This chapter has been published in the book Nonviolent Action Handbook.
For ordering information, please click here.
We can act creatively in many different ways in working
toward
our goals of peace and justice.
Getting arrested is usually a
last resort after all other efforts
have failed to bring about
a needed change.
Most of the methods involve communication and
education.
In most everyday situations we usually correct problems
ourselves,
or we tell someone who is able to do what needs to
be done.
If they agree, the problem can be easily solved.
If there
is not agreement, one avenue is to appeal to a higher authority,
usually that person's supervisor or in the judicial system a higher
court.
Only when there is a consistent pattern running through
the whole system of
corruption or intransigence to fair human
values
is it necessary to mount a nonviolence campaign.
The first stage of a nonviolent campaign is learning about
the problem
that needs correcting by studying its history,
politics,
economics, sociology, and psychology.
This means answering such
questions as:
Who has been doing what to whom?
Who is in control and wielding the power or making the decisions?
How are financial incentives and economic relations affecting
this?
What social relationships and cultural traditions are involved?
Why are people acting as they are?
What is motivating them?
And how can they be given alternative options that are best
for all?
The investigation can be done by observing, talking to people,
and by direct experience in the situation.
Research can be through
studying books and periodicals, seeing and hearing
news reports,
and by searching the world wide web.
This first stage is sometimes
known as "doing your homework" so that
you are informed
of the circumstances and will not make a fool out of yourself.
Of course not every person participating in a
nonviolent campaign
has to do all the research.
Information can be shared, and often
those who enter a campaign in the later
and more urgent stages
find that they are joining a group effort
that has its own history
of investigation and research.
However, these efforts always need
to be updated as circumstances change.
The second stage is approaching the adversary in order
to negotiate
a mutually agreeable solution.
Sometimes this process can be assisted
by a neutral mediator, and in some cases
both sides may agree
to accept the decision of an arbitrator.
Good communication skills
and open friendliness are
especially helpful in achieving a negotiated
settlement.
A good listener will be able to see the other person's
point of view as if it is one's own,
and a good speaker will help
the listener see one's own view also.
This is one of the most
important stages in peacemaking.
One of the main problems about
George W. Bush is that he has a tendency
to go by his gut instincts,
and he often refuses to consider negotiating at all.
If the problem
can not be worked out directly and you still believe that you
are right
and that your adversary is being unfair, then one has
the right to appeal to others
and the general public by means
of communication and education.
Consciousness can be raised on an issue by making speeches
to people,
holding discussions, writing letters, going to the
media for interviews on radio or television,
publishing information
on a website, printing leaflets, flyers, pamphlets, and books,
etc.
The creative arts can also be very effective in getting one's
message across
by creating pictorial art, composing songs, doing
street theater or public plays,
making educational films or videos,
and so on.
Leaflets can be handed out to the adversaries and
involved
persons as well as to the general public.
Education can be promoted
by organizing teach-ins in classes, churches, civic clubs
or for
any group of people or wherever people are gathered.
If these
efforts are not successful, they can be enhanced by greater persistence
using more overt tactics such as picketing.
Such efforts are a
transition to the next stage of
holding demonstrations, rallies,
marches, and vigils.
These involve more people and more of their time being involved
and demonstrate
the deep concern that they feel.
A person holding
a sign for an hour or more is saying
much more than what is written
on the sign.
They are essentially pleading with people to take
this message seriously.
Obviously the more people that are involved
in these activities the greater the effect will be.
This is where
a successful nonviolence campaign uses real people power.
If hundreds
or thousands of people care enough about an issue to come out
in their spare time to march or demonstrate, that sends a strong
message
to those in control of the issue that they want to see
a change.
Everyone has the right to express their views on moral and
political issues,
and thanks to the first amendment to the United
States Constitution,
people in this country are supposed to
be able to do it
without being treated as criminals.
To change
the immoral policies of our government it is essential that
as
many people
as possible express their concern and disapproval
as actively as they can.
All people are encouraged to gather in groups and indicate
their moral outrage
at the genocidal and suicidal policies of
a nuclear weapons super-power developing
first-strike weapons
and ballistic missile defense in order to
attain world domination
by military power.
These gatherings and rallies may be as often
and
in as many places as people wish to hold them.
People can
hold signs and banners, pray or meditate, sing or chant,
and make
their presence known to the authorities who are perpetrating these
atrocities.
For those who do not wish to risk arrest by law enforcement
authorities,
there are many ways to express one's views and try
to influence the government
and other citizens to change these
policies.
Whenever demonstrations are held at military bases or
governmental institutions,
individuals can always feel welcome
to attend to indicate their concern
without much danger of being
arrested by mistake.
There is always some chance that a few individuals
can be swept up along with others
even though they had no intention
of challenging the legality of these policies.
However, in such
instances the charges are usually dropped,
or those individuals
are acquitted after a trial.
If even these demonstrations are not enough, then those in
the campaign may
deny themselves certain products or services
in boycotts
and can take off from work or school in a strike.
These tactics are designed to use an economic leverage
to reach those who may be oblivious to reason and justice.
These can be
especially effective when dealing with greedy corporations or
companies.
In the 19th century abolitionists boycotted products
made by slave labor such as cotton and sugar.
In the 1960s and
1970s the United Farm Workers led by
Cesar Chavez asked people
to boycott grapes.
