A MAGAZINE FOR PRACTICAL IDEALISTS Summer/Fall 2017

the training issue

KAZU HAGA Interviews: as a practice GEORGE LAKEY RIVERA SUN ALI ABU AWWAD harnessing social media Support nonviolence A MAGAZINE FOR PRACTICAL IDEALISTS

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The print version of nonviolence is published biannually by the Metta Center for Nonviolence, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides educational resources on the safe and effective use of nonviolence, advances a higher image of humankind and empowers people to explore the question: How does nonviolence work, and how can I actively contribute to a happier, more peaceful society? To learn more, visit nonviolence.org and mettacenter.org. Courage, complemented by the knowledge of skillful nonviolence, as provided in this handbook, is a recipe for a world of peace and justice.

~ , Col. US Army (ret) and recipient of the US State Department Award for Heroism

Support your local bookseller with your purchase of a print copy.

Nonviolence Handbook: A Guide for Practical Action is also available as Amazon Audible and Kindle books. 2 nonviolence applause

The Metta Center for Nonviolence, publisher of Nonviolence, thanks all the volunteers who share their love and help spread the mission of creating a nonviolent future.

This issue of Nonviolence was made possible, in part, by generous support from the following people:

MAJA BENGTSON TODD DIEHL ANNA IKEDA BARBARA BRIGGS-LETSON JOHN LEWIS NANDU MENON RICH MEYER MICHAEL & VICKI MILLICAN MICHAEL NAGLER TAL PALMAN LORIN PETERS JAMES PHOENIX BERT SACKS JEANINE SAPERSTEIN JIM SCHUYLER JOHN WADE SUSAN FISCHER WILHELM LOU & JILL ZWEIER

nonviolence 3 featured inside

Principle & Strategy Person Power & Unity

8 New Story & Training 30 A Personal Theory of Change Michael N. Nagler makes a case for familiarizing Maja Bengtson looks at the power of rewriting activists with the New Story. our personal narratives.

10 How to Use the New Story 36 Meditation: Soul of Peace The Metta Center for Nonviolence offers robust Michael N. Nagler sees meditation as the most tips on telling the New Story. effective training at our disposal.

12 Ten Lessons Learned 62 The Kung Fu of Nonviolence David Hartsough shares insights from his Kazu Haga emphasizes why (and how) lifelong experiments in nonviolence. nonviolence is first and foremost a practice.

18 Conflict Analysis & Actor Mapping Tiffany Ornelas de Tool outlines a process Photo: Ming Lai and Laura-Marie Taylor for seeing an initiative’s bigger picture.

Nonviolence is not glamorous, and you don’t see the effects right away. ~ Julia Bacha

4 nonviolence Photo: Lou Zweier

Interviews & Insights Scholarship & Culture

20 Q&A: Ali Abu Awwad 32 Training for the Revolution The Palestinian peace activist talks about his life Mary L. Hanna reflects on the encouraging and work with Michael N. Nagler. upswing in nonviolence trainings.

24 Answering the Skeptics 38 When You See Something: Act The Metta Center reveals how to address Rose Marie Berger explains how to be an active common objections about nonviolence. bystander when the moment arises.

40 Q&A: George Lakey 46 For Six & Under Lou Zweier picks George Lakey’s brain about Stephanie Van Hook reminds us that nonviolence training for campaign success. is not just for adults but children too.

50 Social Media for Social Change 54 Building the Movement Rivera Sun identifies ways to improve your Soneile Hymn and Stephanie Steiner round up engagement and outreach efforts. learning and dialogue resources.

58 A Look at Swaraj Peeth Trust 56 Case Study: 1000 Trainings Rajiv Vora gives us a bird-eye’s view of this Ryan Hall illustrates what went into building the Gandhian center’s work in . Nonviolence Training Hub platform.

60 Satyagraha: A New Term Michael N. Nagler traces the history of the Poetry Sanskrit word and its relevance today.

17 Breathing For Peace Poem by Ira Batra Garde

29 @ this point Poem by James Phoenix

nonviolence 5 nonviolence

PUBLISHER The Metta Center for Nonviolence

EDITOR & CREATIVE DIRECTOR Kimberlyn David

SUMMER/FALL 2017 CONTRIBUTORS Designer Miroslava Sobot

Proofreader Todd Diehl

Writers Maja Bengtson Rose Marie Berger Kazu Haga Ryan Hall Mary L. Hanna David Hartsough Soneile Hymn Michael N. Nagler Tiffany Ornelas de Tool Stephanie Steiner Rivera Sun Stephanie Van Hook Rajiv Vora Lou Zweier

Poets Ira Batra Garde James Phoenix

Photographer Lou Zweier

HOW TO REACH US

MAILING ADDRESS The Metta Center for Nonviolence PO Box 98, Petaluma, CA, 94953

PHONE NUMBER 707-774-6299

WEBSITE www.mettacenter.org

All contributors maintain the rights to their work as they choose, though the publisher generally uses Creative Commons licensing (CC BY-NC-ND). Please request permission to reproduce any part of Nonviolence, in whole or part. For info about permissions, advertising or submissions, email the editor: [email protected].

6 nonviolence editor’s letter

Nonviolence is power, but it is the right and good use of power. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. Photo: channing.wu, via Flickr

Nonviolence is not The road ahead is paved with opportunities to create the kinds a solo adventure, of changes needed to build a sane and just world—if we’re yet for it to succeed, adequately prepared to meet and overcome the challenges. Since each of us must be Brexit and the 2016 elections in the , we’ve seen a practicing it. horrifying rise in xenophobia, racism and international tensions. At the same time, the demand for nonviolence trainings has never been higher.

We therefore turn our spotlight on training for this issue, drawing from a wide range of expertise and scholarship in the field of nonviolence. You’ll likely recognize some of the notable voices featured throughout these pages, from Kazu Haga and Mary L. Hanna to David Hartsough and George Lakey.

Understanding how to tell the right story about nonviolence trainings—and how to illustrate their importance in effective activism—is invaluable. Digital forms of communication offer us easy, and often free, ways to spread the word. Rivera Sun’s “Social Media for Social Change” provides plenty of sound tips on engaging, informing and inspiring people through platforms like Facebook and Twitter. On a related note, Ryan Hall’s “Case Study: 1000 Trainings” discusses a purposeful web-based tool for posting and learning about nonviolence trainings.

“To practice nonviolence, first of all we must learn to deal peacefully with ourselves,” as famed Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh has said. Maja Bengtson’s “A Theory of Personal Change” offers one prescription for doing that.

Do you lead nonviolence trainings, or have you participated in a life-changing one? We’re eager to share stories about training experiences/results at nonviolencemag.org. Email your stories to: [email protected]. KIMBERLYN DAVID Editor & Creative Director

nonviolence 7 Principle & Strategy Where the New Story Meets Training by MICHAEL N. NAGLER

Two things are necessary to build and sustain an New Story Training unstoppable movement: training and strategic requires very little planning. Training is busting out all over. People like myself who have been in the for a organization. lifetime have never seen anything like this outpouring. Strategy is another matter, and it will be the subject of a future issue of Nonviolence. activism” to how to organize a movement (Bill Moyer), What is nonviolence training? Many things; yet I will conduct meetings (Nonviolent Communication) and argue that we need to include at least one more aspect. prepare for jail (Ruckus Society), the vast majority of the trainings springing up today concentrate on the The classic, iconic type of training developed in the moment of interaction between oneself as activist and United States was what Rev. Jim Lawson offered to some kind of pushback. One example in this regard participants in the varied actions of the Civil Rights is how to intervene to protect someone from some movement. Many of us will have seen those grainy kind of attack, either by an irate person emboldened black-and-white videos of Lawson working with activists by the US president or US Immigration and Customs in church basements somewhere in the South. The Enforcement. These are real, needed skills that help us main techniques were, and still are, role-plays, in deal with the very conflicts we’re facing. The more of which some participants played the part of abusive this the better. segregationists while others practiced techniques of defusing their aggression without giving in. A special At the same time, I see room for an added dimension type was called “hassle lines,” where participants form that would enable us to not only deal more skillfully two parallel lines of equal number (and sometimes with the conflict at hand but turn it into an opportunity a third to be observers) and then play out how they to advance the revolution. I call it New Story Training. would respond in some typical conflict situations. Here It requires very little organization. is one set of role-plays recommended by the venerable As a civilization, we are in the throes of a paradigm shift War Resisters International (note the last role, which from what’s called the “Old Story” (OS) of materialism is particularly pertinent for the kind of conflict and separateness to a “New Story” (NS) of spirituality demonstrators are facing right now, and which, in my and “interbeing,” to use the wonderful term coined by view, we must find a solution for if we are to continue): Thich Nhat Hahn. “Old” and “New” apply very well to ▪ Someone planning to engage in nonviolent action/ the science dimension of the impending shift. Quantum someone close to them who is opposed to their theorists and others now use the term “classical science” participation for the paradigm that prevailed in the West at least since Descartes and Bacon to the present day, for a ▪ Blockading a weapons or government facility/ reductionist model of the world as consisting of objects, angry worker be they molecules or galaxies, interacting randomly ▪ Protester/counter-protester or angry passer-by to create the reality we experience. However, the descriptions “Old” and “New” are a bit misleading for ▪ Protester committed to nonviolence guidelines/ the other main source of the NS, the consensus wisdom protestor breaking nonviolent guidelines. of the ages that Huston Smith and others called the While the term “training” is applied to everything Wisdom Tradition, which includes contributions from from spiritual techniques that make us adept at “soft indigenous as well as advanced civilizations.

8 nonviolence The “old story” is an enabling factor, if not a primary cause, of every form of violence we have to deal with. Think of it: If you are aware of your connectedness with others, how could you exploit them, not to mention hurt or kill them? If you are aware of your The ‘old story’ is real needs and the potent inner resources you have to fill them, why would you rape the environment? an enabling factor, If you have some sense of truth—that there is a Truth underlying life and you are capable of getting some if not a primary cause, grasp of it—how could you be swayed by “alternative of every form of violence facts,” misinformation, outright lies or a crazy ideology that’s divorced from reality? we have to deal with. There’s a famous story about Aaron Russo, a good- hearted guy who became successful financially and befriended a scion of one of America’s wealthiest families. The friends turned into investment buddies, In addition to the other kinds of training, why not help and one day the person in question proposed a joint activists familiarize themselves with the NS and some venture as, in effect, “economic hit men,” so they simple, non-threatening ways of telling it? After all, as could get even richer, at the expense of some Central the late Donnella Meadows said, “The most powerful American country. Russo balked, and the friend asked leverage point in a system is ðchanging the dream.’” him, in classic OS fashion, “Why do you care about This is not just a metaphor—visions have power. those people?” Ugh. Imagine if Russo had calmly said, The NS has a powerful advantage that will eventually “Well they’re not really ðthose people.’ In a way, they’re tell heavily in our favor: it happens to be true. n my own people because we’re all in this together.” Would the friend have seen the light and turned his life around? Not likely, from one encounter. But a seed would have been planted that, when it grew, Michael N. Nagler is Founder of the Metta Center for would have redressed not only this but many forms of Nonviolence and author of The Nonviolence Handbook: ongoing cruelty. A Guide to Practical Action.

nonviolence 9 Principle & Strategy How to Use the New Story by the METTA CENTER FOR NONVIOLENCE

10 nonviolence To change the direction of politics we We are deeply interconnected. have to change the implicit narrative, Our happiness is bound up with the happiness of or “story” that it’s based on, and others, and our real fulfillment comes from our adding to their happiness. As Swami Vivekananda said, today we have a great opportunity to “Western civilization has in vain endeavored to find a do that. All of us can be involved in reason for altruism. Here it is. I am my brother, and this critical change. his pain is mine. I cannot injure him without injuring myself, or do ill to other beings without bringing that ill upon my own soul.”

The “old story” that came to dominate our thinking We have untapped inner resources. (in the West) about the time of the industrial revolution Once our basic needs for food, clothing and shelter held that everything consists of matter, and several are met (and as Gandhi said, “there is enough in the assumptions followed. For example, the universe being world for everyone’s need”), happiness does not come inert matter, is naturally meaningless. Evolution (for from exploiting the earth (much less others) but from those who believe in it!) was or is a series of random building relationships toward loving community. events; there is no way to explain how human beings can think and feel, and most importantly, we are No conflict is unresolvable. separate from one another and the planet, which keeps We can never be secure by punishing “criminals” or us always on the verge of competition—if not outright defeating “enemies.” The only real security comes violence—because we can only be satisfied by more from rehabilitating those who may have committed an and more outside resources. Finally, there is no way to offense and reconciling with those with whom we have change this situation; we are the result of our genes, or a disagreement. Conflicts are about wants, not needs, physical brain or outside forces. and they often provide opportunities to learn from and This story encountered a severe shock with Einstein’s grow closer to one another. theories of relativity, and especially with Max Planck’s We are active agents in our destiny. discovery that what we thought was solid matter is in fact an indeterminate field of possibilities that We are still evolving, if not physically then mentally resembles consciousness more than “stuff ”—and the and spiritually, and this is not merely a passive entire universe is deeply interconnected. Thus science process: we can learn to unfold the capacities within us, came back into alignment with timeless traditions particularly the capacity for nonviolence. People like of human wisdom that had always maintained that and Martin Luther King, Jr. have human beings are body, mind and spirit with an as yet done just that. They are pioneers in human evolution, unrealized destiny. as the capacity for nonviolence is, as Gandhi said, “the hallmark of our species.” n This “new” story, a consensus of modern science and ancient wisdom, is an invaluable resource for social change activists. At the Metta Center, we recommend becoming familiar with this inspiring story and take to telling it wherever you get a chance. Doing so will greatly help turn the tide and make the key values of The Metta Center for Nonviolence provides educational peace, justice and nonviolence far easier to implement. resources on the safe and effective use of nonviolence, with the The core of the story is about human nature. Please recognition that it’s not about putting the right person in power adapt the key points as you see fit. but awakening the right kind of power in people.

nonviolence 11 Principle & Strategy Ten Lessons Learned from My Life of Activism by DAVID HARTSOUGH

Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from the book Waging Peace: Global Adventures of a Lifelong Activist, by David Hartsough (with Joyce Hollyday). Inspired by the work of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., Hartsough has spent his life experimenting with the power of active nonviolence. Waging Peace is a testament to the difference one person can make. Here we share his insights on taking effective action in the world—without losing hope or steam.

