kinds of reasons that it’s helpful to be prepared. And why it’s so helpful to have those relationships with your neighbors so that you can take care of each other. You can know who to look out for on the block and how to share resources.And that’s such an easy in-road for people. It’s not political. It’s – everybody understands that everybody has been experiencing it. So, it’s just a really great place to start”Natasha also encourages us to be deliberate in the language we use as we talk about making change. Words like “combat” or “make war” – even in relation to the real problems we hope to overcome – seep into our psyches and can lead us away from our true aims, which involve not fighting but “growing,” “coordinating,” “creating” and “enjoying.”

Robert Levering comes to Nonviolence Radio this week to talk to Stephanie Van Hook and Michael Nagler about the film “The Boys Who Said No!” and the powerful draft resistance movement that helped to end the Vietnam War. Robert is an executive producer of the film, a position he is well suited to as he himself was a draft resister in the 1960s. In the interview, we hear how Robert worked collectively to refuse the draft, and more, to stand up actively and nonviolently to an unjust and oppressive system:"...the draft sort of makes it us vs. the government. It’s very frightening just individually to face the government and all the power it has. But the communities that we developed helped to give us the kind of strength that we really needed in order to do that confrontation.I know that I never would have – I don't know what I would have done. I mean, you never can tell. But it made it really much, much easier to do something as part of a community rather than just simply doing it individually."Robert’s discussion of his work in the 60s reveals how groups like those opposing the war in Vietnam came together with the Civil Rights Movement to create a power that finally ‘overwhelmed’ the US government, pushing it to end the war and change some of its racist policies. We are seeing strong echoes of this kind of collaboration today, as shown in Michael’s nonviolence report at the end of the show: diverse groups dedicated to nonviolence in many different forms, directed at many causes are coming together, joining hands and actively building a better world.

This week, Michael and Stephanie talk to Kathy Kelly, life-long nonviolence activist, co-founder of Voices for Creative Nonviolence and co-coordinator of the Ban Killer Drones Campaign. This week she discusses her extensive experience in and thoughts about Afghanistan. American intervention, she believes, was -- and indeed, continues to be -- entirely misoriented, escalating rather than resolving the violent conflicts there. She offers some practical and clear advice on what good and productive involvement might entail, and provides concrete ways we might engage. She also pushes us to reconsider our preconceived ideas, both about the Taliban and ourselves; in doing so we can start to empathize, re-humanize and be less afraid:"First of all, I think we need to do what you and Michael have advocated in the Metta Center for a long time. We have to find the courage to control our fears. We have to become a public that isn’t so whipped-up into being afraid of this group, afraid of that group, that we will continue to bankroll efforts to kind of eliminate that group so that we don’t have to be afraid of them anymore. That’s one thing.I think it’s really important to keep on building up our sense of controlling our fears. "A second thing, very practically, is to get to know the people who are bearing the consequences of our wars and our displacement...My young friends in Afghanistan were emblematic of people who wanted to reach out to people on the other side of the divide. They talked about a border-free world. They wanted to have interethnic projects."Only when we truly look at Afghanistan, when we see it and its people in all their rich complexity can we come to a better understanding of what they want and need. Only by actively listening to individuals and groups on the ground will we learn how we might be able to join them in finding ways to resolve conflicts and rebuild. And all this depends on a firm commitment to nonviolence, genuine humility and honest self-reflection:"...nononviolence is truth force. We have to tell the truth and look at ourselves in the mirror. And what I’ve just said is really, really hard to look at. But I think that it’s required to better understand who we are and how we can actually say, “We're sorry. We're so very sorry,” and make reparations that say we are not going to continue this."[Music from DAF Records]

This week Nonviolence Radio hosts Ela Gandhi, granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, herself a peace activist and committed supporter of nonviolence. Ela was raised in The Phoenix Settlement, an ashram established by Gandhi in 1904 dedicated to the value of self-sufficiency, grounded in a profound concern for the natural world and dedicated to promoting human dignity for all. In this episode, Stephanie and Michael talk to Ela about her life, about the corrosive power of consumerism in our world today, about importance of actively modeling compassion, decency and kindness, and the crucial Gandhian idea of constructive program:"...at Phoenix Settlement, we encouraged people to do their own growing of vegetables and so on. That was one way in which people became self-sufficient. Also, in little skills to make them less dependent on the mainline economy. This is building up your own economic activity so that you become self-sufficient, so that you're not dependent on the people who are actually exploiting you. That’s the one thing.The second thing is that you are not supporting the exploitative mechanism. By becoming independent or dependent on yourself rather than on these economic giants, you’re making a statement and you’re also showing that, at the end of the day, they depend on us as consumers. And if we stop consuming what they produce, then it makes them think, it makes them reassess what they are doing. That’s one of the ways in which one indicates to people that we are unhappy about the way you are doing things."“Constructive program” emerges as one of the most empowering and effective tools nonviolent activists can use to push back against oppressive forces and set up a more just and peaceful world. 

“Share the Day” — this is a translation of a greeting from the ocean world of Shora, which was a world created by Joan Slonczewski. She’s a science fiction writer and professor at Kenyon College. This is from her 1986 novel “A Door into Ocean.” The book describes a society of people who are committed to nonviolence at a very, very deep level — and not just an emotional, sentimental kind of “do no harm” nonviolence, but one that is a really deeply transformed view of what it means to be human. And with that, what’s really at stake when we turn to or away from the nonviolent path.Nonviolence and utopian thinking go hand in hand, or so argues Safoora Arbab on the second half of this episode. Utopian thinking is about what is possible, not what is impossible, she posits, and when coupled with nonviolence, we have both a roadmap and a means for achieving a more balanced and inclusive political identity. The goal may be “ever receding” as Gandhi said, and yet, without the clarity that utopian thinking can provide, nonviolence cannot fulfill its higher capacity to engage with long-term systems’ transformation. 

