#35 with Rivera Sun, activist and author of "The Dandelion Insurrection": "Find what you want to work on and do that, because we need you in the movement!”
This week I'm speaking with author, activist, and movement scholar Rivera Sun. Her novels include The Dandelion Insurrection and the award-winning, Ari Ara Series. She is the editor of “Nonviolence News” and program coordinator of “Campaign Nonviolence,” an annual national week of action that with over 5000 events across the US around International Peace Day, Sept. 21st. Her articles are syndicated by Peace Voice and published in hundreds of journals nationwide.
She tells me all about 'One Million Rising", an effort to mobilize and train one million people with a nonviolent toolbox for 'noncooperation' and how to resist authoritarianism. Find out about all kinds of actions we can take along with street protests, and the many ways people are standing up to ICE.
Find out why we need to do some soul searching if we want to live in a democratic society, and according to Rivera: "decide if is this a normal presidency or a presidency that has stepped outside the rule of law,"
She appeals to us to "organize, speak out and invoke the articles of impeachment to remove the president from office. If we want to live in a democratic society, we have to demand it. Find what you want to work on and do that, because we need you in the movement!”
Rivera offered many examples, such as last month’s massive one day strike led by ten unions in India just a few weeks ago, which 300 million people joined. “There is a rising swell of activity against authoritarianism all around the world.”
At the end of the conversation, Rivera suggested six holistic practices of nonviolence that can help sustain us for the long haul and elaborates on the following:
1. Don't go alone; make friends in the movement, and join a community.
2. Take breaks. It's a relay race, a marathon not a sprint.
3. Take a breath, then act.
4. Be against the injustice, not the people; go after the policy. Remember that people can and will change; give them space to do that.
5. Try not to become what you oppose!
6. Reclaim love, integrity, and always strive to embody the deepest principles of nonviolence.
For more about Rivera Sun and her books, check out: www.riverasun.com
and www.campaignnonviolence.org
Listen in and be inspired!