David Hartsough and friend. Photo: Nonviolent Peaceforce, via Flickr 1. Vision. It is important that we take the time to envision the community, nation and world we would like to live in, and create for our children and grandchildren. This long-term view, or vision statement, will be a continual source of inspiration. Then we can explore practical ways we can work with others who share our vision to create that kind of world. I personally envision a world without war— where there is justice for all, love for one another, peaceful resolution of conflicts and environmental sustainability.

2. The oneness of all life. We are one human family. We need to understand that deep in our souls, and act on that conviction. I believe that through compassion, love, forgiveness, recognition of our oneness as a global community and our willingness to struggle for that kind of world, we WILL realize worldwide justice and peace.

3. Nonviolence, a powerful force. As Gandhi said, nonviolence is the most powerful force in the world, and it is “an idea whose time has come.” People all over the world are organizing nonviolent movements to bring about change. In Why Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolence Conflict, Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan have documented that over the past 110 years, nonviolent movements have been twice as likely to succeed as violent movements, and much more likely to help create democratic societies, without reverting to dictatorships and/or civil war.

12 nonviolence When we confront violence and injustice, it is our spiritual practices that help us discover our inner resources.

David Hartsough (sitting far right) at a June 1960 lunch counter sit-in at a People‘s Drugstore in Arlington, VA. Photo courtesy of David Hartsough

4. Nurture your spirit. Through nature, music, Ordinary people can make change. The most successful friends, meditation, reading and other practices of campaigns I have participated in were with friends personal and spiritual development, I have learned who shared concerns and organized together to make the importance of nurturing our spirits and pacing changes in the larger society. Our schools, churches ourselves for the long haul. When we confront violence and community organizations are excellent places to and injustice, it is our spiritual practices that help us develop such support groups. Although one person can discover our inner resources, and enable us to move make a difference, it can be very challenging working forward with the courage of our deepest convictions. alone. However, together, we can overcome! “Only from the heart can you touch the sky.” ¢quote by Rumi£ 6. Sustained struggle. Every major movement that I have studied, or been a part of, required sustained 5. Small, committed groups can create change. struggle over months, and even years, to bring about Margaret Mead once said: “Never doubt that a small fundamental changes in our society. Examples include group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the Abolitionist movement, the movement for women’s the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” suffrage, the Civil Rights movement, the Anti-Vietnam In times of doubt and discouragement about the War movement, the United Farm Workers movement, current situation, those words, and my own life the Sanctuary movement and many others. All had the experiences, have re-inspired me with the certainty that we can make a difference! common thread of sustained resistance, energy and vision.

Even a few committed students can make substantial 7. Good strategy. Yes, holding a sign and putting a change, as we did during our lunch counter sit- bumper sticker on our car is important, but if we want ins ¢in Arlington, VA, 1960£. We had been inspired to bring about fundamental change in our society, we by four African American freshmen who sat down need to create long-range goals that build toward our at Woolworth’s “Whites Only” lunch counter in vision for the future, and then develop good strategy Greensboro, North Carolina. Their action sparked and sustained campaigns to achieve those goals. (See many sit-ins like ours, and led to the desegregation of George Lakey’s Toward a Living Revolution: A Five-Stage lunch counters throughout the South. Framework for Creating Radical Social Change).

nonviolence 13 David Hartsough speaking. Photo: Nonviolent Peaceforce, via Flickr

8. Overcome our fear. Do everything you can to avoid 10. Telling our stories. Sharing our stories and being ruled by fear. Governments and other systems experiments with truth is critically important. We can try to instill fear in us to control and immobilize empower one another with our stories. There are many us. Claiming that had concealed weapons of inspiring accounts of active nonviolent movements, mass destruction scared people and gave the Bush such as those portrayed in A Force More Powerful: A administration justification to invade Iraq, even though Century of Non-violent Conflict, by Peter Ackerman and no such weapons were found. Jack DuVall. n

We must not fall into the traps of disinformation set by the authorities. Fear is a major impediment to speaking truth to power, to acting to stop wars and injustice and to whistle blowing. The more we overcome it, the more powerful and united we become. A supportive community is very important in overcoming our fears.

9. Truth. As Gandhi said, “Let your lives be experiments with Truth.” We must experiment with active nonviolence, and keep hope alive. I share Gandhi’s conviction: “Things undreamt of are daily being seen; the impossible is ever becoming possible. We are constantly being astonished these days at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence. But I David Hartsough is Executive Director of Peaceworkers, Co- maintain that far more undreamt of and seemingly founder of the Nonviolent Peaceforce and an initiator of the impossible discoveries will be made in the field of World Beyond War movement. Learn more about his work at nonviolence.” peaceworkersus.org.

14 nonviolence A JUST & SUSTAINABLE WORLD

We all want a more peaceful and equitable society. Imagine what we can accomplish by strategically building a movement of movements together. To facilitate that, Metta Center for Nonviolence created Roadmap, a set of tools to:

• Develop strategic thinking toward the realization of campaign goals • Connect with others • Train in nonviolence principles

Avoid the commercial mass media

Learn about Share the nonviolence New Story

Develop Build a spiritual personable practice relationships

Roadmap provides the unity, strategy and nonviolent power for an unstoppable movement.

Organizations are endorsing Roadmap and helping build the movement of movements. For details on how your organization, community group or even yourself can collaborate, email Metta Center for Nonviolence: nonviolence 15 [email protected]. Poetry

16 nonviolence Breathing For Peace

When I stop to examine my breath my color vision refines, discerning an unexpected variety of hues: In late-summer’s shades of pistachio and apple green shimmering in fading heat my eye catches the flutter of fall’s sentinels: ochre, rose ebony, mandarin, mahogany, plum released to fly, then invited to float, settle, embed, enjoin with mossy earth, its scent fertile with the promise of repose

I sense brisker, sweatered twilight magenta of dreams creamy billows rushing in the cerulean moving skyward above a darkening sea

Sitting with body-breath, observing a parade: the drum-beat of mind, wayward thought glimmer of silken thread the interior breeze-blown web shivering rhythmic butterfly wing

Settling in the stillness, perceiving intimately, every day’s sitting cultivates Forbearance patience and tolerance spring anew through simple practice compassionate spirit blossoms

Meditation Training allows transformative breath: Inspiring all the world, leaving out none Exhaling well-being, love, peace, for everyone

Poem by Ira Batra Garde. Ira (pronounced “Eera”) is a physician, poet, wife and mother. She lives with her family in the San Francisco Bay Area and is currently at work on a novel exploring themes of history, culture and psychological truth.

nonviolence 17 Principle & Strategy

Conflict Analysis & Actor Mapping: A Practical Introduction by TIFFANY ORNELAS DE TOOL

Nonviolent Peaceforce Protection Officers Hunter (right) and Frank (center) mapping out the conflict and actors in Jongeli State, South Sudan, while traveling on a humanitarian flight between Labrab and Bor in August 2013. Photo: Tiffany Ornelas de Tool

18 nonviolence Conflict Analysis and Actor Mapping ACTOR MAPPING

(CAAM) is a crucial exercise to Even small groups can wield major influence on the perform for each issue you will direction of a conflict. It’s therefore critical that you be tackling in your nonviolence include all actors and clarify their relationships to one initiatives. CAAM greatly increases another, so you can find entry points for maximum influence. List these actors in a circle, on a large sheet your knowledge and understanding of paper. Questions: of the various stakeholders involved, ▪ Who are the people affected by the issue? prevents blind spots and improves ▪ Which organizations are working on the issue? your ability to identify entry points and back-up plans. CAAM should ▪ What individuals are working on this issue? be repeated on a regular basis, as ▪ Who is destabilizing the situation? conflicts are inherently dynamic. ▪ Who are the authorities (local, regional and CAAM is appropriate for both large national)? (international) and small (local) ▪ Who in the government is involved, and who issues. CAAM is most effective when could be involved in the future? done as a group, brainstorming-style. ▪ Which foreign governments are involved? ▪ Which corporations/companies are involved (both national and transnational)? ▪ Who could be allies? ▪ Who has significant influence around this issue but is not yet involved? CONFLICT ANALYSIS MAPPING The deeper your understanding of the context, the First, draw lines to show relationships between actors. more informed your decisions will be. Begin your Then, write a brief explanation of these relationships analysis by writing answers to the following questions: on the corresponding lines. ▪ What is the conflict about? (the problem) Lastly, and perhaps most enjoyably: Identify where you ▪ What is the political situation? (patterns of power) and your organization fit in the picture, whom you can influence, whom you can pressure, who will back you ▪ What is the security situation? up if things turn ugly (very important) and any key ▪ What is the history of this issue? (past events that entry points. n underlie the situation)

▪ What is the geography? (the natural environment)

▪ What is the economic situation? (access, control, distribution of resources)

▪ What is the demography? (size, structure, Tiffany Ornelas de Tool is a board member of the Metta distribution of population) Center for Nonviolence and Peaceworkers, USA.

nonviolence 19 Interviews & Insights Q&A: Ali Abu Awwad by MICHAEL N. NAGLER

As a Palestinian peace activist, Ali Abu Awwad works with the Taghyeer Palestinian National Nonviolence Movement, which he founded with Palestinian community leaders. Taghyeer aims to foster a nonviolent identity in action through which communities, leaders and organizations join forces to address social development needs while resisting occupation and opening a path to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This interview originally aired on an episode of Nonviolence Radio in March. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Tell us about yourself. Where are you from, what was your childhood like? Photo: courtesy of Ali Abu Awwad I was born to a refugee family in 1948. I was raised in the , near . My mother was one of the leaders of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. She spent a few years in an Israeli prison. I was 10 years old when she was arrested. I saw her being beaten in the front of our house, and that was enough to bring me to violent resistance.

Then in 1990, after my participation in the first Justice is Palestinian intifada that started in 1987, I was arrested with my mother. I spent four years in prison, and my when we mother spent five years in prison. After three years in prison, my mother and I wanted to visit each other— decide to give and refused. We decided to go on a hunger strike. After 17 days, we succeeded and were able to up being in meet. the prison of So my first encounters with nonviolence were in prison—Palestinian political prisoners have succeeded hatred and in creating an organized system to lead and manage their daily lives with the high-level values of humanity victimhood. and morality.

When the started, I was badly wounded by a settler near Hebron. During my medical treatment my brother was murdered by Israeli soldiers. For a

20 nonviolence An Intifada Youth Coalition activist waves a banner. Photo: Joe Catron, via Flickr

year I struggled between revenge and trying to live What does nonviolence mean to you now? How do you normally, but after such violence, you are not the same define it? person. Mostly, nonviolence is about being an artist of your The issue ¢for me£ was: If it’s about revenge, then it’s about humanity—not just by solving problems, but also by justice. And getting justice for me is to have my brother back. living and experiencing. Nonviolence is not about But he will never come back. Does that mean that there’s no giving up your right to resist; it’s the opposite. justice? Then I remembered reading about Malcolm X Nonviolence is to control your reactions. It is not in prison, where he said, “Justice is just us.” I realized showing your humanity to the other side but about that justice is when we decide to give up being in the helping the other side to see their own humanity. prison of hatred and victimhood. My life changed after Can you describe a situation in which you saw meeting bereaved Israeli parents who had lost someone someone being transformed through nonviolence? in the conflict. I can make a whole book about stories. One story that What did you do to learn more about nonviolence? lives with me is when I came to a checkpoint in the Hebron area. It was winter and cold and raining. A In prison, I read books about Gandhi, Mandela and huge line of Palestinian cars had been stopped by a Martin Luther King, Jr. Then after prison, I always soldier. tried to go back to the human being inside me. It seems like everyone of us has this big library of humanity and I was in a car with a friend for an hour and a half nonviolence inside ourselves. I also met nonviolence before a soldier approached us. I expected him to experts, but I mostly learned from life lessons. ask for my ID, but he didn’t. When I opened the

nonviolence 21 Photos of women and children in the by Robert Croma, via Flickr

window he asked, “How is the checkpoint?” It was How do you prepare to go into a situation when you like celebrating my suffering, you know? I look at him think there may be some trouble? and I say, “The checkpoint is terrible.” With another It’s like I’m prepared 24 hours out of any day, because celebratory smile he asked, “Why?” when you live over there, you have to be ready at any I smiled back and told him, “Because you are time, any minute. I just try to go back to the human suffering.” He was totally shocked. “No, you are being inside me. suffering,” he said, to which I replied, “I’m in a warm When I come to checkpoints or face soldiers, I car. You look miserable under this rain. This anger is feel strong because they’re stuck. There is enough eating you. I really feel sorry for you.” He asked me humanity in Israel and Palestine for me to be strong. who I was, so I told him: I’m a Palestinian activist. I’m not the only person ¢working for change£. Then he said, “You know, this is the first time a Could you say a little bit about your work with the Palestinian speaks about my suffering.” And I said, Palestinian National Nonviolence Movement? “Well, you just showed me this part of your anger and hatred. What were you expecting me to see?” We start After working for many years in dialogue, talking. He tells me that he was born into a very right- reconciliation and joint activities, I decided to start a wing, Jewish family in Hebron and that he had never had Palestinian National Nonviolence Movement. I realized a normal conversation with a Palestinian. He let me go. that dialogue will not be enough ¢to bring peace to Israel-Palestine£.

