Creating a Culture of Peace

Famed sociologist Frances Fox Piven and labor organizer Stephen Lerner were recently interviewed by Democracy Now on how Occupy Wall Street could grow into a major political movement that draws millions into the streets. "I’m absolutely convinced that Occupy is the beginning of another massive protest movement," Fox Piven says. "Protest movements have a long life—10, 15 years—and they are what we have to rely on to take our country back." "I think there’s never been a more exciting time in my 30 years of organizing to imagine building the kind of movement that can transform the country, that can really talk about redistributing wealth and power," Lerner says. "And there’s never a better time to get involved."
View full program on www.democracynow.org.

PLEDGE of Nonviolent Public Witness

I agree to reflect on and abide by the following nonviolent spiritual discipline:
1.  We will be open and respectful to all.
2.  We will exemplify caring and compassion for all.
3.  We will ground our actions in our spiritual traditions and practices.
4.  We will use no verbal or physical violence toward anyone, including the police and those who disagree with us.

Check out this recent book on the effectiveness of active nonviolence, recommended by Janet Chisholm and CCP board member Elliott Adams: Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, by Erica Chenoweth & Maria J. Stephan (Columbia University Press, 2011).

Publisher's description: For more than a century, from 1900 to 2006, campaigns of nonviolent resistance were more than twice as effective as their violent counterparts in achieving their stated goals. By attracting impressive support from citizens, whose activism takes the form of protests, boycotts, civil disobedience, and other forms of nonviolent noncooperation, these efforts help separate regimes from their main sources of power and produce remarkable results, even in Iran, Burma, the Philippines, and the Palestinian Territories.

From www.veteransforpeace.org: Yesterday South Korea stopped two US veterans who had served to defend Korea, including CCP trainer Elliott Adams, from entering the country. After two days of travel these US citizens were left in no-man's-land between Korea and China. They had come back to Korea at the request of the people, to support the people of a small island (Jeju) off the south end of Korea. They had been struggling for months to protect their culture and their way of life. Men and women have used their bodies to block giant cranes bent on destruction. At risk are the sacred rocks of  Gangjeong, the fresh water springs in the rocks, and the coral reefs that support the island's marine fishery and endangered species. The area is linked to three UNESCO World Natural Heritage sites, nine UNESCO Geo-Parks, and it is designated as a Global Biosphere Reserve. But all this and the life on Jeju island is to be destroyed or put at risk for one more naval base.
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