On this episode of Nonviolence Radio, Stephanie and Michael are joined by Kelly Denton-Borhaug. Kelly teaches in the Global Religious Department at Moravian University and has written extensively on issues of war culture, moral injury and the ways that sacrifice can be used as a means to dehumanize and oppress marginalized people. Kelly traces the celebration of sacrifice -- so pervasive in America today -- back to the Bible, back to Ancient Greece and Rome, revealing the deep roots of this powerful and destructive rhetoric. Her work encourages us to think seriously about the damaging consequences of this kind of thinking and to be aware of how religious language can be misused to support, sustain and normalize a culture of war. We need, Kelly insists, to listen to the voices of those who have been unjustly pushed into lives of violence and battle. More broadly, we need to push back against this worldview and reckon with the impact it has, not only on soldiers but on all of us, collectively, as human beings.What I would like to call for is for members of the nonviolence community to really become much more sophisticated in terms of seeing these kinds of dynamics and calling them out, calling out the exploitation of the use of sacrificial verses in the Bible and the way that they are used in war culture; calling out the language and the logic of sacrifice, and actually lifting up the destructive consequences of actual sacrificial dynamics that are endemic to war culture.I think that as people who care about nonviolence and who are, frankly, so often characterized as naïve about the world and about the dangers of the world -- nonviolent actors -- I would love to see them become much more sophisticated about calling out the naivety of those who claim that violence works, and those who unashamedly resort to these kinds of references to religion, to sacralize, undergird, and frankly, conceal the real process and the real consequences of the use of violence.[End music by Nimo Patel - https://soundcloud.com/emptyhandsmusicnimo/ode-to-women]

As we move into the days commemorating the horrific bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we join with activists and scholars around the world who say “no” to nuclear proliferation. What kind of wealth system, what kind of thinking about human life and our shared ecology would pose a fundamental challenge to the nuclear mindset? We invited Dr. Michael Allen to Nonviolence Radio to offer a short but meaningful “teach-in” about the foundations of Western economic thought in Thomas Hobbes and its revolutionary contrast in the economics of Mahatma Gandhi. 

This week, Michael and Stephanie welcome Dr. Wim Laven, professor, author, board member of the International Peace Research Association and the Peace and Justice Studies Association, and Editor in Chief of Peace Chronicle magazine. Wim’s work looks at the immense power of forgiveness as well as the very real difficulties involved in the act of forgiving. How does forgiving release us and allow us to move forward? What are the conditions needed for meaningful forgiveness? How can we forgive the unforgivable? People are figuring out, you know, and being coached by their friends and their family and their spiritual advisors and so forth, that in order to live their best lives, they’re going to have to release some of these injustices, despite the fact that it’s completely unfair, right? Like police departments pulling over people just because of the color of their skin or just because they’ve profiled them to match descriptions of whatever prejudicial bias they would like to monitor. But being angry about it, staying angry about it, is having harmful consequences.In that capacity, the police officer is just following orders and we know that just following orders has been used as a defence about some of the most heinous crimes in history. But it really is. It’s the system or the structure that’s creating those outcomes. I don't know how much the student is aware that what they're doing is forgiving the racism in America, but I do know that they are aware that if they stay angry, then they’ll be unemployed. And they’re finding ways to get over that – at least to the degree that they're able to function, you know?It’s challenging stuff. I think that there are some people that would say that that’s not really forgiveness. I would. I do. I think that I’ve learned a lot from my students sharing their experiences and their practices for how they get through the critical injustices in the world.Wim’s work with students in prison and all over the world illuminates the way in which forgiving plays an essential role in helping individuals to release anger so that they can live more freely and fully. At the level of society, Wim shows how forgiving can work to dismantle power structures that allow for, even encourage cruel, unjust and violent actions. Forgiving is not easy, but it is a powerful force which, when harnessed, allows for deep and lasting transformation.

Nonviolence and utopian thinking go hand in hand, or so argues Safoora Arbab on this week’s episode of Nonviolence Radio. Utopian thinking is about what is possible, not what is impossible, she posits, and when coupled with nonviolence, we have both a roadmap and a means for achieving a more balanced and inclusive political identity. The goal may be “ever receding” as Gandhi said, and yet, without the clarity that utopian thinking can provide, nonviolence cannot fulfill its higher capacity to engage with long-term systems’ transformation. Michael Nagler begins the show with his Nonviolence Report for the week. 

How does the way that we live contribute to a nonviolent society? As the pace of society speeds up, fewer and fewer people are finding fulfillment in the promise a world that is based on advancing technology, consumerism, and depersonalization. Yet there are pockets around the world who are experimenting with community life as a solution to our society’s ills. While this does not mean that there will not be any conflicts (remember, conflict is natural--violence is not), or that the experiment is perfect (for Gandhi, all was an experiment, a learning opportunity), it is precisely in community living infused high ideals like those of the nonviolent path, that we can see ourselves and our human potential more clearly. In this episode of Nonviolence Radio we speak with Timothy Anderson, a full-time resident of a nonviolence-oriented community in the South of France, founded by Lanza del Vasto, an Italian follower of the Gandhian path. In the Nonviolence Report, Michael Nagler makes the radical case for restorative justice because of the impact of retribution on the human psyche and our societal development; and Stephanie shares an article from Waging Nonviolence by Robert Levering about Daniel Ellsberg’s conversion to nonviolence, and a press release from the Shanti Sena Network on their upcoming gathering, to which all are invited! 

Renowned Palestinian activist and humanitarian Mubarak Awad on nonviolence, his activism, and insights for action as the conflict in Israel-Palestine continues to smoulder. 