People go to these nice dialogue meetings, where they Separation wall. Photo: hjl, via Flickr hug each other. And they go to conferences. But then they go back to refugee camps where they have no water in their homes. Nonviolence is not about feeling good with the other, or feeling good with ourselves. Nonviolence is about being able to change your life conditions. Nonviolence is not a tactic or a strategy. It is an identity. It’s a mentality.

When we identify with nonviolence, nonviolence becomes our only way to exist. It is to create a culture that will prevent problems; to target social issues, cultural issues, political issues; to resist the Israeli occupation nonviolently.

We decided to, first, to gather community leaders who can talk to people and who are respected by society, since many politicians have lost that respect. We do nonviolence trainings and workshops with these leaders.

22 nonviolence Nonviolence is a whole life structure, not just an activity or an event. Love for free Palestine mural. Photo: Cyrl, via Flickr

We do community service, to learn what can be Throwing the stones is a complex behavior. On the effective for people to do. We plant trees. We’re trying one hand, you’re throwing a stone at a 60-ton Merkava to influence political leadership, even though we tank—and this is not exactly violence. But on the other are very careful to be considered as an independent hand, it also harms you. It brings you to that level in national movement that every single Palestinian can be which you are ready to sacrifice your life. The minute part of it. you do that, that soldier in front of you celebrates, because he successfully brought you to the point of We are willing to create a resource center because most giving up your life. I tell the kids: “Don’t make them of the materials about nonviolence is from that Western succeed by celebrating your death.” world with English or any other languages. We want this material to be available in Arabic, whether it is When you say they bring you to give up your life, you documentaries or books, or any kind of stuff. don’t necessarily mean being killed. You mean they’re giving up something in themselves? This sounds like constructive program, what Gandhi To be killed, but also to be thrown in prison for did. Is that an important concept that you use? years and under the most miserable conditions. The It’s very important to be strategic. Because it’s like a occupation is an excuse to humiliate us, to make these marathon. You can’t run forever if you don’t know young kids lose their connection to a normal life. where you are going. You must have a vision, a goal, a Do you think there’s anything that an American mission, the tools. Nonviolence is a whole life structure, audience should hear about nonviolence or what not just an activity or an event. you’re doing and how they can get involved? Are you familiar with the “New Story,” the idea that The politics in America is an alarm for American this paradigm of humanity that we’ve been laboring society to stand up. The American people need to be under—that we’re just separate bodies and everything responsible toward the Arab world, because what has is physical—is wrong and needs to be replaced with been delivered to us is really bad. We grow up picking another model? up tear gas canisters stamped with “Made in USA.,” Peace for me is not to find the common ¢story£. Peace thinking that all Americans want to kill us. for me is to be able to live with difference, with respect Americans, Europeans and us—we are all part of this and dignity. global family. It’s our responsibility to solve the conflict. It’s not the Israeli-Arab conflict; it’s the world conflict. So when you go to a demonstration, do you have some Holy Land: it’s holy for everyone. n way of talking with the Shabab who want to throw stones and things like that? Because we have a big This interview was transcribed on a gift-economy basis by problem with disruption in the US. Matthew Watrous: [email protected]. I sometimes ask Palestinian kids, “Why do you throw stones?” They say, “We throw stones at the soldiers because this is an occupation.” Then I say, “OK, I did Michael N. Nagler is Founder of the Metta Center for that too. But why do you throw stones? Do you think Nonviolence and author of The Nonviolence Handbook: this will lead you to freedom?” A Guide to Practical Action.

nonviolence 23 Interviews & Insights Answering the Skeptics by the METTA CENTER FOR NONVIOLENCE

The cultural myth that humans are inherently violent has persisted, despite the large body of scientific evidence showing otherwise.

24 nonviolence Even if you’ve studied nonviolence for just a day, It’s human nature to be violent. Humans are you’ve likely heard an objection or two raised by those selfish and evil, but the fundamental belief who doubt its power. In hope of helping you better system of nonviolence is that people are navigate such discussions, we respond to a few of the innately “good.” most common questions and misperceptions brought up by skeptics. The cultural myth that humans are inherently violent and selfish has persisted, despite the large body of scientific and psychological evidence showing People who use nonviolence can be pushed otherwise. Studies have shown that cooperation and around and intimidated easily. If you take altruism are just as natural to humans as conflict away violence, we will have nothing. (Davitz 1952, Sherif 1954). Biologist Mary Clark named three essential needs that all humans strive to have met, For anyone to act as a victimizer, someone must comply beyond the basic physical needs: bonding, autonomy with the role of victim. Passivity and cowardice, then, and meaning. Violence is a separating and dominating also perpetuate the logic of violence by reinforcing force that undermines the fulfillment of these needs, the idea that coercion is the natural order of human and nonviolence is the integrative force that brings relationships, that it is natural for there to be victims people closer together. and victimizers. To allow oneself to be victimized is to enable the violence of the victimizer, and therefore to be violent oneself. The military is the only thing standing between us and international chaos. If we were to convert our military to nonviolence projects, it Whether you’re facing brutal dictators would lead to disaster. or trying to save Earth from corporate destruction, there is no win-win. You need “us If we want to avoid international chaos, we should vs. them” tactics. address the underlying problems that undermine our national and private security and not become To stop an injustice, one must refuse to comply with dependent on having the most weapons. We should the injustice itself and the methods, rules and logic also strengthen under-funded and under-recognized that allowed it to occur—namely, the rules of violence, institutions, like unarmed civilian peacekeeping, that coercion and domination. provide nonviolent alternatives.

To adopt violent methods against one’s opponent— even “soft” methods like name-calling, ridicule It’s hard enough for people to transform small or intimidation—is to reinforce the paradigm of behaviors, like going on a diet or quitting domination that allows individuals and groups to smoking. How then are they going to take on exploit one another. Those who were oppressed today much more difficult changes, like becoming may later find themselves in a position to exact unfair more compassionate? advantage, as individuals if not as a group, unless the underlying logic of oppression is challenged. Many “small behaviors” are hard to change because they are symptoms of anxiety caused by deeper Nonviolence is the active noncompliance with injustice problems. Since nonviolence is compatible with our while concurrently creating a positive alternative; it basic needs and violence is not (see answer to “Humans rejects both indignity and dependence in favor of are selfish” above), becoming more compassionate dignity, self-sufficiency and interdependence for all should be easier than expected, as it is going with parties involved. nature, not against it.

nonviolence 25 History proves that nonviolence doesn’t work. Nonviolence can only work when you have a critical mass. History is a record of notable events, and events have typically been considered “notable” if they are unusual. This objection is based on the assumption that War and dysfunction are recorded in history because nonviolence works through intimidation. It does not. they stand out as unusual from the normal flow of It is an integrative power that brings people closer human civilization, of which we record very little. together through respect and humanization, and Therefore, history is a record of the breakdowns of therefore it is not the numbers that count, but the act normal human society, where peace and reconciliation itself. In 1943, physicist Niels Bohr saved the lives of is too common to be of note to historians. thousands of Jewish refugees by suggesting to the King of Sweden that if they were not let into the country, Nonviolence can take a long time to show its effects. Bohr would turn himself in to the Nazis. That’s a The Indian freedom struggle took decades, but the telling example of how nonviolence works, even when a result was a democratic government for India and single person takes the action. positive relations between India and Britain. A war can be over within a few years, appearing to result in a victory, but lead to blowback and strife later on One person wielding arms can overcome as defeated parties seek retribution. Violence always a million nonviolent people. An agent causes negative effects, even when it “works” by provocateur can completely discredit a achieving its short-term objectives. Nonviolence always movement. works in that it moves the situation towards a more positive outcome, however slowly, even when it doesn’t The alternative is what, exactly? To be violent to accomplish its short-term objectives. begin with? If the argument is that violence “ruins” the efforts of a nonviolent movement (which can be true), then isn’t that an argument in favor of the There is such a thing as “just war” if that effectiveness of nonviolence? The effectiveness of a violence would stop a greater evil. Look at movement is dependent on the public’s perception of WWII. We needed force to stop Hitler. By its legitimacy, a legitimacy undermined by violence. (It bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we ended would seem that it is as true for movements as it is for the war and Japan became a peaceful country. governments.) The only answer then for provocateurs is to try to minimize their ability to cause violence by So violence does lead to peace. confronting them nonviolently as one does any other If we wait til the last minute, as we did in 1941, we’ll opponent. That would also help to make clear your of course have few options. Violent leaders are a dime lack of cooperation with them, and also to get “person a dozen and can be promptly replaced with another power” (rather than “people power”) into the public by the same conditions that brought the first leader awareness—that is to get the public more accustomed into power. The important thing is to examine what to seeing a movement as the actions of many conditions are allowing for a violent regime to remain individuals rather than as an abstract “movement” in power and address those. or group that’s easily contaminated by one person’s violent act. A nonviolent confrontation would greatly Yes, we defeated Hitler, militarily, but we did not defeat magnify the power of any movement, showing it as Nazism. WWII ushered in an unprecedented era of many individual actions rather than one mass action. militarism and domination. And for that matter, Japan Encouraging the reference public to think in terms of is remilitarizing as we speak. individuals rather than groups is part of the nonviolent paradigm shift, anyway. We need to protect ourselves against criminals. If they know that we are armed, they will think You can’t battle corporations with nonviolence. twice before breaking into our homes. Even if CEOs feel moved to “do the right thing,” capitalism ultimately values the bottom line. Professional criminals are not deterred by you having a gun. It only makes them more likely to shoot first, since Corporations, like any faulty system, will remain only now you are perceived as a threat. as long as people support them (both the people within

26 nonviolence and without). While persuading those who continue to support the present system to “do the right thing” is important to stop the damage of the present system and move the consciences of those individuals (and the values of the culture) closer to what we will need for the Nonviolence new world, you are correct that this is not enough to brings people create deep social change. The goal of nonviolence should be to work outside closer together these institutions to build parallel institutions to eventually replace the flawed system.If those in the through system have been dealt with nonviolently throughout the transition, the move over to the parallel institutions respect and will be smoother. n humanization.

The Metta Center for Nonviolence provides educational resources on the safe and effective use of nonviolence, with the recognition that it’s not about putting the right person in power but awakening the right kind of power in people.

nonviolence 27 Poetry

28 nonviolence @ this point

“You are thº, Shvetaketu, you are thº.” The Chandogya Upanishad

“Truth is my God.” Mahatma Gandhi

“And, thº’s the truth.” Edith Ann (Lily Tomlin)

º this point on this sphere’s surface, º the mid-point of infinite tangents in space,

º the head of my contrail in time,

º the offing on a horizon: the natural universe dancing around it, the sphere spinning like a dervish, the stars staring. could I sit º this point mind in heart heart in love love in joy without condition without thought

º one with thº

Poem by James Phoenix. James is Vice President of the Metta Center for Nonviolence and a program officer with Fenwick Foundation. See more of his poetry: jamesphoenix.com.

nonviolence 29 Person Power & Unity A Theory of Personal

On the personal level, our narratives work in a similar Change fashion, as a kind of operating system for the human being. Throughout life, our actions and interactions— and what we make of those—shape and re-shape our by MAJA BENGTSON narratives. In turn, our narratives shape our thoughts, feelings and behavior, along with how we interpret what goes on around us.

Your narrative is the story you have identified with. It operates like a filter through which everything is viewed and understood and acted upon. It determines which neural pathways will be engaged. When The new narrative I’m working on is: something is easy or familiar, the brain’s wiring “fires,” ‘I am able to make room for difference almost automatically, down a well-traveled path, similar to how you travel your regular route to work. in ideas and opinions.’ It all operates under the radar of conscious thought.

