Students at School of Americas vigil
Nonviolence is a creative power for justice and the well-being of all that uses neither passivity nor violence.
Online Information:
For Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi on nonviolent acton and civil disobedience, visit www.habitat.igc.org/gksnv/g-nonact.htm
For current nonviolent actions and campaigns, see www.paxchristiusa.org/pc_home.asp
For culturally appropriate nonviolent methods for social change and international peace, see www.nonviolenceinternational.net
For a glossary of nonviolence, visit www.thekingcenter.org/ProgServices/Default.aspx
For a description of Nonviolent Communication (NVC), visit cnvc.org/node/369 For frequently asked questions about nonviolence, visit www.mettacenter.org/resources/faq
Video Clips:
Arun Gandhi, “Nonviolence in the Age of Terrorism,” (8 minutes, 27 seconds)
Burmese activist Aung San Suu Kyi on “Nonviolence,” (2 minutes, 15 seconds)
Quotes on Nonviolence:
“The first thing to be disrupted by our commitment to nonviolence will not be the system but our own lives.” - James Douglass, co-founder of Sojourners
“ A liberation movement that is nonviolent sets the oppressor free as well as the oppressed.” - Barbara Deming, feminist activist
"We demand a non-violent world where human security is the basis of our common global security. People have the right to live in a world where the basic needs of all peoples are addressed. No more military attacks. No more war.”
- Shirin Ebadi, Iranian feminist"People try nonviolence for a week, and when it 'doesn't work' they go back to violence, which hasn't worked for centuries."
- Theodore Roszak, professor and pacifist
Two Hands of Nonviolence (adapted from Barbara Deming)
In the face of injustice, oppression, and abuse, the one hand , (held up in the stop position) says, “Stop what you are doing. You may not abuse me. You may not oppress me. I refuse to obey you. I refuse to cooperate with your demands. I refuse to build the walls and the bombs. I refuse to pay for the guns. I will even interfere with the wrong you are doing. I will not submit to this injustice, not merely because it is destroying me, but because it is destroying you as well.”
The other hand (palm up, outstretched, maybe with love and sympathy, maybe not, but always outstretched) says, “I won’t let go of you or cast you out of the circle of my care and concern. I have faith that you can make a better choice than you are making now and I’ll be here when you are ready. Like it or not, we are part of one another, part of the beloved community, part of the sacred web of creation.”
Principles of Nonviolence (adapted from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr)
Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people.
Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding.
Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice not people.
Nonviolence holds that voluntary suffering can educate and transform.
Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate.
Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice.
Nonviolent Action for Change
Nigeria is one of the world’s largest oil producers, yet most Nigerians do not share in this wealth. Intent on changing this disparity, in the summer of 2002 hundreds of unarmed Nigerian women of the Ugborodo and Arutan communities occupied Chevron Texaco’s key oil terminal in Nigeria, bringing petroleum production to a halt. The women said that if efforts were made to remove them, they would disrobe. This created a paralyzing dilemma for the male Nigerian employees (who would be asked to remove the women) because it invoked a profound cultural taboo. After ten dramatic days, the women reached a landmark pact with the company to provide jobs, infrastructure, and economic empowerment in villages long mired in poverty. “Without firing a shot or injuring a soul... [the women] accomplished what their men could not and what their government should have done long ago.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune, 20 July 2002).