The legacy of Mahatma Gandhi goes well beyond the Indian Freedom Struggle. He has influenced countless movements and struggles for freedom and democracy around the world, decolonization struggles, including the Civil Rights Movement within the United States.On today’s show, we speak with P. Anand Rao who is a professor of Communications and Digital Studies at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

00:35 | Master of Sustainable Peacebuilding Course01:17 | Third Harmony Screening in Jalgaon01:46 | Meta Peace Team Trainings | Nonviolence Skills Practice Hour02:59 | Campaign Nonviolence workshops03:19 | Stephen Zunes Sudan's 2019 Revolution04:22 | Digital Nonviolence05:09 | Strategies and Inspirations for Addressing the Crisis in Housing05:53 | Votercade for John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Day06:27 | The repeal of the Berlin “Rent Cap”07:24 | Constructive Program & People's Choice Communications & Spectrum Strikers Launch ISP For (And By) The People Of NYC | Spectrum Strikers Launch ISP For (And By) The People Of NYC | People's Choice Communications | Constructive Program08:50 | Scientist Rebellion09:46 | Retired Shrimper's Hunger Strike11:24 | Coal Miners Union Says It Would Accept Transition to Renewables With Green Jobs13:12 | Civilians Protecting Civilians: Women’s Protection Teams in Bentiu

In this episode --Chauvin VerdictHealing Our CityApril 21 Healing Our City Reflection Darnell L MooreMa'Khia Bryant"Madman with a Sword” analogyRestorative Justice Animation & ResourcesResourcesFree Bystander Intervention & De-escalation TrainingsFor Goodness Sake: Music for the Nonviolent FuturePlanned Actions for Campaign Nonviolence Action WeekRivera Sun's Upcoming EventsSustaining Peace ProjectIsraeli-Palestinian Memorial Day CeremonyIndigenous Youth Arrive in DC to Tell Biden: Stop Dakota Access and Line 3 PipelinesDefend the Sacred Alliance

“Share the Day” — this is a translation of a greeting from the ocean world of Shora, which was a world created by Joan Slonczewski. She’s a science fiction writer and professor at Kenyon College. This is from her 1986 novel “A Door into Ocean.” The book describes a society of people who are committed to nonviolence at a very, very deep level — and not just an emotional, sentimental kind of “do no harm” nonviolence, but one that is a really deeply transformed view of what it means to be human. And with that, what’s really at stake when we turn to or away from the nonviolent path.In the Nonviolence Report Michael Nagler reflects upon Derek Chauvin's conviction and gives resources for further training.

“Share the Day” – this is a translation of a greeting from the ocean world of Shora which was a world created by Joan Slonczewski. She’s a science fiction writer and professor at Kenyon College. This is from her 1986 novel, A Door Into Ocean. The book describes a society of people who are committed to nonviolence at a very, very deep level – and not just an emotional, sentimental kind of ‘do no harm’ nonviolence, but one that is a really deeply transformed view of what it means to be human. And with that, what’s really at stake when we turn to or away from the nonviolent path.

In the two weeks immediately following the Georgia attack that killed 8 people, 6 of them Asian women, over 40,000 people signed up for trainings in bystander intervention with an incredible organization called Hollaback! They’re really leaders in the world of bystander intervention as a tool to end harassment, teaching a framework known as the “Five Ds” (Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, and Direct) which many groups who do similar work borrow from them.According to Emily May, Hollaback!’s Co-Founder and Executive Director, “It’s something that all of us can do to take care of each other when harassment happens that slowly but surely chips away at the institutions that underlie it – the institutions of racism and sexism and homophobia that allow it to proliferate to the extent to which it has.” She adds, however, that bystander intervention is only one piece of the solution, noting that we have to also turn to restorative and transformative justice, and “solutions we haven’t even imagined yet.”I had the opportunity to speak with May from her Brooklyn office for Nonviolence Radio about showing up for community, the 5 Ds, why they don’t recommend calling the police, the power of sharing our stories (they have an App for that!), and the importance of ‘resourcing’ organizations like Hollaback! Following the interview, Michael Nagler gives the Nonviolence Report for the first week of April, 2021.

How Hollaback! is Creating a Culture of Communty Accountability and Mutual RespectIn the two weeks immediately following the Georgia attack that killed 8 people, 6 of them Asian women, over 40,000 people signed up for trainings in bystander intervention with an incredible organization called Hollaback! They’re really leaders in the world of bystander intervention as a tool to end harassment, teaching a framework known as the “Five Ds” (Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, and Direct) which many groups who do similar work borrow from them.According to Emily May, Hollaback!’s Co-Founder and Executive Director, “It’s something that all of us can do to take care of each other when harassment happens that slowly but surely chips away at the institutions that underlie it – the institutions of racism and sexism and homophobia that allow it to proliferate to the extent to which it has.” She adds, however, that bystander intervention is only one piece of the solution, noting that we have to also turn to restorative and transformative justice, and “solutions we haven’t even imagined yet.”I had the opportunity to speak with May from her Brooklyn office for Nonviolence Radio about showing up for community, the 5 Ds, why they don’t recommend calling the police, the power sharing our stories (they have an App for that!), and the importance of ‘resourcing’ organizations like Hollaback!  