I recently watched a six year-old friend in the skateboard park. The little boy is used to a speed of From Freudian theory to religious and political learning that was severely challenged in this new game viewpoints, there are many ideas out there about of skateboarding: the frustration was intense, as he what a human being is and how people change. An was unable to live up to his usual degree of mastery. understandable question is: How is personal change He said, over and over: “But I have learned this, I relevant today, in the midst of global crises? To that, I know how to do it!” He was unable to deliver what say: It’s important to get clear about the stories running his narrative was saying (“I’m good at things that I’ve our lives. Otherwise, we will be futile in our efforts to learned”) and emotionally flooded with the discrepancy create the real, sustainable changes we would like to see between that and what his body was able to do. Some happen. find a similar dynamic when making art: “I know what On the societal level, our underlying stories offer it looks like in my head, so why is it not coming out the us a map of understanding and hold the power of same way on paper?” interpretation. Hence, they inform our decisions and Such a state of frustration is hard for us humans to actions in the world. Our response to the global refugee tolerate. To resolve the discrepancy, we often decide crisis, for example, will depend on whether we hold on a new version of “who we are.” For the little boy, a a story about humans as “everyone for themselves” revised narrative might have been something like: “I’m or one in which “we are all interrelated.” The story good at things I’ve learned, as long as it’s not athletic.” we hold shapes our relationship with every aspect of Luckily, his parents understood what was happening society, from international warfare and grade school and talked to him about how “knowing how” is not curriculum to matters of economy and ecology. the same as “doing it,” that we must practice to make At the Metta Center for Nonviolence, we talk often up for the difference. A few hours later, back at the about New Story as an underlying paradigm. New skateboard park, the boy geared up again, and now Story holds our humanity as way vaster—and way more with a mindset that included “physical activity takes complex—than the mechanical/material viewpoint that practice.” He was glowing as he went down the slope is the norm in mainstream western culture: unity of all and over the bump, slowed down, hopped off his life is its key organizing principle and a rationale for board, ran back up and repeated the whole adventure. why nonviolence actually works. Over and over and over.

30 nonviolence Similar dynamics are in place for every aspect of our for the rewiring to happen. My practice is a variant of identity. How successful am I? How much money can I mindfulness meditation, where I’m paying attention to earn? How can I make a difference? Or, in the domain of a spaciousness in the physical head. Alas, I’m still in the relating to others: How lovable am I? How much do I trust uphill phase of forgetting to do it regularly. It could be other people? How should people treat me? that some additional support is needed, or that juicing it up somehow would make it more intriguing and The good news is that once we begin to see ourselves hence more memorable. in this light, we have a highly potent person-power tool at our disposal: we can proactively change our personal It will take some time before any new narrative narrative. The upgraded story needs to be plausible takes hold, in ourselves or the world at large. In the in relation to our old one, or it will be arduous to meantime, we can use awareness of old narratives— integrate. It also has to be supported through actual by noticing when they are running our thought activity, repeated enough times—and with sufficient process and activities—as a way to create more room, energy and interest—to rewire the brain. The result is acceptance and choice. n a new way of being.

It normally takes some exploration to “catch” an Author’s closing note: the theory of Narrative as used elusive narrative. In the face of the intensified political here comes from New Ventures West’s training for Integral dichotomy in the United States, I’ve stumbled into Coaching®. this personal story: “there is only one right way” (to think, be, look, act). This story is also to be found in (my native) Swedish culture, where orienting towards a commonly accepted way is very strong: “Don’t stand out” is a frequently cited code of behavior. Maja Bengtson is a Metta Center board member, creator of The new narrative I’m working on is: “I am able to the Inner Leadership method for individual and interpersonal make room for difference in ideas and opinions.” transformation and founder of changents.us for integral Even for mental habits, repeated practices are crucial sustainability. Read her poetry at hardwired.me.

nonviolence 31 Scholarship & Culture

Training for the Revolution by MARY L. HANNA

The grim news: PBS relayed that there were 372 mass shootings in the United States in 2015: approximately one mass shooting per day for each day in the year. The Southern Poverty Law Center reported 1,051 hate crime incidents since the 2016 presidential election—a number that continues to grow. According to ThinkProgress, “42 percent of those incidents included specific references to Trump, his election or his policies.”

The encouraging news: In a time when some people could turn to a militarized police department— deployed in riot gear with tear gas, tasers, batons and automatic weapons—many are turning to the tried- and-true methods of nonviolence. Over the past several months, Meta Peace Team, a nonprofit organization that trains people in violence de-escalation skills, has been inundated with requests for workshops and skills trainings.

Starting from the day after the election, our phone has been ringing incessantly, and our email box quickly fills up. Just as reports of hate crimes had already begun to skyrocket, so had a groundswell of people asking for training in de-escalation and bystander intervention, along with combating violence, fear and hate with the more substantive precepts of nonviolence, compassion and love.

Offering nonviolence skills training since its inception in 1993, Meta Peace Team—or MPT (originally Peace Team)—has consistently promoted more effective ways of dealing with violence, actively encouraging people to learn these techniques. We often cold-called church and civic groups to offer training opportunities, with the goal of finding 10 or more people willing to participate in an eight-hour training. MPT’s method of teaching each skill and then having participants practice it in role-play scenarios resulted in a determination that at least 10 people were needed Activist training in , MI. Photo: Mary L. Hanna in a training to ensure that all the role-plays were

32 nonviolence Offering nonviolence skills training since its inception in 1993, Meta Peace Team has consistently promoted more effective ways of dealing with violence, actively encouraging people to learn these techniques.

life-like and effective. Invariably, fingers were crossed For citizens looking for a proven methodology to before each training, hoping that there would be a just, democratic, equitable society, the value of enough interest for the training to go forward. Once learning skills of violence prevention and de-escalation, trained, participants could not only use these skills and then employing them strategically, cannot be in their personal lives, but also join trained teams of overstated. MPT’s nonviolence curriculum focuses on volunteers—MPT’s Peace Teams—throughout the US the importance of self-care and introspection, going and around the world. so far as suggesting a daily practice of centering, prayer or meditation. It elucidates the importance Based on the amount of calls and emails we received of deep listening, and of paying attention to body following the 2016 election, we hoped that the first language. It demonstrates techniques that create a post-election training would be well-received. We safe space for conflicts to be worked out in, eradicating weren’t disappointed. Stephen Gasteyer and Elizabeth the “win at any cost” mentality. The training Drexler, professors at Michigan State University, teaches the basic methodology used in Third-Party offered to host the training on their campus. That Nonviolent Intervention, including offering protective made sense. “Build that wall” had been spray-painted accompaniment, establishing a peaceful presence, on a university building, while students wearing practicing human rights monitoring and participating hijabs were verbally harassed. We were all optimistic in interpositioning: putting your body between the that up to 40 students might join in, but we had potential victim and the aggressor. And it offers ideas of underestimated the impact that the threat of potential what to do when you’re all alone and you see someone fascism can have on a community: more than 130 being harassed. people registered for the training, and dozens of Earlier this year, a group of 22 people gathered at a university departments and colleges offered to co- bed and breakfast in Northern Michigan for MPT’s sponsor the event, as did the regional Peace Education Violence De-escalation Skills Training. The list of Center and Pax Christi Michigan. Headlined as “A attendees comprised teachers, artists, musicians, Nonviolent Response to Fear and Hate,” it drew lawyers, businessmen and homemakers. The evening attendees of various nationalities, ages and economic before the training, we gathered around a roaring backgrounds. There was standing room only, with fireplace while it snowed outside and, in the warmth students, faculty, staff and general community members and safety that space afforded us, we shared our creating a snapshot of what Dr. Martin Luther King deepest fears about the increased violence since the called “the Beloved Community.” election. Many felt powerless and alone. All were here to find some tangible ways of making a difference. As the request for and response to trainings show, The next day, revitalized and with some common people are hungry for an effective antidote to the anger ground already discovered, we went through the day: and fear that spring from the erosion of civil rights, We talked about the differing perceptions of what environmental protection, freedom of speech and basic could be considered violence; practiced what it means human rights that many may have previously taken to listen intently; focused on how to pay attention to for granted. The specter of despotism has prodded body language; reviewed how to present concerns courageous people to seek out the morally superior to someone else in a nonthreatening manner and methods of nonviolently dismantling a garrison state. learned how to verbally de-escalate someone who is

nonviolence 33 highly agitated. We grappled with how to make quick There is no time for apathy. While it is frightening to decisions in a crisis situation, and how to rely on one be in the midst of the extremes the “Alternative Right” another to be most effective. “This is exactly what I aggressively purports, the subversive stream of people needed….exactly the kind of thing I was looking for, seeking out how to successfully—and nonviolently— and I didn’t even know it,” said one older woman as turn the tide is indeed galvanizing. she wiped tears from her eyes. “I knew this training As author/activist John Dear wrote in a 2015 piece for would be good, but I had no idea how good,” said a the Huffington Post: younger participant. “Everyone should take this kind of training. This should be taught in schools! Do police Everyone has to practice nonviolence. Everyone. officers ever take this?” From the people on the streets to the police, to church ministers and parents, but also our media It’s interesting that when we first advertise a training, spokespeople and elected officials. Including the we often hear “Does it have to be eight hours long?” and president. And the military. Everyone, everywhere. by the end of the training day, we frequently hear “We The days of war, killing, shootings, bombings, want more. Can you come back?” Feeling empowered torture, executions and nuclear weapons are to take action and decrease the fear and anxiety that coming to an end. The days of violence are over. surrounds us is exciting. People leave physically tired Everyone has to practice nonviolence. That is our but emotionally and spiritually rejuvenated. only future—if we are to have a future. n Most importantly, the trainings underscore that one person can and does make a difference. People who may never before have considered entering the political or social arena suddenly feel empowered to do so. It is nothing short of revolutionary. That so many Americans Mary L. Hanna, M.Ed. is Coordinator/Operations Manager are actively seeking out training in the skills of violence for Meta Peace Team and State Coordinator for Pax Christi de-escalation should be taken as a sincere sign of hope. Michigan. She also helped found the Shanti Sena Network.

A training that began with centering. Photo: courtesy of Meta Peace Team

34 nonviolence nonviolence 35 Person Power & Unity Meditation: The Soul of “Peace from Within” by MICHAEL N. NAGLER

Not every truism is true. But some are, and one that traditions, the mind itself is a creation of conditioning. the peace movement has entertained for a long time It may be astounding to contemplate life without a now is that “peace must come from within.” This truism mind, but the Vedantic and other upholders of this has lead to two misunderstandings—which in turn has tradition reassure us that we are not ultimately our lead to its rejection in many quarters—namely that a) restless, conditioned mind with its nervous likes and we already have peace within us (and don’t need to dislikes of things, of situations and alas of people. We develop it) and/or b) we only need peace from within are pure consciousness; and to reveal that Reality, the (and don’t need to work on its outward manifestation). mind itself, which at present we cling to and identify Shorn of these misconceptions, the “peace from within” with, has to be steadily slowed and finally shut down. truism is not only true but signals a profound, and This is close to a translation of the famous aphorism in vital, shift in the modern understanding of peacework. which the sage Patañjali succinctly defined meditation as the suppression of thought waves in the mind. At the very least, we can see how frequently peace action is vitiated by anger. Demonstration I would aver that all meditation worthy of the name after demonstration is made ineffective or worse must slowly and steadily suppress thought waves. As for when participants—or more often, intruders and how, on the other hand, there are various contenders. instigators—hurl curses or barricades at police, break Transcendental Meditation, just mentioned, uses windows, etc. On the other hand, we have studies from the repetition of a mantram, or prayer word, which, followers of Transcendental Meditation showing that rather untraditionally in their case, can be a made- even a small percentage of meditators in a given city up word like “one” (in most traditions, including the lowers the crime rate by measurable degrees. one I follow, a mantram should be handed down by generations of users, and preferably maintained in the Some, including myself, would say that meditation original language). There are several other approaches, is the most effective (if not the only) method for but the one I practice is Passage Meditation, the developing inner peace. While the wellspring of method developed and promoted by Eknath Easwaran. profound peace is within each one of us, it is occluded In this practice, one memorizes an inspirational in the vast majority of us by disruptive conditioning passage from some tradition that appeals and then, for deeply rooted in our evolutionary past—the urge that half an hour in the morning, sits upright with the eyes brought about the primordial sense of separateness gently closed and silently repeats the passage as slowly in each and every one of us, indeed in every sentient as possible without breaking up the continuity of the being. Unfortunately, that negative disposition of the meaning. Easwaran’s website (bmcm.org) is a mine of mind is being systematically and intensively reinforced further information and inspiring resources. today, through an economy built on what Gandhi called “the multiplication of wants,” which is given voice by In my own experience, which I think tallies with the powerful mass media. traditions worldwide, there are two immediate payoffs for peace-creation, among many others. The first is Meditation is a way to retrain the mind, to slowly empathy. Every genuine meditation experience carries redirect its focus and create a new inner environment with it the awareness that you are experiencing a for us in which far more benevolent, peace-creating universal of human consciousness. This is perhaps the forces can be released. According to the ancient wisdom strongest contrast with intellectual knowledge, which

36 nonviolence often feels like it’s your own private accomplishment when we learn to be more aware of what’s going on (and can therefore lead to an increase of egotism). inside us) that disrespect or humiliation is probably the Imagine being able to stand facing an enraged person most potent driver of violence. Conversely, the feeling without losing your sense of his or her personhood, that comes from strengthening your will to master to your benefit of the doubt that he or she has a reason some degree your own thinking and desires conveys a for their position. Many a meditator has experienced deep sense of self-worth—while the fierce difficulty of just this, with rewarding results. This is not some kind the process brings with it a good dose of humility. n of make-believe: in the profound words of the great Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, “We are here to overcome the illusion of separateness.” Michael N. Nagler is Founder of the Metta Center for The second is self-respect. We know from the extensive Nonviolence and author of The Nonviolence Handbook: studies of Dr. James Gilligan (and personal experience, A Guide to Practical Action.

