We live in a new era. Here in our beloved country, a heartless, anti-democratic regime imposes its will with debased authority, corrupt self-dealing, and extreme cruelty. When we have the stomach to look at our news feeds, we are informed of new efforts to transfer wealth from the poorest to the richest in our society, new actions to eviscerate regulatory agencies, dismantle public watchdogs, and withdraw humanitarian assistance. Every day we witness new assaults against immigrants, new threats against dissidents, and new violations against human dignity for all of us, especially those most in need of public services.
Many of us feel outraged and disgusted. We understand that this new era of systemic corruption and inhumanity has only just begun, that the worst is yet to come, and that the poorest and weakest will suffer the most. We struggle to find a path forward.
Sometimes we also feel overwhelmed, powerless, beaten down by it all. This is how they want us to feel.
But we must not give in to despair.
We are not powerless. We have the moral strength to preserve our own dignity and the humane values we hold dear. We have power to defend the most vulnerable in our communities, across the United States, and throughout the world.
This is the power of organized, creative, disciplined nonviolence. Mahatma Gandhi called that power satyagraha, holding fast to the truth. Martin Luther King, Jr. called it soul force. He called it the redemptive power of “love implementing the demands of justice.”
This is the power we are called to harness and mobilize today.
How do we do this? Most of us are not yet adept, not yet skilled. We want to be effective, not just performative. We want to make a difference. We want to protect ourselves and our friends and families who join us. We want to keep everyone safe against all threats of repression. But we need to learn how.
There are many opportunities to be trained in creative, disciplined nonviolence in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. King, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the vast majority of citizen actions throughout the Black Lives Matter movement, the movements against the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, and campaigns to protect the world from climate chaos and nuclear war.
Where can you find these nonviolence training opportunities? Please join us at USF on Sunday March 23, noon to 5pm and on Monday March 24 6pm-10pm, for a two day nonviolence training workshop. (You can join us for one or both sessions). Here is the registration link. For more information, see flyer below.
If you are not able to join us on March 23-24, there will be many other training opportunities. The extraordinary organization Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service offers perhaps the best website for strategic nonviolence resources, including trainings and events, study groups, opportunities for public action, and nonviolence now podcast., and weekly Nonviolence News blogs by Rivera Sun. When you feel ready and inspired to get involved, Action Together Bay Area publishes an online calendar listing citizen mobilization events in San Francisco, Oakland, and throughout the SF Bay Area.