Nonviolence Report, a segment of Nonviolence RadioIn this episode -- 00:38 Jain Studies -- Teaching Peace01:20 https://worldbeyondwar.org/video-greta-zarro-on-organizing-101/01:53 https://kingandbreakingsilence.org/02:29 https://www.eastpointpeace.org/ytbn10103:23 https://www.eastpointpeace.org/03:48      https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/michaels_book_is_here04:59 https://www.forbes.com/sites/morgansimon/2021/02/01/regions-bank-of-alabama-turns-its-back-on-corecivic-announces-plan-to-end-relationship/?sh=372f7209d15b06:35 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-annova-lng-texas-brownsville/annova-stops-development-of-texas-brownsville-lng-export-project-idUSKBN2BE2QB07:24 https://www.kcaw.org/2021/03/19/herring-protectors-gather-at-sitkas-courthouse-as-commercial-fishery-gears-up/08:24 https://worldbeyondwar.org/public-fast-meant-to-give-langley-food-for-thought-on-jet-fighter-purchase/09:58 https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/03/myanmar-five-year-old-killed-among-hundred/10:45 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/27/more-than-100-killed-as-myanmar-junta-unleashes-worst-day-of-terror11:42 https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/forever-impact-their-hearts-and-minds-greenwood-district-history-to-be-experienced-through-mobile-app/article_10068ada-5a92-11eb-a966-f351aaf1be82.html13:43 https://wagingnonviolence.org/2021/03/mynamar-protesters-victories-double-down-nonviolent-resistance/

Bystander Intervention is a way to get the skills and the training that we need to feel comfortable in community situations to be able to de-escalate violence that’s in word from other people or in deeds.  On the show today,  is Mary Hanna a core team member of the Meta Peace Team.

The Nonviolence Report, a segment of Nonviolence Radio, with Michael Nagler.

This week Nonviolence Radio revisits a 2018 interview with Yasmin Maydhane and Carmen Lauzon from Nonviolent Peaceforce, an organization dedicated to effective nonviolent conflict resolution. Yasmin and Carmen talk about their work doing unarmed civilian protection in South Sudan and the Philippines, respectively. They share inspiring stories about the power of entering into dangerous conflict areas unarmed, but committed to helping communities entrenched in violence to uncover their own solutions, based on their own wisdom and traditions. Nonviolent Peaceforce sees unarmed civilian protection as a way to allow conflict ridden communities to regain the knowledge and power that they’ve always had, and to use it to bring about and sustain peace.The entire UCP principle is about resiliency. It’s about enhancing community or in-house protection strategies, monitoring strategies, general life stock. Like how have you always taken care of your community? And how do we use that and make it better? We are not the ones who suggest how to improve these things. We let the community tell us how they want to improve things. And we do that with them because we live with them. I mean we live in the same places that they do. We eat the same food that they do.We are with them 24/7 which means we get to see if they don’t like something or they want something changed, we also at times can see why they want that. If we agree or don’t agree, either way, that decision is not ours. The decision is the community’s. The whole point of UCP is to engage with the community so that we, as humanitarian workers, U.N. agencies, you know, are no longer needed. The community is self-sufficient so as to be able to take care of themselves. And they are. 

The Nonviolence Report with Michael Nagler for March  5th, 2021.In this Episode --Digital savvinessDC Peace Team Capitol ReportMeta Peace Team going to Israel-PalestineBasic Training for UCPPeace and Justice Studies AssociationNonviolence International webinarMyanmar protestors killed. Principled Nonviolence Obstructive program Constructive programAbdul Ghaffar Khan -- My Life and StrugglePace e Bene workshopGlossary of Civil ResistanceEcuador’s Green Movement VictoryPeace AllianceRestorative Justice Workshop Stories From the Front LineProtests in Myanmar A dilemma actionLine 3 PipelineInstitute for Local Self RelianceLife Affirming Economies                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

This week, after the Nonviolence Report. Nonviolence Radio broadcasts a recording of a speech by Dr. Fania Davis, founder of Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth, a legal scholar, and a decades-long activist in the civil rights anti-racial violence, anti-apartheid, Black liberation, women’s, prisoner’s, peace, socialist and anti-imperialist movements. Dr Davis talks about the power of restorative justice -- as opposed to retributive justice -- to heal and bring together communities fractured by violence, racism, fear and rage. What is restorative justice? It is a worldview, rooted in indigenous principles, and a theory of justice that emphasizes bringing together everyone affected by wrongdoing to address their needs and responsibilities and to heal the harm as much as possible. To heal the harm as much as possible. It is a worldview rooted in indigenous principles and a theory of justice.Our prevailing justice system is based on a Roman notion of just desserts. If I do harm, the scales of justice become imbalanced and the only way to rebalance is to do harm to me. Restorative justice invites a paradigm shift. The three questions retributive justice asks are, “What rule was broken? Who broke it? And what punishment is deserved?”The three questions restorative justice asks are, “Who was harmed? What are the needs and responsibilities of everyone impacted? And how do all impacted come together to address needs and responsibilities and heal the harm?By drawing on her strengths as both a (wisdom, spiritual) warrior and a healer, Dr. Davis has helped bring about massive changes in the Oakland public schools. The use of restorative justice practices has raised graduation rates, drastically decreased the numbers of suspensions and absences and is starting to loosen the tight grip of racism on the education system and our society. The possibility of genuine healing depends on making space -- creating a circle -- where every voice matters and every voice is heard. 

This week, Michael and Stephanie talk about reparations (and more) with UC Berkeley professor emeritus, Charles Henry, who is also the former president of the National Council for Black Studies and former chair of Amnesty International USA. In 2007, years ahead of his time, Professor Henry wrote a book on the issue of reparations, Long Overdue. The Politics of Racial Reparations. Reparation, Professor Henry reminds us, is about repairing and thus is far more than a financial transaction; it cannot be tidily achieved with a one-off check intended to close definitively the chapter on hundreds of years of slavery and discrimnation. Rather, reparation is intimately linked to restorative justice -- the need to recognize a wrong done, to listen to voices expressing pain and anger and suffering, to atone and finally to find a sense of closure that all parties can feel. Ultimately, Professor Henry says, reparations can lead to rebuilding of community in such a way that the desire for vengeance is diminished and fear can be replaced by hope for a more just and loving community, one where people know they belong:Instead of retribution what we want is restorative justice. It’s the kind of thing that Martin Luther King talked about when he was asked about violence, and when you’d have discussions of KAMU and others. Vengeance or retribution only leads to more violence. King, when he talked about colonialism, he would say, the objective of African Americans is not to separate in a separate colony or to kick whites out of the country as in colonial Africa, but to live in the same country. To reconcile with white Americans -- and to have that, you need restorative justice not retribution.If we think, as Professor Henry suggests, of reparations as a process instead of a payment, it can become the basis for an ongoing, dynamic, harmonious relationship with our history and with each other. 