Meditation on Day 31 of Occupy Wall Street. Photo: David Shankbone, via Flickr

nonviolence 37 Scholarship & Culture When You See Something...Act! by ROSE MARIE BERGER

Robert Harvey had a problem. The church he pastors was vandalized after the election: “Trump Nation. Whites only” was scrawled across its sign. His congregants, nearly 85 percent of whom are Active-bystander immigrants from West Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, were shaken. intervention is what

The Southern Poverty Law Center reported 1,094 bias- ‘love your neighbor’ related incidents across the United States in the month after the 2016 presidential election. The greatest looks like in public. number of these types of events are against women in public spaces who are also immigrants, Muslim or African American. These are assumed to be a “small fraction of hate-related incidents,” as the Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that two-thirds of hate crimes There are four key principles that guide active- go unreported. bystander intervention, according to Maryland-based trainer Kit Bonson: Harvey, rector of Episcopal Church of Our Saviour in Silver Spring, Maryland, decided to take action. 1. Show moral courage by acting calmly on principle, First, he reached out to the local community and other not emotion. religious congregations. Second, he signed up for a 2. Engage in de-escalation by limiting the ways a nonviolence and active-bystander intervention training. situation might become worse; reduce drama. To understand how to be an “active bystander,” one 3. Prioritize the targeted person by asking if they want must first understand the “passive bystander” effect. help. Don’t take away the targeted person’s agency. Research shows that when someone needs help and Act not as a savior, but as an actively concerned they are in a crowd, bystanders are less likely to act. bystander. The more bystanders there are to an event, the more each one thinks someone else will help. 4. Ignore the attacker, create a safe space for the targeted person and ask other bystanders for a But, said psychologist Ken G. Brown, when one person specific action. takes an action, the passive bystander results are reversed. “We go from having a bystander effect where Hollaback, a global movement to end harassment in people are less likely to help to having what could be public spaces, identifies the four D’s of active-bystander called a ðhelper effect’ where ... as long as one person intervention: direct intervention, distract (indirect actively helps, more people are more likely to jump in intervention), delegate (ask others for help) and delay to aid further,” said Brown. (respond to the targeted person after the situation is over).

38 nonviolence Bystander sculpture by June Lee. Photo courtesy of the artist, via Flickr

Active-bystander trainings are opportunities to practice particularly helpful as a faith leader. Some of my these principles and tactics in role plays. Practicing parishioners encounter racism nearly every day. I’ve with others helps overcome the uncertainty factor more given them the advice I learned.” quickly and allows for swift and effective intervention In an era of increased bias incidents and a climate of when a situation arises. fear, nonviolence and active-bystander intervention is On Inauguration Day, Sojourners partnered with what “love your neighbor” looks like in public. n Swamp Revolt, a DC-based civil society group that This article is reprinted from the April 2017 issue of formed after the election, to train more than 1,500 Sojourners magazine with permission. people at 23 locations in Maryland, Virginia and the District in how to de-escalate conflict and intervene in situations of bias or harassment.

Following the racist graffiti incident at Harvey’s Episcopal church, people from across the country sent cards and messages of support. Four synagogues, two mosques and other faith groups showed up at his church the following Sunday with flowers, banners and signs of support for the congregation. Harvey said, “They let us know that ðlove trumps hate.’”

“Resistance can take many forms,” said Harvey, after Rose Marie Berger is a senior associate editor at Sojourners attending an active-bystander training. “I found ¢it£ magazine, Catholic peace activist and poet.

nonviolence 39 Interviews & Insights

Q&A: George Lakey by LOU ZWEIER

George Lakey is Co-founder of Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT; pronounced “Equate”), a nonviolent action group that campaigns with people globally for a just and sustainable economy. Earlier this year, EQAT won a five-year campaign to force a major US bank to drop its financing of mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia. As a nonviolence educator, Lakey has taught in the college classroom and has led workshops internationally. He is the author of the books Toward a Living Revolution: A Five-Stage Framework for Creating Radical Social Change and Viking Economics: How the Scandinavians Got it Right—and How We Can, Too.

What was your upbringing like? I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania. Blue collar parents. Neither one had finished high school. I was the middle of three children. One thing that drew our family together was church, an evangelical fundamentalist Bible-thumping church.

What made you decide to learn about nonviolence and try to apply it for social change? I was brought up to be practical: How do we get things done? I was concerned about racial equality from the age of 12, the age I preached a sermon in church about racial equality being God’s will. That was the end of my preaching career: I got the distinct message they didn’t want any more of that.

40 nonviolence George Lakey at the Appalachia Rising gathering in 2010. Photo: Brennan Cavanaugh, via Flickr

nonviolence 41 Can you share a personal nonviolence story? There were a bunch of people speaking against the war in Vietnam, taking turns standing on a milk crate in the street. I noticed this guy looking angry—I was standing on the box. When I finished, I got down and non- threateningly meandered in his direction.

He pulled out a knife and said, “I’m just out of Vietnam. You are betraying me and our soldiers and I’m not going to let you do that.” I stared him in the eye and said, “I don’t think you want to live with the EQAT activists at a 2013 shareholders demonstration. Photo: courtesy of EQAT consequences of doing this.” I kept staring at him. He said, “You’re right,” and he put the knife away.

It stayed on my mind. In college I wondered what My various experiences with violence have shown could move the needle, because things seemed stuck. I ambivalence on the part of the attacker. If you can was reviewing the Gospels and seeing for the first time speak to that part of them that is wondering, “Is this that Jesus wanted us to turn the other cheek. I thought, smart, what I’m doing?” that gives you much more edge. “I was brought up to be pro-military. What about that?” That spun me into a year of research and questioning, How does your work with different organizations out of which came a pacifist commitment with a social relate to organizing action? justice, racial justice, economic justice orientation. When I think about the range of organizations that I’ve been involved with—and often started or co- At that time, the Montgomery Bus Boycott was going founded—I would say that each organizational form on. Ralph Abernathy came to my college town and gave has its own challenges and opportunities. I haven’t a talk about what they were doing down there. Taking stayed with one form all the time because I’m pretty a moral stand was not enough. Here was a practical hungry for the learning that’s involved with different movement, a campaign I could learn from. challenges. Was there a moment when you felt that you learned For example, I helped organize a coalition in the ’80s that nonviolence was the right path? when Ronald Reagan came to office. His objective, In the course of that research I was doing about of course, was to push us back from the gains we had pacifism—I didn’t really want to be a pacifist; I didn’t made in the ’60s and ’70s. There was a lot of coalition- want the alienation from my family that I thought building, and I chose the Jobs with Peace campaign. would result—I kept being skeptical. I read everything I liked Jobs with Peace—and founded it for my I could, even a Marxist book, The Case Against Pacifism. state of Pennsylvania—because it was a tremendous Not because I was Marxist, but because I was looking opportunity to put together different social classes in for evidence for why pacifism was crazy. the same organization. One challenge for us was how to keep people from splintering, because class division I was looking at history and attending Quaker is very real. It was hard work. I grew enormously. I meetings. I got to thinking about those early Friends became director of the coalition. There were many who came to Pennsylvania and what kinds of mornings when I would start my day with a big cry. conversations they might have been having with their neighbors. Were the neighbors saying, “You’re going The group I’m with now is Earth Quaker Action Team. to be over there with savages, of course you’re going We understand the economic elite to be running the to take a gun to protect your family” and the Quaker country and we think it’s a waste of time to go after farmer saying, “No, we’re not going to do that”? It the people who are the puppets, the elected officials. turned out that the Quakers were the safest people in We think it makes much more sense to go after the the American Frontier. Hmm—a moment, right? puppeteer, the economic elite.

42 nonviolence It’s no small thing What would be a typical example of workshop to go up against the conflict? seventh largest bank If it’s an interracial group, race would be a typical one. It could be a racial group tiptoeing around and not in the country, bringing their cultural contributions because they’re not sure they would be welcome. And white people especially if your group being nicey-nice and saying inappropriate things. That would be an example of a really juicy conflict we can starts in a living room. support people to have, and then the group is so much more solid after they’ve really come to terms with that.

How are strategy and planning important to successful nonviolent actions or campaigns? With EQAT taking on the bank, we researched other In our first campaign, we forced the seventh largest campaigns that targeted banks. We also researched bank to stop funding mountain removal coal mining, what realistic demand we could make. We decided on and that precipitated a withdrawal and a stopping an option we thought we had a shot at winning, even of that terrible practice in Appalachia. It’s no small if it took years. It ended up taking five years to win thing to go up against the seventh largest bank in the our objective. A lot of planning and strategy is figuring country, especially if your group starts in a living room. out the appropriate target and the objective, or the demand. Then what is the vulnerable place in the Could you give a broad outline of what you do in a target—what would incentivize them to give in? training? A big thing for that bank was growing. It was using our tax We work with a range of groups, and we do a lot of money to expand after 2008 and buy up more community banks. How could we show prospective customers that this diagnostic work ahead of time: what you have going is a bank willing to loan their money to blow up mountains for you and what you want to learn. Then we design a and double cancer rates in Appalachia? Is this really where workshop specifically for a group. When people come, you want to put your money? we do what we call “build a container,” a sense of safety among people. Once the container is built, we can really rock and roll because then people bring up stuff George Lakey getting arrested at an EQAT demonstration. Photo: courtesy of EQAT that is usually in some alignment with goals they stated ahead of time.

The middle stage has conflict in it, and that’s rooted in Gandhian philosophy. Satyagraha was all about conflict. A good workshop, from our point of view, is one with a fight in the middle and out of which comes not some resolution but a deeper set of relationships within the group. They’ve been through a storm and they move to a new place. That’s what makes it transformational.

A lot depends on what people feel they need. Maybe people feel the need to have more intervention around—intervention with fights that might be going on in a demonstration. We’re big on trying things that are off the wall.

nonviolence 43 historically. These large one-off events enable us to vent, but venting is self-indulgent, right? We can do so Just much better than that. demonizing A spiritual problem for many activists is that they get caught in a version of morality that prevents them the opponent from empathizing with the other side. They’re unable to think what the other side might be thinking, and is a mistake. therefore they’re unable to play the chess game. Just demonizing the opponent is a mistake.

We need to stop excusing ourselves from learning strategy by doing these one-offs and wasting our time. We need to plan campaigns with arcs, with strategy, such that they can move things. Gandhi was all about Implementation included getting people who were that. King was all about that. Chavez was all about that. already depositors to publicly announce they were The Women’s Suffrage movement was all about that. taking their money out of the bank, putting it into It’s not that we lack examples of effective nonviolent credit unions, making ceremonies around that. A lot of campaigns. tactics followed from the strategy. What should people know about thinking We understood that a large bank would have a strategically? worldview of bigness. If we stayed small, they could Fortunately, there is more of a literature on strategy keep shrugging us off. “They’re just this little moralistic now than there was 10 to 15 years ago. Another plus group. We don’t have to worry about them.” So it is a resource that Swarthmore students worked for would be important for us to grow too. six years to put online, the Global Nonviolent Action Database. It’s not always important for a group to grow, but our strategic sense was that it was really important with People are accessing that database from almost 200 this bank. We grew to 13 states, and we showed every countries. The database contains more than 1,000 indication that we would keep growing, annoying them nonviolent campaigns over a range of issues. We in more places. have, I think, the largest compilation of indigenous nonviolent struggles available in the world. We have Another strategic consideration for us was that neither the largest compilation of the Sit-in and Civil Rights the shareholders nor the board of directors were movements. We probably have the largest publicly paying a penalty for irresponsibility. So we started available inventory of nonviolent campaigns that have visiting them. We would show up when an individual overthrown dictatorships. board member was getting an award for something and explain what that board member was actually By reading whole cases, you can really see the chess doing. We shut down shareholders meetings in a highly game—the opponent does this, the people’s movement nonviolent way. does that. Allies come in, allies leave. In reading these narratives, you see how they turn out. As Gandhi’s A lot of our members had never been in a direct-action work shows, it’s a succession of moves that matter. campaign before. So just planning one action and doing it, and then planning another action and doing I’m curious about your thoughts on the relationship it. That was the best we could do for the first nine between obstructive program and constructive months. We matured to where we could extend the program, and the balance of them in a successful strategic arc and plan six and then nine months’ worth nonviolent campaign. of actions. I think the relationship between constructive and When we really start thinking strategically we can ask, obstructive has very much to do with the historical “What do one-off demonstrations accomplish?” The situation. My newest book, Viking Economics: How the Big March or Big Rally—they don’t get anything done Scandinavians Got It Right—and How We Can, Too, is

44 nonviolence about how the Nordic countries managed to deal with their economic elite so that they could abolish poverty, be at the top of the charts in terms of well-being and equality ¢while having the£ best records in the world for individual freedom and for community.

