Friends,
The past month has been an exciting one, with Occupy encampments pushing for economic justice nationwide -- and succeeding. See below for a special resource from the Fellowship of Reconciliation to help support the continuing commitment by Occupy protesters to nonviolent discipline and protest.
FOR and Occupy
In addition to the participation of FOR national staff members, numerous FOR local chapters and affiliates have played a role in this burgeoning movement.
A few highlights:
Atlanta FOR members have been active in Occupy Atlanta, including planning nonviolence trainings for participants.
Oregon FOR hosted 11 activists from Occupy Portland to talk about nonviolent action strategy, including a screening of the film A Force More Powerful. Members of Salem (OR) FOR helped Occupy Salem get off the ground.
FOR members Jim and Susan Murphy have been participating in Occupy Ithaca, with the Veterans Fellowship of Reconciliation playing a role in the education working group.
Seattle FOR issued a resolution in support of Occupy Seattle, and members of Seattle FOR and Western Washington FOR have played active roles in the encampment.
FOR affiliate the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center has played a critical role in organizing Occupy Memphis, including active participation in several working groups, and staff have led trainings in nonviolent civil disobedience, peacekeeping, facilitation, and consensus process. The Center volunteered itself as Occupy Memphis' fiscal agent, and coordinated a march with the Gandhi-King Conference last month.
Have you been active in an Occupy community in your area? Please let us know! We'd love to continue to highlight individual, chapter and affiliate involvement. Just reply to this email and tell us your story!
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In Oakland, California, tens of thousands of people came together for am unprecedented modern-day general strike, building strong connections between antiwar activists, prison abolitionists, communities of color, labor unions, and environmentalists. A day of action against rising bank fees forced Bank of America and other banks to back down, and convinced thousands to move their money into local credit unions. And in a months-long direct action campaign that both presaged the Occupy movements and drew on its power, Tar Sands Action declared a temporary victory when President Obama declined to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline until late 2012.
You may have heard of the police crackdowns on Occupy camps in several cities in the past few weeks, including New York, Chicago, Boston, Denver, Atlanta, Austin, Portland (OR), Nashville, Albuquerque, Raleigh, Norfolk, Honolulu, Seattle, Houston and other locations. One of the most prominent raids occurred in Oakland on Oct. 25 -- a police action that prompted the calls for the general strike mentioned above -- and FOR staff member John Lindsay-Poland was on the scene:
"The city -- like many cities --- could use the occupation as an opportunity for developing alliances, to re-order the twisted priorities of our nation’s budget and allocation of wealth. The city could amplify the voices calling for people over profits. Instead, the poor got whacked, reinforcing many occupiers’ deep mistrust of elected officials and police."
An overwhelming commitment by participants to strategic nonviolence has helped feed the Occupy victories, successes that will continue to attract repression, in some cases violently. In support of this economic justice movement, we at the Fellowship of Reconciliation want to offer some resources to individuals, chapters and affiliates who can build the capacity for strategic nonviolence in their local communities.
Resources on nonviolence
 When Creating a Culture of Peace was a program of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Pact for Peaceful Witness was created to encourage nonviolent action and witness, especially in the build-up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. (We've also included, on the reverse side, a list of religious peace fellowships from many faith traditions, with nonviolence training providers highlighted.)
Creating a Culture of Peace, now an independent organization, has trainers across the country -- please contact Janet Chisholm at CCP if you're interested in scheduling nonviolence trainings in your Occupy encampment or your community!
In addition to the religious peace fellowships included in the document, many other FOR affiliates also offer nonviolence training. FOR ally The Ruckus Society offers trainings in nonviolent action, and Ruckus has been deeply involved in many local Occupy encampments.
Thanks to your support of FOR, we are able to continue producing resources about the practice of active nonviolence to community groups and allies throughout the nation and the world. Please donate to FOR today to strengthen our work for nonviolence and justice.
Image: Flickr user Eddie Codel (Creative Commons). |