Michael Nagler gives the Nonviolence Report for February 5, 2021.In this episode -00:31 President Biden ending support for the war in Yemen.01:17 10-point Plan for peace president. https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/02/02/ten-point-plan-make-joe-biden-peace-time-president1:56 The end of private prisons by the U.S. Justice Department2:23 Overturning the Muslim ban. Rejection of KXL pipeline. Rejoining of the Paris Agreement.3:54 Stephen Zunes article -- https://www.yesmagazine.org/democracy/2021/01/20/trump-coup-nonviolent-activists/5:07 Truth and Healing Council - https://tribalaffairs.ca.gov/cthc/6:18 Virginia abolishes the death penalty6:41 Farmers Struggle in India8:51 Gene Sharp's 198 methods for nonviolent resistance -- https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/resource/198-methods-of-nonviolent-action/9:38 Coup in Myanmar10:41 Peruvian doctors go on hunger strike to protest pandemic stressResources:14:02 ICNC  -- Civil Resistance Struggles course -- https://courses.nonviolent-conflict.org/courses/course-v1:ICNC+Participant_Led_Course2019+Spring2019/about15:06 Occupy Sonoma County - https://ocsoco.org/content/daniel-solnit-teach-video-effective-strategies-climate-activism15:28 Course on Restorative Justice - https://peopleshub.org/15:53 Indigenous Peacemaking Initiative -https://peacemaking.narf.org/2020/10/news-spiritual-healing-a-more-hawaiian-way-to-deal-with-delinquent-kids/16:34 Ecoleaks - https://www.facebook.com/EcoLeaksGlobal/17:22 Campaign Nonviolence Pledge - https://paceebene.org/nonviolence-pledge17:49 Rivera Sun - https://wagingnonviolence.org/cnv/2021/01/what-the-anti-coup-campaign-taught-us/18:08 Is this principled nonviolence? http://www.huntsabs.org.uk.Learn more at www.mettacenter.org/explore

Stephen Zunes, professor of Politics and International Studies at University of San Francisco, joins Michael and Stephanie on this episode of Nonviolence Radio to talk about how the coup attempt on January 6 reveals some remarkable and genuinely hopeful forces growing inside our democracy. Rather than fear and outrage, Professor Zunes encourages us to take heart in the effective and well-planned nonviolent response by many activists to the angry protesters. This response was not spontaneous, indeed for months various groups and organizations offered targeted trainings on a range of nonviolent methods -- and activists clearly learned some key strategies necessary for effective nonviolent action:You have this combination of people who have shown a willingness to hit the streets and a willingness to be willing to face arrest and to engage in massive noncooperation. There was one thing that was really important about these trainings: it emphasized the importance of noncooperation that underscores what Gene Sharp and a lot of other people – Gandhi and so many other people that I’ve talked about before – governments are only as strong as people’s willingness to cooperate.The nonviolent response on January 6 to the violent challenge to the American democracy could only have happened given a growing commitment to nonviolence, one that we have every right to expect will continue should greater threats emerge in the future. And it is precisely this commitment that, with effort and dedication, will allow us to listen better and come together as citizens who may disagree on this or that policy, but ultimately care deeply about each other as human beings.

This week’s episode of Nonviolence Radio pays special tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. on the 92nd anniversary of his birth. Michael begins by going over some nonviolence news, covering events in the US and abroad. He highlights the urgent need to listen, to see each other -- whatever our different beliefs -- as fellow humans, all of us in need of a sense of belonging to a meaningful world. This is followed by a recording of a speech given by Dr. Clayborne Carson of the MLK Institute at Stanford University in 2017. Dr. Carson turns to the life of Martin Luther. King Jr., recognizing not only the ‘mountaintop moments’ but the valleys he faced and courageously strode through. Dr. Carson calls upon us to remember King’s bigger vision which embraced not only civil rights in the US, but human rights across the globe.“So what I would suggest is that when we go back and look at Martin Luther King's question, “Where do we go from here?”, that it's very possible that gaining citizenship rights has made us very complacent about human rights. We are secure and very happy in our rights as Americans in terms of citizenship because those are the rights that we expect our government to protect.But there's a realm of rights which is constantly being evolved in the world. A realm of rights that belongs to people as people. And it's those rights that serve as a standard for citizenship rights. As we expand -- what is our ideal for what rights should be?-- that comes when we look at Martin Luther King. It's very clear that his ideal for what rights should be is not grounded on a piece of paper, it’s not grounded on a constitution, it’s not grounded on law itself. It's grounded on Christianity, the Judeo-Christian tradition, the prophetic tradition, the notion of justice.”

This week’s episode of Nonviolence Radio is a recording of a talk given by Vandana Shiva, environmentalist, activist, author, and scholar. For decades, Shiva has been advocating -- nonviolently -- for sustainable agriculture, for the rights of small farmers, for biodiversity, for women. She calls for a shift not only in the way we grow and distribute food, but a radical change in the way we understand our relationship with the earth. While the environmental crisis we face today has led many to seek to escape (for instance, through space travel) or become pessimistic, convinced of our species' imminent extinction, Shiva sees a third possibility: ecofeminism.