Their breakthrough came during enormous polarization, where there’d be Nazis and communists marching at the same time in a particular society, like Sweden or Norway. A lot of my fellow Americans are worried about the degree of polarization in the United States. There is no excuse for polarization to slow us down. Actually, it can accelerate the achievement if we EQAT activists at a 2016 Runaround event. Photo: courtesy of EQAT just learn how to navigate it.

¢What the Scandinavians£ had going for them was an I believe that, strategically, external support has to do emphasis on constructive program. In their case, it was with getting the opponent to understand there’ll be no the co-op movement, not only consumer co-ops but let up and it’ll just get worse. producer co-ops. If I’m right about that being a strategic consideration, There are historical situations where it’s not so then it’s on movement people to be consistent and to important to have constructive program because grow. “Today it’s this cause, then tomorrow it’s that society is already anticipating many of the values that cause” reinforces an opinion among opponents that need to be expressed. New England was already in you’re here today, gone tomorrow. One-off marches good shape with regard to expression of democracy and rallies reinforce that opinion. in the American Revolution. They didn’t need to do a whole lot of constructive program to have an effective A spiritual problem for many activists is that they get movement. I would assess each situation to figure out caught in a version of morality that prevents them what the ratio of emphasis should be. from empathizing with the other side. They’re unable to think what the other side might be thinking, and What about the media’s role in the success or failure therefore they’re unable to play the chess game. Just of nonviolent campaigns? demonizing the opponent is a mistake. You don’t need the media to win. The Civil Rights Nonviolent struggle is such an arena for personal movement understood that we can put enormous and spiritual growth. What an opportunity to be fully leverage on the opponent without having the media on human. I don’t know why people do anything else our side—and we better be able to, because we know ¢laughs£. n the media won’t be on our side. This interview was transcribed on a gift-economy basis by We beat the seventh largest bank in the country with Matthew Watrous: [email protected]. relatively little media attention. We made so much beautiful trouble for them that they finally gave in.

What about the role of international support? In some situations, it’s really important and in some it isn’t. Certainly in South Africa, where the apartheid regime was willing to use torture, it was really important for people suffering on the ground to know there were other folks in the fray. Students in Britain decided to target Barclays bank, the 800-pound gorilla in the British Empire with enormous investments in apartheid. Lou Zweier is an independent filmmaker, teacher and It took 20 years, but they finally forced Barclays out of nonviolence practitioner. He lives in Northern California with South Africa. It was a very impressive campaign. his wife of 35 years, and he has two adult children.

nonviolence 45 Scholarship & Culture For Six & Under: Training Kids by STEPHANIE VAN HOOK

Children’s empowerment should never be limited to academic or artistic achievement.

46 nonviolence Nonviolence training is not just for grown-ups. the world if we ourselves don’t believe all this enough to apply it to our own lives, even in our smallest Over the past few years, I have had the privilege of interactions. Nonviolence, like authentic spirituality, is developing a peace and nonviolence curriculum in more “caught” than “taught,” especially for children, a mixed-age, early childhood setting with children who are at an early age just learning the intricacies of between the ages of two and a half and six. Before the their culture. children come back in from the playground they line up, sometimes pushing or bickering about who goes We have to be ambassadors of a nonviolent culture. where (we are a work-in-progress after all), and recite Though we will probably fall short of the ideal, we the following: are always striving to improve, as Gandhi reminds us. Our work includes but is not limited to: expressing I pledge allegiance to the Earth, and to the flora, grace and courtesy (please, thank you, excuse me, fauna and human life that support it. good morning, etc); restricting our exposure to One planet, indivisible, with safe air, water, soil, violent media; showing empathy; bypassing gossip economic justice, restorative justice, equal rights and negative talk about ourselves or others; avoiding and peace and love for all. actions that harm ourselves or others; maintaining a generally healthy view about human potential and These are not airy ideals for these children; this is a goodness. When someone thinks of themselves as a statement about our practical aspirations for the world “bad person” who does “bad things” is it not because we want to live in together. someone taught them to think this way? “When I grow up I want to be a teacher and teach kids about Mahatma Gandhi and nonviolence,” Lucy said A HIGHER IMAGE OF WHO WE ARE to her friend while working on a needlepoint in our ¢I£f one has grown up with a veneration for humanity, one classroom, knowing that I was in earshot. Lucy just will not consent to become an unconscious, destructive force turned five. The little girl next to her nodded her head to destroy humanity. Men will not lend themselves to those with a grin. erroneous ways which foolishly destroy the creators and We’d have to count ourselves among a minority if maintainers of everything that provides for their existence. as children we were taught about nonviolence and They will be unwilling to use the supernatural and universal expected to put it into practice. Most of us learned powers which they possess for a cosmic cataclysm to destroy passivity and powerlessness. Or violence, another the fruits of civilisation. Having developed a conscience and expression of that ingrained powerlessness. Or fear. sentiment towards human life, they will be incapable of cruelty; for cruelty belongs to a dead soul. š Maria Montessori Children’s empowerment should never be limited to academic or artistic achievement, because the greatest In this dramatic insight, Dr. Montessori lays bare the fulfillment they can know is to experience their own essential truth that the foundation of nonviolence dignity in the face of conflict. Academic achievement education for children is a veneration for humanity. should strengthen our ability to surmount obstacles; While not separating ourselves from the rest of life, therefore nonviolence is their right to learn and our we have to learn how to perceive the dignity of being duty to teach. If I were in charge of the world, I would human, in ourselves and others. Life itself is an make Nonviolence 101 a prerequisite to becoming a adventure in the deepening discovery and realization parent or caregiver. of our potential. We are not separate entities destined to fight one another tooth and nail for scarce resources THE TASK AT HAND on a finite planet; we are body, mind and spirit whose greatest need is to love others, and whose greatest To train anyone in nonviolence, particularly children, fear is that we are incapable of unconditional love we have to practice it ourselves. It’s not enough to give for all. Love, in other words, is not an emotion, but children some tools for communicating their feelings a higher state of consciousness—an awareness of our or some new words that explain their capacity to act in fundamental unity. And nonviolence is how we navigate

nonviolence 47 The foundation How I use the book in a school setting: I sit with a child of nonviolence or a group of children, and we look at it together. We read it slowly, maybe as slowly as one page per session. education If the language is too complex for the child or children, I put it into my own words. I ask them questions about for children is the chapter, so they can put the chapter into their own a veneration words. One three year-old put the whole book into a rap that described in depth what he had learned in for humanity. each chapter, which was quite astounding. I might share about a time in my life when I had a similar experience or first learned how to put the concept in question into practice, or even what I’m still working on, and invite them to talk about their own process— how they managed a tough situation or what they are love in tough situations. So it comes down to this: feeling about a new transition, as when Gandhi moved learning nonviolence is about learning how to love— to England to study law, or what it feels like to be not just ourselves or our families or a small group of treated unfairly, as when Gandhi was thrown off the friends—everyone. When we take that in, we realize train in South Africa because he was Indian. just how daunting a task that is. Hence why training is necessary. How do we love others who do harm? Later in the school day I work with a smaller group How can we love when we are hurt, when everything of children on what we call our Peacemaker Training, inside of us is saying to hurt back? With a higher image the focus of my next children’s book project, which I’m of ourselves as the foundation, we can systematically doing with my colleague Tiffany Ornelas de Tool. The tackle these tough questions. children sit in a circle and we recite a peace passage together, a modified, non-sectarian form of the “Prayer I take up these questions largely through the life of St. Francis” or even the “Pledge of the Earth.” Then of Mahatma Gandhi. When I wrote Gandhi Searches we talk about the things that peacemakers do, going for Truth: A Practical Biography for Children, I tried to around in the circle: create a tool to help grown-ups and children talk about the dynamics of nonviolence together. Summarizing Peacemakers help someone if they get hurt. Gandhi’s life into 12 short chapters, I cover a range Peacemakers can help others solve their conflicts. of material on what nonviolence is and how it works. Peacemakers show empathy. Cooperation, for example, does not mean “Do what Once we establish what peacemakers do, we train in I say at any cost to yourself ” as many children have one skill per session. It could range from basic first aid already learned; it means to make a free choice to help, to how to overcome our own fear, greed and anger be of service. I want to express to children that Gandhi reactions to how to show nonviolent behavior with learned the tools of nonviolence that he used in his someone who is being unkind to us. We talk about great campaigns before he became a grown-up, even if situations, act them out and then debrief about them. he was not fully aware of it at the time. The book dives Then we apply ourselves to some form of art to allow into complex concepts, but I refuse to believe that they our minds to relax back into the realm of everyday life. are beyond the grasp of my young audience. Children The children also decided to make sashes and badges, respond naturally to concepts like fairness, justice and which they design and sew on their own. love, and most of the media to which they are exposed today labor under, and perpetuate, the old idea that But is it working? I asked myself this question a lot violent means are the tool par excellence for living until one day my six year-old friend Alex, who had out these values. Not surprisingly, then, the book is been learning about nonviolence with me for at least secretly more for adults than kids—they, not children, two years, told me a story while we had a moment are responsible for the violent society we inherit and alone before going out to the playground. He had unconsciously maintain. seen a picture in the newspaper of some teenage

48 nonviolence Photo: Joe Brusky, via Flickr

boys, and his mom told him that the article described these programs in more classrooms locally and to train that they had been hurt in some form of violence. He parents and other educators to use the tools that these looked saddened by it. Then he looked at me very children have helped me develop. n seriously and asked, “Is this why we are learning about The children’s names have been changed to protect their nonviolence?” identity. “Yes,” I answered, as we headed back outside.

When other children join our classroom, it doesn’t take them long to realize that they’ve stepped into another culture, where we find solutions that hopefully work for everyone involved; where we do our best to be friends with everyone, instead of creating in-groups and out-groups; where we see conflict itself as our greatest training for putting our skills of nonviolence into practice.

Although these are small beginnings, I see the classroom as a laboratory for testing how children learn Stephanie Van Hook is Executive Director of the Metta about nonviolence, which, when you think about the Center for Nonviolence, Co-host of Nonviolence Radio world we live in today, is the greatest skill they—or and author of Gandhi Searches for Truth: A Practical we—can acquire. My hope is to facilitate adoption of Biography for Children.

nonviolence 49 Interviews & Insights

Social Media for Social Change by RIVERA SUN

As a movement with organizers in 17 countries and all Platforms like Facebook and Twitter give Campaign 50 states in the United States, Campaign Nonviolence Nonviolence an opportunity to build a culture of peace has found social media invaluable for reaching hearts and active nonviolence in the hearts and minds of and minds across broad distances, geographically and friends, followers and total strangers. It’s powerful and politically. beautiful work.

Social media platforms are the digital equivalents of Creativity and imagination are key ingredients in our a farmers’ market booth or a downtown storefront approach to social media—as are respect, humility office—they’re places for people to meet, connect, and listening. Below I list some of the ways we use our exchange ideas, find out information and discuss social media accounts. Hopefully, they’ll help you with everything under the sun. Campaign Nonviolence your own outreach, whether your work centers on shows up on these digital spaces to interact: we long-term movement-building or particular issues and comment, like, post, share, tweet/retweet and generally campaigns. enjoy ourselves. We discuss current events such as protests, campaigns, movements and other ongoing LISTEN nonviolent actions. We share notable events that happened that day in history. We talk about strategy, We check messages, read comments, see what people dynamics, principles and different approaches to are tweeting to and about us. We listen to movement nonviolence and using it in all aspects of our lives. news and conversations people are having about

50 nonviolence nonviolence (or lack thereof). We observe what approachable and responsive way, sharing links and people are posting about the issues at hand so we can whatever resources we can. understand our fellow human beings better—and thus know how to find the pivot place of change, EDUCATE whether that’s deepening a friend’s understanding of nonviolence or engaging with someone who is With a vision of transforming the current culture unconvinced of nonviolence and wishes to use violence of violence into a culture of active nonviolence, we directly. We also notice what information people are raise awareness by posting educational content, from asking for, so we can suggest resources. articles and videos to memes and podcasts. Plus, we include stories about nonviolence practitioners past CONNECT and present. For those who are looking to expand their skills, we share information on trainings and the Social media allows us to easily connect with Campaign wide-ranging applications of nonviolence: unarmed Nonviolence organizers and supporters who are peacekeeping, restorative justice, civilian-based defense, spread out geographically. We cheer on organizers and peace studies, nonviolent communication, nonviolent try to bring people together who didn’t know each action, civil resistance. Social media is a great way to other before. We network with groups and projects spread the seeds of knowledge of whatever issue you that we wish to support or that we’re curious about. are working on. We have seen ideas sprout on social When people ask questions, we answer them in an media and take root in communities.

nonviolence 51 INFORM

Many of our organizers and participants learn about upcoming events, such as the Week of Actions and our National Organizing Calls, through social media channels, where we also broadcast announcements for trainings and movement-related news. We create Facebook events for our online workshops and encourage people to invite friends to them. We circulate and celebrate the work that our many organizers nationwide and around the world are doing to build a culture of peace and active nonviolence.

