Seeds Will Grow

Cross-posting the following from an email shared by Waging Nonviolence, one of Rebecca Solnit’s “go-to-news-sources” of 2024 (source):

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As a new and ominous year approaches, you may be wondering how you’re going to handle the endless stream of crises emanating from the highest levels of government. News fatigue, if it hasn’t already set in, is going to be an issue.

At Waging Nonviolence, we believe the best way to cut through that is by focusing not just on the problems facing our world, but the solutions — specifically the ones put forth by ordinary people and the movements they build to push for change. 

Our most-read stories of 2024 (see below) are the perfect encapsulation of this approach. Each one hits on a seemingly intractable problem — from threats to democracy to the increasing militarization of police to the atrocities in Gaza. But instead of only bringing you more stifling bad news, these stories show what is being done (or can be done) to achieve peace and justice…

WNV’s most-read stories of 2024

10. How to make sure your disruptive protest helps your cause
By Mark Engler and Paul Engle
Five key factors determine whether controversial protests are more likely to spark backlash or create positive outcomes.

9. Why protests work, even when not everybody likes them
By Mark Engler and Paul Engler
Organizers must learn to embrace the polarizing nature of protest in order to use it effectively.

8. Inside the fight to save Philly’s Chinatown from a new NBA arena
By Justin A. Davis
Mohan Seshadri of the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance explains how protests, elections and culture intersect in the campaign against a proposed new home for the 76ers. 

7. This activist group chat is blocking a weapons shipment to Israel
By Madison Bannon
A South African WhatsApp group working with BDS has sparked a movement to block a ship carrying military explosives bound for Israel.

6. The quiet rollout of Cop Cities across the US meets a growing resistance
By Victoria Valenzuela
As Cop Cities spread to nearly every state, grassroots activists are pushing back by forming coalitions that press for investment in communities over militarized policing. 

5. Political violence is surging, but there’s a playbook to counter it
By George Lakey
Hardy Merriman helped prepare Americans for a Trump coup attempt in 2020. In this conversation, he offers insights into overcoming threats to this year’s election.

4. Overcoming despair and apathy to win democracy
By George Lakey
Lessons on movement building from one of the founders of the Serbian student movement that brought down dictator Slobodan Milosevic. 

3. A new wave of movements against Trumpism is coming
By Mark Engler and Paul Engler
Our job is to translate outrage over his agenda into action toward a truly transformational vision. 

2. How we can meet the challenges of authoritarianism
By Maria Stephan
This is not our first rodeo with authoritarianism. Americans have collectively risen to seemingly impossible challenges in the past, and we can do so again.

1. 10 ways to be prepared and grounded now that Trump has won
By Daniel Hunter
The key to taking effective action in a Trump world is to avoid perpetuating the autocrat’s goals of fear, isolation, exhaustion and disorientation.

Additional favorites from the editors

Now is the time to send unarmed peacekeepers to Palestine
By Mel Duncan
Hundreds of unarmed civilian protectors could be quickly deployed to support Palestinians in securing a more sustainable peace than armed forces ever could.

Indigenous leaders saved Guatemala’s fragile democracy
By Jeff Abbott
More than a hundred days of Indigenous-led protest played a key role in defending Guatemala’s democracy, but the struggle continues.

Student-led climate action is flourishing in DeSantis’s Florida
By Nick Engelfried
As Gov. Ron DeSantis tries to block the clean energy transition, University of Florida students are adopting Green New Deal measures and showing how public schools can lead on climate.

Smuggled protest videos offer a rare glimpse at resistance in occupied Tibet
By Alessandra Bergamin
Defying a media blackout and severe backlash, Tibetan monks, nuns and residents of a threatened mountain community are showing the world their resistance to a Chinese dam.

Repression backfires in Pakistan, as oppressed Baloch people hold historic mass protest
By Esha Mitra
When authorities cracked down on a one-day national gathering in Balochistan, they galvanized a movement fighting to end enforced disappearances and killings.

Diabetes patients are finally starting to beat Big Pharma’s price gouging
By Fran Quigley
After years of struggle, patients with diabetes have won a major reduction in the cost of insulin, but the fight is far from over.

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Read these articles and more like it at WagingNonviolence.org.
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