Dr. Jude Currivan -- cosmologist, futurist, planetary healer and author of the new book, The Cosmic Hologram -- is this week’s guest on Nonviolence Radio, and she ‘illuminates’ for listeners (and readers) a new perspective from which to understand the cosmos. This perspective captures the essential unity that permeates every level of existence, from the atomic, to the personal, to the galactic. With Michael, she traces the idea of cosmic unity back to ancient spiritual traditions and then returns to modern science, which is now (re)discovering the same wisdom. The meaning and unity that is the foundation of all being impacts not only scientists and scholars, but each of us in our everyday lives, “We are waking up,” Dr Currivan says, “to literally remembering that we are inseparable. One of the things with that though is the emphasis on unity-in-diversity -- because unity is not about uniformity. It’s this incredible gorgeous, wonderful radical diversity of expression.” Understanding that each of us is a unique expression of a bigger oneness or whole can explain the grounded and joyous feeling of loving and being loved, it can help to motivate our meditation practice, and perhaps most importantly, it can fuel our desire to work -- nonviolently -- to improve and transform the world. 

In this episode of Nonviolence Radio, Michael Nagler interviews Mel Duncan, the co-founder and Director of Advocacy and Outreach for Nonviolent Peaceforce, a world leader in unarmed civilian protection. Mel represents Nonviolent Peaceforce at the United Nations where the group has been granted consultative status. Nonviolent Peaceforce provides direct protection to civilians caught in violent conflict and works with local groups on violence deterrence in a variety of conflict areas around the world.Mel speaks of the powerful work the Nonviolent Peaceforce has accomplished in conflict areas around the globe by identifying 77 best practices to prevent violence, protect civilians, saving lives, and promoting peace through the unique tool of Unarmed Civilian Protection.

This week, Michael Nagler moves out of his seat as co-host on Nonviolence Radio to take the place of interviewee. Stephanie asks Michael about the course of his life -- which could well be three or four lives! Michael was a professor of Comparative Literature and Classics at UC Berkeley and co-founded its Peace and Conflict Studies Program, he also co-founded and continues to act as president of the Metta Center for Nonviolence, and just this last year, he directed a film, The Third Harmony. In this interview, Michael speaks about his deep belief in the power of nonviolence and the way that principled nonviolence can help us to emerge from the spiritual crisis we’re facing now: “I feel that in the present age, the way we have to come to grips with the perennial struggle between good and evil is around the lens of nonviolence. That’s the way that it becomes most meaningful to us. That’s the way that the rubber hits the road in terms of our policies and our behaviors. And that’s the way that we can most efficiently orient ourselves to decision-making. We can ask ourselves, Is this decision violent? In other words, Is there a selfish element which will benefit one party at the expense of another?”In all his work, whether as an educator, an author, a director, Michael has been a passionate advocate for nonviolence and his efforts to reveal and celebrate its power has been a source of inspiration for many.

Let the Pain Not SpreadLet the pain not spreadBuild a porous wall around itLest it seep into the soilHarvest itPlant flowers in itLest it rise in a tightened fist, gritty scowl, hardened stareOr fall,                                driving a buoyant angelfrom the sky 

How can we defend and support our democracy, which feels so vulnerable as we head into this election? What are some concrete actions that we -- even those of us who are non-experts and non-activists -- can take to strengthen ourselves and empower each other to choose the next president fairly? This week, Nonviolence Radio explores these questions and others with Hardy Merriman, president and CEO of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC) and coauthor of Hold the Line: A guide to defending democracy. Based on almost two decades in the field, Hardy uses his experience to offer us concrete, practical advice about just what we can do now to stand up for our Constitution and protect the principles it rests upon. “What I’m telling people” Hardy says, “is that, when we think about what might Trump do or what might his allies do, that’s speculation. The real question in the next 20 days is: what can we do?” And in fact, there is quite a lot. We need not be overwhelmed, we can bring about change if we learn some basic tools of nonviolence that have been proven to be effective, time and again, both here and abroad. Working together, we can ‘hold the line’ and ensure that the upcoming election reflects true democracy.

This week, in addition to Michael Nagler’s Nonviolence Report, Stephanie shares an interview with Josef Woldense, assistant professor in the Department of Africa Studies and African American Studies at the University of Minnesota, also affiliated with the Political Science Department. Professor Woldense analyzes the lack of trust that characterizes authoritarian regimes and the way it makes a leader vulnerable to a coup: the authoritarian may hold the power, but in exchange, he/she can trust no one, thus mutiny is a constant threat. A strategy used by authoritarian rulers to protect themselves from mutinous coups he calls “shuffling.” Shuffling, Professor Woldense explains, is best thought of as “a technology. What it does is it recognizes that the fuel for cliques to form is people being in close proximity to each other, having an opportunity to get to know each other. Shuffling disrupts that process: as people are getting to know each other, but before that relationship matures, what you do is you divorce people from one another by essentially having them move into different parts of the regime. They're still part of the government, but they never get a chance to get too close to each other.”While this may help to solve the clique/coup problem, it also seems inevitably to preclude the possibility of experts -- no one has time to acquire the experience needed to be competent in any government role! Thus shuffling tends to undermine the aim of a well-run regime.Professor Woldense explores these issues in their own right and also shares the way he explains this complex dynamic to his students through a role-playing game that places each one in a position where action must be taken despite the fact that information is limited. 

Poem by Ira Batra Garde. Ira (pronounced “Eera”) is a physician, poet, wife, andmother. She lives with her family in the San  Francisco Bay Area and iscurrently at work on a novel exploring themes of history, culture, andpsychological truth.   