INSPIRE

We’ve found that people seek inspiration as much as information. Campaign Nonviolence puts out a daily inspirational post on all of our accounts (depending on the challenges the movements are facing, we sometimes post two or three). Quotes from great speakers and organizers, spiritual wisdom and words of encouragement speak volumes to the hearts and minds of people who are working for change.

DISCUSS

Social media is a forum to practice your skills in communicating nonviolently. People will push your buttons, argue, fight, attack and insult. We’ve found that communication practices that work for street demonstrations—the CLARA Method, Nonviolent Communication, compassionate or empathetic listening—also work surprisingly well on Facebook comment threads. Social media also provides the advantage of taking time to reflect and consider before responding. The 140-character tweet has been called the modern haiku, and its brevity offers us a chance to think carefully before tweeting. While passing out pamphlets in the streets might be more effective in your local community, social media offers the chance to dialogue with people across vast distances who may hold different perspectives than our own.

SWAY

It’s not always easy to knock on the door of your opposition, or even to find your passive allies. But, social media often brings you into contact with both. You can use social media skillfully to transform and persuade people who oppose your issue. As with on-the-ground organizing, finding the common values, speaking to their talking points, myth-busting, humanizing and truth-telling are all important. Hashtags can be a tool to cross-pollinate your message.

52 nonviolence Social media is a great way to spread the seeds of knowledge of whatever issue you are working on.

Whether it’s a group aligned against your cause or a Campaign Nonviolence has found social media to be a group you’d like to mobilize for campaign support, creative, useful and engaging way of building a culture social media can increase your influence. of active nonviolence. It is invaluable to us as we strive to reach across such broad geographic distances. It SUPPORT exposes the ideas of active nonviolence to people who have not yet connected to this deep, wide field of From the smallest action to the broadest campaign, knowledge. Social media touches people’s hearts and we are all organizing in the complex ecosystem of the minds. n movement of movements, with overlapping goals. There are lots of campaigns whose success aids our own efforts. For Campaign Nonviolence, the work of building a culture of active nonviolence belongs to thousands of groups and projects. We use our social media to support many of them. By lifting up their initiatives, we create a more vibrant movement of movements.

These are just some of the many uses for social media. There are also practical skills, platform quirks and detailed tactics that can be learned and shared. Social media platforms grow and change over time—it’s Rivera Sun is an author and the former social media important that we shift and adapt our digital outreach coordinator for Campaign Nonviolence. She resigned from her to those changes. As the social-political conditions evolve, position there to write her next novel. See more of her work at so should our social media posts respond to the times. riverasun.com.

nonviolence 53 Scholarship & Culture Building the Movement & Constructive Dialogue by SONEILE HYMN and STEPHANIE STEINER

Protest, resistance and direct action are on the rise main topics: Introducing Nonviolence, Nonviolent across the world, reflected not only in large-scale Social Change, Communicating Nonviolently, marches and protests—like the Women’s March, the Nonviolent Conflict Transformation, Spiritually-Based March for Science and the People’s Climate March— Nonviolence and Training for Trainers. Learn more: but also in the multitude of grassroots organizations nonviolencetraininghub.org. and actions sprouting up everywhere across nations. The Ruckus Society At the same time, many people are wondering how Headquartered in Oakland, California, the Ruckus to have conversations across difference. Having these Society provides environmental, human rights and kinds of conversations might be one of the most social justice organizers with tools and training to important things we can do to heal divides in our strategically implement creative, nonviolent direct communities. action. Customize a program for your group by To continue to gain momentum in our push for a choosing from among 20 workshops, with each nonviolent future, we need to stay vigilant, informed ranging from one to three hours. Workshop topics and trained. Below we share some of our favorite are categorized into modules: Nonviolent Direct resources for training, along with conversation Action, Direct Action Planning, Direct Action Support tools and formats. Here’s to keeping the nonviolent Skills, Blockades, Direct Action Climbing, Media and movement growing stronger! Messaging, Arts in Action. The Ruckus Society offers a wide range of action support, including strategy sessions, consultations and media planning—all on a TOOLS FOR MOVEMENT-BUILDING sliding-scale fee schedule. Learn more: ruckus.org.

The Metta Center for Nonviolence Training for Change Nonviolence practitioners at all levels can bolster their A peace group run by Quaker activist George Lakey, skills and understandings via the Metta Center. The Training for Change prepares activists around the organization’s website offers various online courses, world to spread the tools of democratic, nonviolent from an introduction to nonviolence to a six-month change. The group’s offerings include public certificate program. Other web-based resources workshops and trainings for trainers. The Training for include a glossary of nonviolence terms; a section for Change website highlights a wide range of programs, scientific research on nonviolence; a movement- and resources and publications. Learn about nonviolent community-building tool called “Roadmap” and media actions throughout history and across the globe by such as podcasts, books and a magazine. Learn more: linking to the Global Nonviolent Action Database mettacenter.org. under the Resources tab. Peruse an extensive archive of reliable, creative training tools to practice with your Nonviolence Training Hub group, and download the free Direct Action Training Find a training or post your own at Nonviolence Manual. Learn more: trainingforchange.org. Training Hub, a virtual community board for trainings. The search function lets you discover trainings by Meta Peace Team location, date, category and/or by entering terms. Are you interested in stopping violence in its tracks? In addition to in-person workshops around the Would you like to confidently and skillfully use the world, you will find an extensive list of online classes power of nonviolence in conflict zones? Meta Peace and webinars. Trainings are organized into six Team (MPT) empowers people to engage in active

54 nonviolence Participants in a 2015 nonviolence training involving discussion. Photo: Lou Zweier nonviolent peacemaking. MPT launched in 1993 as open and focused. Topical guides include optional Michigan Peace Team, in response to the growing need background reading, discussion questions and ideas for for civilian peacemakers. Since its founding, MPT has structuring your meeting. Wondering how others have moved far beyond the borders of Michigan, with peace used LRC? Glean insights by listening to recordings of teams being deployed elsewhere in the United States real conversations that have happened. Learn more: and internationally. MPT offers nonviolence training, livingroomconversations.org. conflict de-escalation workshops and opportunities to join peace teams. Learn more: metapeaceteam.org. Appreciative Inquiry Rather than taking the problem-solving approach of What’s wrong and how do we fix it?, Appreciate Inquiry TOOLS FOR ENGAGING IN DIALOGUE (AI) invites us to look at issues through a positive lens: ACROSS DIFFERENCE What’s right, what are our strengths and how do we enhance and build upon them? Asking questions is the core of Essential Partners AI, with dialogue typically flowing from an interview- Formerly known as the Public Conversations style process. An AI interview usually involves four or Project, Essential Partners facilitates public meetings five questions related to positive experiences, values, and provides resources for holding community hopes and dreams. For example, an AI interview with a conversations on divisive issues. The organization’s political focus might ask: extensive resource library features free guides on 1. Talk about a time when you felt most alive, engaged a variety of topics, from interfaith peacebuilding to fostering constructive dialogue in challenging times. and proud of our country. What did that feel like? The Conversation Guide for the Red-Blue Divide might 2. Without being too humble, what do you value most be particularly useful in our current political climate. about yourself and the role you play as an American? Essential Partners also offers workshops for individuals What do you value most about our country’s seeking to engage in more constructive conversations in contributions to the world? their professional, civic or personal lives. Learn more: 3. What are the core factors that give life to our whatisessential.org. country when it’s at its very best? Living Room Conversations 4. If you had a magic wand and could have any three “Open your home. Open your ears. Open your wishes to strengthen the vitality of the United States, heart.” These words greet visitors to the Living Room what would they be? Conversations (LRC) website. As a nonprofit, LRC While these questions give you an idea of how an provides an “open-source format to facilitate structured Appreciative Interview might work, feel free to use conversations among people of differing views and backgrounds.” The suggested structure is simple: find your own creativity. Learn more: appreciativeinquiry. n a co-host with a different perspective from your own, case.edu. then you each invite two more people for a total of six participants. Choose a topic (either from LRC’s list or your own), gather and talk (in someone’s living room, Soneile Hymn is Director of Flow at the Metta Center for of course! Though a coffee shop or library could make Nonviolence and the mom of a wonderful daughter. Stephanie a good alternative setting). You can turn to LRC’s Steiner, the metta Center’s education director, is a graduate guidelines to help keep the conversations respectful, student at Pacifica Graduate Institute.

nonviolence 55 Scholarship & Culture Case Study: 1000 Trainings by RYAN HALL

States, 3.5 percent of the population equals more than 11 million people—but we just may need to do this in the coming days, to help make justice and peace a By increasing the visibility and reality in our nation. Nonviolence will be key. ease of finding nonviolence trainings, We have already seen a recent groundswell of powerful we believed more people would be trained. nonviolent action, from the global women’s marches to the protests at US airports against the immigration ban. A movement is underway, but for it to thrive and succeed, it needs to ground itself in the principles and methods of active nonviolence. So far, most public actions have proceeded nonviolently, but in certain places violence has crept in and undermined the message. One of the best ways to spread the power of active nonviolence is through nonviolence training.

Back in 2014, Campaign Nonviolence and Pace e Bene organized a conference call with nonviolence training organizations throughout the United States. The participating organizations included the War Resisters League, Meta Peace Teams, Veterans for Peace, the Metta Center for Nonviolence and numerous others. A Dallas, Texas event for Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions 2016. Out of that conversation emerged The Nonviolence Photo: Joseph Dalcour and Andy Chung Training Hub, a website where organizations could post their trainings. The vision was simple: provide a one-stop platform for people seeking trainings and organizations promoting their events. By increasing At a time when democracy is being tested, a deep the visibility of nonviolence trainings, we believed more understanding of active nonviolence has never been people would be trained and, hopefully over time, the more important. Campaign Nonviolence and Pace results would become evident. More trainings would e Bene believe that movements rooted in principled lead to less violence during protests; the purpose and strategic nonviolence will be key to protecting and message of the protest would lead the various democracy, furthering human rights and achieving news cycles instead of the violence that broke out and our highest ideals. As Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. nonviolent social change would have a greater chance Stephan have shown in their book Why Civil Resistance of success. Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, nonviolent strategies are more effective than violent Over the course of that first year, we grew slowly. We ones in creating movements that are powerful, effective added training organizations, worked hard to promote and inclusive. Their data demonstrates that movements the site and found new ways of making it useful which actively mobilize 3.5 percent of the population for people. Then, Campaign Nonviolence worked are likely to succeed in making change—and that with other groups on the Hub to launch the 1000 nonviolent approaches are the best way to reach and Nonviolence Trainings Project early last year—to help activate that swath of the population. It’s not easy to publicize trainings as well as to encourage others to mobilize a large number of people—in the United organize and host trainings in their communities.

56 nonviolence A Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions rally in Bangor, Maine. Photo: Sam Chamberlain of Youth MOVE Maine

As noted on the website (nonviolencetraininghub.org), during the Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions. the 1000 Nonviolence Trainings Project began counting Listings have even guided people to nonviolence study and publicizing each training to “connect nonviolence groups and webinars on nonviolent action. trainings around the world and highlight the tens Since the launch of the 1000 Nonviolence Trainings of thousands of people being trained in nonviolence Project, nearly 900 trainings have been featured on in service to a more just and peaceful world… By the website, with 51 organizations in the United States, launching a program that identifies, connects and Europe, Africa and Australia regularly posting their promotes nonviolence trainings around the world, we events. Close to 500 people have joined our Facebook believe we can make all of our work more newsworthy, group, and we’ve become the top result in Google more credible and more attractive to those who have searches for nonviolence trainings. not considered themselves part of a larger nonviolent movement.” We still have a lot of work to do to get the word out about the Training Hub and the 1000 Nonviolence The 1000 Nonviolence Trainings Project encompasses Trainings Project, but we believe that with sustained a spectrum of trainings: introductory nonviolence, effort and support, we’ll be able to continue offering nonviolent social change, nonviolent communication, a valuable resource for individuals and organizations nonviolent conflict transformation, spiritually-based to build their capacity to unleash nonviolent people- nonviolence, trainings for trainers. power, with people putting nonviolence into action in The project has listed trainings that helped people their own lives. n prepare for the Women’s March in Washington, DC, ahead of last year’s Democratic and Republican conventions. It has also featured trainings aimed at nonviolent de-escalation when confronted with Ryan Hall is Executive Director of Pace e Bene. He lives in injustice; countering hate and racism; direct action and Corvallis, Oregon with his spouse, Dr. Erandhi Hall, and their civil disobedience, in preparation for nonviolent action cat Pace.

nonviolence 57 Interviews & Insights Swaraj Peeth Trust: A Gandhian Center for Nonviolence and Peace Vision and Action

by RAJIV VORA

Gandhi statue. Photo: ah zut, via Flickr

Gandhi called nonviolence the “science of soul.” If we to conflict-torn communities. The importance of start investing in nonviolence as much as we have in involving youth in peacebuliding processes cannot be the science of violence, war and weapons, we could overstated. progress in the direction of a just and harmonious In 1947, when most of India was burning under order. It is easy to narrate the vices of violence and Hindu-Muslim fire, Gandhi saw Kashmir as a “ray virtues of nonviolence; the question is how to face of hope.” But it has turned into a veritable valley of violence through nonviolence. Experiments are our terror, where violent militancy and counter-militancy best hope. repression rule the day. As a result, the people of At Swaraj Peeth Trust (SPT), a Gandhian center Jammu and Kashmir remain divided—along regional, for nonviolence and peace in India, we work for communal and ethnic lines—keeping them vulnerable Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of swaraj, which is Sanskrit to every minor irritant from within and without. for home-rule or self-rule. It is based on a culture of Youth born after 1990 have grown up amidst violence, nonviolence, or cultural democracy established through not to mention a morally-intellectually oppressive local governance. As such, it places meeting human environment of suspicion and mistrust. needs, from security to education, within the realm of When bright youth see no alternatives to radicalization communities. Swaraj is a social order based on self- and violence, it jeopardizes their communities’ future restraint, another way of saying that freedom does not ability for swaraj—and puts the whole world at risk mean we are free to intentionally cause harm. Swaraj of war between nuclear nations. Since dialogue gives Peeth strives to follow Gandhi’s edict: “A mound of them a means to participate in society while growing thought for an ounce of right action.” their individual power to create change, it’s certainly an One experiment SPT has been conducting in the state experiment worth continuing. Their nonviolent future of Jammu and Kashmir aims at creating and sustaining may depend on it. n dialogue on nonviolence, which includes involving radicalized youth. SPT chapters in both Jammu and Kashmir are platforms where youth feel they can openly speak, without fear. Consistent dialogue has Rajiv Vora is Chairman of Swaraj Peeth Trust. He is also a served to prevent further hardening for these youth. Gandhian writer and activist who has worked as a consultant It has therefore been bringing nonviolence awareness for India’s Ministry of Human Resource Development.