The international campaign of divestment from
South Africa
eventually helped bring an end to apartheid.
Many
people now currently boycott products that are made by
"sweat-shop"
labor exploitation, and students have been trying to stop their
universities
from conducting military research or sponsoring military
officer training for many years.
Many of the most egregious corporations
have been targeted by activists.
Often these commercial pressures
can help these businesses "convert"
to more beneficial
products or to treating their workers better.
If one has enough money for a lawyer and believes one has a
good legal case,
one may take the opponent to court.
If a moral
issue does not have a legal justification, or if one is challenging
the immoral
policies of a government that is not likely to be
reigned in by its own courts,
then one may proceed to the next
step of noncooperation.
Mahatma Gandhi said that not cooperating
with evil
is as much a duty as cooperating with good.
In the case
of a government, this may mean not paying taxes just as many in
the
thirteen colonies refused to pay taxes to England
when they
believed they were not being democratically represented.
Noncooperation
adds onto boycotts and strikes by refusing to cooperate
with activities
that one believes are part of the evil.
For example, in the 1950s
Dorothy Day and Catholic Workers refused to take shelter
as instructed
during air raid drills that were designed to prepare people for
a nuclear war.
Finally if all else has failed to remove the evil, one may
even sacrifice one's freedom
by placing oneself in the way of
the evil action in some way and then
refuse to cooperate when
law enforcement officers order one to move.
This may be done in
various ways by trespassing where one is prohibited
or by refusing
to leave a public or private place when ordered to do so.
This
type of disobedience is called civil,
because it is done peacefully
and openly in a civil manner.
Further steps of noncooperation
may involve not walking when arrested.
In a nonviolence campaign
these are considered the last resort,
because we do not believe
in hurting other people.
Those who do not believe in the power
of nonviolence, of course,
often resort to injuring others or
even killing them.
For those in the nonviolence movement a gray
area is damaging property.
Most believe that damaging private
property or
public property is a violation and should be avoided.
However, some in the plowshares movement have argued
that destroying
a weapon of destruction is not wrong,
because it has no "proper"
use and thus is not "property."
Even in jail and also while not imprisoned, a person
may demonstrate
a deep appeal by fasting.
A juice fast is relatively safe usually
for several weeks;
but a fast on water only may endanger one's
health and life after a few days,
though many have gone as long
as forty days
or more without experiencing serious harm.
Beyond
that on water only one can expect to have
stomach damage, organs
failing, blindness, and finally death.
Fasting without even water
is even more drastic and
can bring serious injury and death within
a few days.
Thus fasting can be a dangerous form of appeal.
During
the Vietnam War some Buddhists in Vietnam and some Americans
in
the United States committed suicide as a protest
by pouring gasoline
on themselves and striking a match.
Most people in the peace movement
value life very much and are horrified
by such sacrifices; yet
each individual must act according to one's own conscience.
Working for peace and justice are positive activities, and
it is important not to get
too caught up in the negative aspect
of protesting against the violations of these ideals.
For our
personal health and the welfare of our community we need to spend
most of our time on the constructive activities that make life
work well.
This will also help observers who otherwise might perceive
nonviolent activists
as too negative, always being against things
but never building anything positive.
Many have found that by
living and working in communities with people
of similar values
these goals can much more easily be attained.
Everyone who can
needs to do something to contribute to the world.
Mahatma Gandhi emphasized the importance of what he called the
constructive program.
He observed that British mercantilism was
exploiting India by taking their raw materials
and natural resources
to England for manufacturing into clothing and other products,
which were then shipped back to India for great profits.
So Gandhi
began a campaign to encourage Indians to spin their own cloth,
and he asked people to wear only "home-spun" (khadi).
Gandhi himself spent a certain amount of time spinning every day.
Home-spun clothes became the emblem of Indian independence,
and
the spinning wheel a symbol of the new nation.
Many peace activists
such as Koinonia in Georgia
have formed communal farms to grow
food and market it.
Those in the resistance community at Jonah
House in Baltimore often worked
painting houses so that they could
be free to protest and go to prison in between jobs.
They also
distributed donated food to the poor.
Many Catholic Worker houses
spend most of their time helping the poor in many ways.
Others
have started schools to teach the ways of peace at all levels.
Some have formed cooperative publishing companies
or produced
a regular newspaper or magazine.
As the Buddha taught long ago,
right livelihood is an important fundamental.
These stages of a nonviolent campaign should not be taken to
mean that
the latter stages are more important or a stronger protest.
They may or may not be.
Each individual needs to search within
oneself to see how best one
can contribute to making this world
a better place.
This often depends on what kind of abilities a
person has
and what they feel right about doing.
A skilled investigator
or researcher can contribute immensely to
improving society and
may never demonstrate or get arrested.
An artist or playwright
or musician may create in ways
that lift others to new heights
of awareness.
Teachers have obvious gifts in this field.
A good
business person may find successful ways to communicate and educate
or may contribute money to support the efforts of others.
A skilled
lawyer is usually a tremendous asset to a nonviolence campaign
in many ways.
Doctors and nurses are needed to care for people
who may be injured
by police brutality or who may even be too
poor to afford medical treatment
because of their dedication to
social reforms.
This chapter has been published in the book Nonviolent Action Handbook.
For ordering information, please click here.
Nonviolence
Liberation from Seven Deadly -Isms
Group Process
Creative Actions
Legal Process