Author Sumbul Ali-Karamali comes to Nonviolence Radio this week to talk about her latest book, Demystifying Shariah: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It's Not Taking Over Our Country. Together she, Stephanie and Michael discuss the true meaning and rich history of Shariah, a term which is often profoundly misunderstood and misportrayed in mainstream media. Far from being a rigid set of religious rules which violently challenge our most basic human rights, Sumbul Ali-Karamali reveals Shariah to be a source of compassionate guidelines to be continually interpreted and reinterpreted, an evolving understanding of Islam itself, which is “meant to be flexible and adaptable according to culture and time.” 

Professor Ron Hirschbein, founder of the War and Peace Studies Program and the Peace Institute at Cal State Chico and Professor Amin Asfari from Wake Tech College join Michael to talk about the motives and drives that generate conspiracy theories. What are some of the deeper causes that lie behind recent attacks on Jewish and Muslim communities? How might the internet galvanize individuals to commit violence against “others” in a way that traditional media did not? Together, Amin, Ron and Michael consider the powerful (and often destructive) desire for fame and recognition, the parallels between COVID and conspiracy theories, the search for life’s meaning and the insidious objects of addiction.

Renowned activist Winona LaDuke reflects on the power of an earth-based economics in a moment on our planet that is known in indigenous circles as 'the time of the seventh fire.' She asks the question, what are YOU going to do right now to heal our relationships with life, and are you going to choose the path of regeneration or destruction. Her talk comes to us from the organization, Slow Money. In part 2 of the show, we hear about how kids defy their parents by wearing masks, how basketball players show up in solidarity for Black lives, and how a leader clinging to power and position for 25-years in Belarus is on his way out, all in the Nonviolence Report with Michael Nagler.

In this episode of Nonviolence News --The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence.Gandhi Research Foundation.Single mothers in Philadelphia are taking over abandoned public buildings.Indigenous Women’s Divestment Delegation Pushes Deutsche Bank for Fossil Fuel Divestment Amidst Pipeline Shutdowns, a Global Pandemic and the Climate CrisisReparations ProcessionMary King's tribute to John Lewis

“If racism is a way of life for some; activism has to be the way of life for the rest of us.”  ~Amisha Harding. We talk with Atlanta-based activist Amisha Harding about transforming grief and trauma with connection and nonviolent action and her organization, Courageous Conversations for the Collective. Then we hear from two participants of the Reparations Procession taking place in the East Bay, Oakland, California with information about what and who it is for, and how you can get involved in reparations work.

If someone offered you a free trip to Egypt, would you go? Would you be afraid? Tarek Mounib made this offer to Americans struggling with deep cultural biases, and documented their transformation experiences in Free Trip to Egypt. He joined Nonviolence Radio to talk about the work of healing divides. Then we turn to a talk from the Metta Center archives from Michael Nagler on the basics of nonviolence...a great refresher and reminder of the deeper dynamics at play when we engage with nonviolent energy.

On this episode of Nonviolence Radio we share a timely talk on building bridges from john a. powell, director of UC Berkeley's Otherness and Belonging Institute (formerly: Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society) from the 2019 Otherness and Belonging conference. Introducing him is Tony Iton from the California Endowment. Michael Nagler, UC Berkeley emeritus professor and President of the Metta Center for Nonviolence, responds to powell and offers his regular Nonviolence Report.

The Poor People's Campaign is a "national call for a moral revival." Learn more about their work, their co-founder, Reverend William Barber, and the upcoming digital March on Washington on this show. Included in this show is the Nonviolence Report with Michael Nagler. 

If there was ever a time for nonviolence, it's now. This show has two talks about the power of nonviolence. The first from Erica Chenoweth, co-author of Why Civil Resistance Works, and the second is from Ken Butigan about mainstreaming nonviolence. At the top of the show we include a segment on nonviolence in the news. 

Often when we think about nonviolence, we think of practical strategies and techniques: How does one organize an effective sit-in or march? What is the appropriate language to use when addressing someone with whom we are in conflict? And indeed, understanding -- and practicing! -- these tactics are essential. However, nonviolence goes much deeper than this, it is, according to Kazu Haga, “a principled way of life and how we view the world.” This week on Nonviolence Radio, Stephanie and Michael talk to Kazu Haga, author of Healing Resistance: A Radically Different Response to Harm, to learn about his life, his own path to nonviolence, and his current work of creating Beloved Community with the East Point Peace Academy. Kazu Haga reminds us that we all have the potential to do harm, to act cruelly -- we all get lost. But this is not cause for despair. Rather, recognizing this part of our common humanity unites us, provides us with the very foundation that allows us to choose nonviolence as a way of life.

This week’s episode of Nonviolence Radio brings Paul K. Chappell in conversation with Michael and Stephanie. Paul is now the Peace Literacy Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and the author of the “Road to Peace” book series, but as a West Point graduate and a veteran of the war in Iraq, he is in a unique position to explain how the power of nonviolence exceeds that of traditional forms of military power.

The work for peace begins when we are ready to try another way of resolving our problems. Matthew Legge, Peace Program Coordinator for the Canadian Friends Service Committee talks about his findings in his new book, ‘Are We Done Fighting?: Building Understanding in a World of Hate and Division’.

Author Carol Flinders talks with Nonviolence Radio about feminist activist Barbara Deming and why we need her wisdom today.

"The Green New Deal is a good idea," people say, but "how are we going to pay for it?" There are many ways. As Executive Director of Nuclear Ban US, Tim Wallis has offered a special report, From Warheads to Windmills, on how to pay for a Green New Deal through an ambitious plan to de-nuclearize our world. It's a practical approach that should be on the table given the dire urgency presented to us by our climate crisis. Followed by the Nonviolence Report with Michael Nagler. 