58 nonviolence The Metta Pledge of Protection & nonviolent resistance

To ensure continued progress toward a world of peace, justice, and dignity for all, I HEREBY PLEDGE with love and determination that, for as long as required and as long as I am able, I will:

PROTECT my home, Planet Earth, by RESISTING attitudes and actions that compromise the living systems that sustain all Life;

PROTECT the social fabric of my country by RESISTING attitudes and actions that marginalize others through prejudice, scapegoating, or other forms of hatred and division;

PROTECT and strengthen the security of my country by RESISTING violence and militarization, especially in the mass media and our cultural and educational institutions; and

LEARN nonviolence principles and practice them in all available forms, constructive and obstructive, as a guiding principle in my own life and the way to resolve these issues permanently and well, for all concerned.

nonviolence 59 Scholarship & Culture Satyagraha: A New Term for an Eternal Principle by MICHAEL N. NAGLER

By coining the term satyagraha, based on the Sanskrit word sat, which means “truth” or “reality” (as well as “the good”), Gandhi made it quite clear that he saw nonviolence as the positive reality of which violence is the shadow or negation. Consequently, nonviolence was bound to prevail in the long run: “The world rests upon the bedrock of satya or truth. Asatya, meaning untruth, also means nonexistent, and satya or truth also means that which is. If untruth does not so much as exist, its victory is out of the question. And truth being that which is, can never be destroyed. This is the doctrine of satyagraha in a nutshell.”

Though satyagraha literally means “clinging to truth,” it is often translated, not inappropriately, as “soul force.” We all have that force within us, and under the right circumstances it can come forth from anyone, with amazing results. This can best be seen in what’s called a nonviolent moment, when the “unstoppable

Gandhi at a spinning wheel. Photo: Margaret Bourke-White, via Colombia University force” of one party’s nonviolence confronts the apparently immoveable commitment to violence of another. This moment will always lead to success, sometimes evidently and immediately, sometimes further down the road. Reading “history” might give you the impression that life unfolds in an endless series of competitions, For instance, in 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama, conflicts and wars. But as far back as 1909, Gandhi black marchers, inspired by the intention to “win our pointed out that history as we have practiced it is “a freedom, and as we do it ... set our white brothers free,” record of every interruption of the even working of the in the words of one of their leaders, found themselves force of love or the soul.... Soul-force, being natural, is unexpectedly blocked by a line of police and firemen not noted in history.” Note that Gandhi does not use with dogs and hoses. The marchers knelt to pray. the word nonviolence here, which had not yet become After a while they became “spiritually intoxicated,” as current (as a translation of ahimsa), and he had rejected David Dellinger recounts. They got up off their knees the misleading term “passive resistance.” Around as though someone had given a signal and steadily this period he had to invent another term, satyagraha marched toward the police and firemen. Once they got (pronounced sat-YAH-gra-ha), which literally means within earshot, some of them said, “We’re not turning “clinging to truth.” Satyagraha is sometimes used to back. We haven’t done anything wrong. All we want mean nonviolence in general, as in this quote, but is our freedom. How do you feel doing these things?” sometimes it means nonviolence in the form of active, Even though the police commissioner, a notorious resistant struggle. segregationist, repeatedly shouted, “Turn on the

60 nonviolence hoses!” the firemen found their hands frozen. The marchers walked steadily on, passing right through the lines of the police and firemen. Some of these men were seen to be crying.

Gandhi, who had seen this working time and again, gave a beautiful explanation of how this transformation takes place: “What satyagraha does in these cases is not to suppress reason but to free it from inertia and to establish its sovereignty over prejudice, hatred and other baser passions. In other words, if one may paradoxically put it, it does not enslave, it compels reason to be free.” What he calls “reason” here is better described as the innate awareness that we are all connected and that nonviolence is “the law of our species.” As we’ve noted, this is an awareness latent in everyone, a natural human state, however temporarily obscured it may be by the fog of hatred. In principle, we should be able to awaken this awareness in virtually anyone, given enough time and know-how. Once awake, such awareness automatically takes precedence over the “baser passions.”

That human beings have the potential to be nonviolent—and to respond to nonviolence when it’s offered—implies a much higher image of the human being than we are presented with in the mass media and throughout our present culture, but because of that very culture, we can’t expect our nonviolent potential to manifest by itself. To bring it to fruition we must first try to understand it better and get into the habit of using it creatively in our relationships, our institutions, and our culture. Then, to use it in situations of intense conflict such as Birmingham, there Photo: Parisian street artist JR’s No More Hunger by yooperann, via Flickr are two basic ingredients that make the nonviolent magic work: 1. We approach our situation with right intention. We are not and do not need to be against the well-being of any person. 2. We employ right means. Wrong means such as violence can never, in the long run, bring about right ends.

The source of our empowerment and strength in satyagraha lies in our having right intention and using right means. If we operate from anger or envy or ignorance, then no matter how good the cause, we are not approaching it correctly. Note that the Birmingham marchers asked, “How do you feel doing this?” In This is an excerpt from Michael Nagler’s book The other words, they credited the opponent with some Nonviolence Handbook: A Guide to Practical Action. moral awareness and thereby helped to awaken that Michael N. Nagler is Founder of the Metta Center for awareness—for the opponent’s own benefit.n Nonviolence.

nonviolence 61 Person Power & Unity

The Kung Fu of Nonviolence by KAZU HAGA

NOBODY IS NONVIOLENT I learned that nonviolence was more than an adjective describing the absence of violence. I learned that it was You are not a nonviolent person. I am not nonviolent. a noun, a proactive philosophy that transforms violence Neither of us will ever become nonviolent, no matter and sows the seeds for reconciliation. I learned that it how much we try. Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma was more than a method of protest; that in addition to Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Cesar Chavez, Rosa Parks… changing laws and policies, nonviolence gives us the None of those people were nonviolent, because tools to build, mend and strengthen relationships. nonviolence is not something that you become. Rather, it is a philosophy, an art form, a skillset and a way of life I also learned that it was not easy. that we are always in the practice of, much like a martial art. I learned that Dr. Lafayette and the leaders of the Nashville lunch-counter sit-ins participated in trainings If you practice karate, one never becomes karate. You that lasted months before participating in their first are forever in the practice of karate. A practitioner of protest. I learned that Gandhi and his Shanti Sena, or meditation never becomes meditation; a practitioner of Peace Army, lived in an ashram while experimenting yoga never becomes yoga. Similarly, no one ever becomes with satyagraha for 15 years before embarking on the nonviolent. We are always in the practice. Salt March. When I first became aware of nonviolence during my In the Kingian training, I learned that nonviolence was teenage years, I understood it simply as an adjective. a martial art. Nonviolence equated to “not being violent” during demonstrations. In the years since, I have led hundreds of nonviolence workshops and attended dozens more. Yet I realized While social change is never easy, the “nonviolent” that even after all those countless hours of training, part of it seemed pretty straightforward. Don’t throw punches. Don’t break windows. We didn’t need to be I never became nonviolent. In the social realm, I trained for a week to “get it.” sometimes struggle not to have ill will towards people like Donald Trump. In my personal life, I struggle not So we would lead “nonviolence workshops” that lasted to raise my voice when in an argument. a couple of hours at most, before sending people off into the streets. Years later, I realized how limited my Thinking about nonviolence as a martial art, however, understanding was. gives us a new framework. Not as something to become, but as a discipline, a worldview and a lifelong practice. In 2008, I participated in my first two-day workshop in Kingian Nonviolence, a philosophy developed out of This perspective gave me a deep appreciation for the the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. and authored need to invest in constant training. Not a two-hour by two movement elders, Dr. Bernard Lafayette Jr. and workshop, or even a two-day workshop, but a lifetime David Jehnsen. of training.

62 nonviolence Shaolin Kung Fu. Photo: Larique, via Flickr

For a martial artist, the training never stops. You never get to a point where you “get it,” where you reach some pinnacle or plateau and there is no higher point to climb. No one receives a black belt only to stop training. We should look at nonviolence in the same way. KUNG FU I learned that People often hear the word “Kung Fu” and nonviolence automatically associate it with the Chinese martial art. While this is understandable, the word does not was more than actually refer explicitly to a martial art. Derived from the Chinese word gongfu (功夫), it literally translates to an adjective “merit master,” and refers to any skill that is gained over time through hard work, dedication and practice. describing If you attend a daylong seminar in karate, you may the absence learn some things about fighting stances or how to properly throw a front kick. After weeks or months of of violence. consistent practice, you may begin to feel comfortable using these skills in the controlled environment of a dojo with practice partners. But no one would fool

nonviolence 63 themselves into thinking they could now use those skills Growing up in this society, we have been trained for successfully in a real-life conflict. To do that requires violence whether we realize it or not. From the earliest years of dedication and practice. cartoons to the most recent Hollywood blockbusters, from watching our parents fight to watching nations The same goes for warfare. When you enlist in the go to war, we have been told from day one that military, you are required to go through a minimum violence is how we solve problems. Over a lifetime of of six months of boot camp before they send you off to indoctrination, this has become our default. Without war. If you are going to wage war, you must train your actively countering it, it becomes our training. army to use violence effectively. If you practice blocking a punch over and over again So it should be with nonviolence. We should not expect thousands of times, it will become a reflex. In a real life to be able to build a peaceful world without investing combat situation, your muscle memory will take over. as heavily into training as the military does. In a world where we’ve been conditioned to believe that violence So how do we make nonviolence our default? How do is simply part of who we are as human beings, and we turn love and understanding into muscle memory? therefore is justified or even romanticized, we should How do we retrain our habits to make compassion our not fool ourselves into thinking that transforming the natural reflex, even in the heat of a conflict? ways we relate to each other is going to come easily. How do we learn to forgive those who have hurt We must see the Kung Fu of nonviolence—and invest us? How do we hold people like Donald Trump in its practice. accountable while cultivating goodwill—even for them? How can we challenge ourselves to never forget SHUGYO that there is not a single person outside of Beloved Community? Speaking of which: Another word that doesn’t quite n have an English translation may be helpful in how we Through the Kung Fu of nonviolence. view practice. Shugyo (修行) is a Japanese word, usually translated as “training” or “practice.” But it has a very different meaning than basketball practice or training for a new job.

Shugyo does not describe developing our physical muscles or learning a new skillset for work. It is reserved for the type of training that helps cultivate mental or spiritual development through repetitive practice. When martial artists throw the same kick thousands and thousands of times, they are in shugyo. When Buddhist monks practice meditation for hours upon hours, they are in shugyo.

It is the practice of aligning body, mind and spirit.

And it is with this mindset that we should be practicing nonviolence. It is not just about committing to never throwing a Molotov cocktail at a protest. It is about committing to nonviolence on every level—physical, mental, spiritual. This development requires constant practice to rewire our brains for love, compassion, understanding and goodwill, until it becomes muscle memory.

The ancient Greek soldier Archilochus once said, “We Kazu Haga is Founder and Coordinator of the East Point don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to Peace Academy. He is also a member of the Metta Center for the level of our training.” Nonviolence’s Strategic Advisory Council.

64 nonviolence

NONVIOLENCE RADIO* THE BEAT OF AN UNSTOPPABLE MOVEMENT

* formerly Peace Paradigm Radio Airs every other Friday at 1pm PST on KWMR. Find station info and show streams at kwmr.org. Podcasts available at: iTunes, Stitcher, AudioBoom