What happens when a government decides to protect only some of its people? We talk with Sana Alam and Prashant Nema about the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA), the National Register of Citizens, and the nascent protest movement in India it gave rise to; and what the true nature of this deep national controversy is. People around the world are rising up together in protest of this bill to protect the rights of Muslims and non-caste Hindus, and to get involved we all need to help spread the word. Interview followed by the Nonviolence Report with Michael Nagler. 

A show on winning! Why does triumphalism impede and decrease the power of a nonviolent action? Why have politics become like a sports match and how can we overcome this dynamic? This and more, including the Nonviolence Report, on this episode of Nonviolence Radio! 

We go back to nonviolence basics in this show, reviewing some key highlights and analyses of nonviolence across the news, and then we explore some key principles and strategies of nonviolence in action. 

Yoga is more than poses we do with our bodies to stretch. It’s more than expensive studio memberships and yoga gear. It is, as described in the classical Hindu text, The Bhagavad Gita, “skill in action,” a path to recognizing our deep interconnectedness and healing our divides. Listen to insights from Michelle C. Johnson on the power of radicalizing yoga practice in order to invite the hard work of social justice onto our mats, and into the rest of our lives. (Even if you don’t do yoga, this show is for you.) Followed by Michael Nagler’s Nonviolence Report.

Daniel Hunter is an organizer and strategist who worked widely across the globe supporting organizing and direct action for social movements and is currently the Global Trainings Coordinator for 350.org, an organization fighting climate change. He talks to us about nonviolence, organizing, and his latest, The Climate Resistance Handbook.Transcript available here.

Do nuclear weapons make us safe, and should we care about them? We hear from Anna Ikeda from the Office for UN Affairs of Soka Gakkai International, a lay Buddhist organization dedicated to peace, culture and education. Anna's work focuses on disarmament, peace and security, and she is a campaigner for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. 

We all have unconscious bias and we all have work to do to become aware of, and unlearn it. It’s a life-long effort, and like any effort in nonviolence, it can be done with strategy and an open-heart toward the people involved. For over 21 years, feminist activist and scholar Sally Eck has been leading workshops on “interruptions,” and “calling-in.” She offers empowerment, tools, and strategy for interrupting oppressive attitudes and language. Listen in here for her interview and the Nonviolence Report, news from the world of nonviolence with Michael Nagler.

Coercion is not an “either-or” issue in nonviolence. On this episode, we discuss what coercion means, how it relates to power and persuasion, its risks when drawn upon as a “first resort,” and where it fits in a strategic escalation of nonviolent action. Followed by the Nonviolence Report with Michael Nagler.

Professionally trained as a green architect, Pete Gang “aspires to be a good ancestor,” and believes that the root of our climate woes is how we think about life itself. He talks to us about how his passion for climate justice is informed by a deep commitment to nonviolence and our interrelation to the world around us, and how “being a good ancestor” can be expressed in our daily actions and practices of community resilience. Plus the Nonviolence Report with Michael Nagler.

While on a visit to New Delhi, India, Michael Nagler, founder of the Metta Center and Co-host of Nonviolence Radio, met up with Gandhian activist Rajiv Vora and Niyati Bhat to discuss the principles and trials of nonviolence in Kashmir. In the full interview, you will hear Rajiv describe some of the hard-won lessons nonviolence he has learned experientially while working in a high-intensity conflict zone. Niyati will describe her own experience as someone who had to leave Kashmir because of the violence and how she became interested in nonviolence. 

Hardy Merriman, President of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, joins Nonviolence Radio to share a special report from the ICNC on “Preventing Mass Atrocities” and nonviolent conflict. Followed by the Nonviolence Report, news and analysis from Metta’s own Michael Nagler.

Jamila Raqib, Executive Director of the Albert Einstein Institution, joins Nonviolence Radio to discuss the relationship between democracy and nonviolent action. On part two of the show, Michael Nagler addresses the lastest gun massacres in the United States, and offers insights for taking action.

Oren Jay Sofer, author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication joins Nonviolence Radio to offer tips and insights into the potentially transformative power of communication for healing divides and de-escalating tensions, vitriolic tweets, and aggressive texts! Followed by the Nonviolence Report with Michael Nagler. 

Ever felt out of place in a so-called nonviolent action? You’re not alone. This week we’re joined by Morgan Curtis and Chris Moore-Backman, who are working on a nationwide “yet-to-be-named network” for nonviolent direct action at the intersection of racial healing and climate justice with an integral approach to nonviolence (where the inner and the outer both matter). You can be in touch with them to get involved by calling the East Point Peace Academy or emailing them (have to listen to the show to get the email :-))

We've all heard about "doing what's right," but there's not much talk about how we discern what "right" actually is. Could it be different for different people? On this episode, we're joined in circle by author/activist Rivera Sun and healer/bridge-builder Shoshi Morginn to explore this very important question! 

Following breaking news of recent nonviolent victories in Sudan, we speak with nonviolent conflict analyst Stephen Zunes, and Sudanese activists Mubarak ElAmin and Bakri Ali.

In this episode, we start with the Nonviolence Report (News and Analysis). We’re joined by artists and conflict resolution specialists, Zann and Craig Jacobrown. They’ve brought along their workbook, “The Ancient Art of Conflict Resolution,” which draws inspiration from activities/practices/belief systems of the indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest’s conflict resolution teachings.The post Nonviolence Radio: March 15, 2019 appeared first on Metta Center.

“We have to repair harm between individuals as well as repair harm in community.” We’re joined by Michael Gilbert, Executive Director of the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice as we explore the dynamics and meaning of community justice. Followed by your fresh take of Nonviolence in the News with Michael Nagler.The post Community Justice AND Restorative Justice appeared first on Metta Center.