Media Free Diaspora: Methods of Nonviolent Action Revisited for 2025

Have courage--be kind

In 1973 Gene Sharp's three volume work The Politics of Nonviolent Action was published. The most influential part of these books was his list of 198 methods of nonviolent action. This was re-published in his even more influential book From Dictatorship to Democracy. Various movements credit that book for inspiring their means to overcome oppression.

Current affairs have brought Sharp's list back into the foreground. I have seen it posted on a number of websites, and mentioned in articles. It's great to know that we have so many means to resist. Having personally been involved in protests, I found that most people have a narrow view on what they can do.

In order to use Sharp's 198 methods, you have to read and consider them. Reading through them makes it clear that this is an old document. Some of the methods listed are dated. Other methods that could be added did not exist in the author's time. A few items we might want to reconsider their ethics. Some are hard to understand at this time: what does Sharp even mean by "camouflaged meetings of protest". Do protesters dress in camouflage? Do they disguise themselves as legislators and sneak into the halls of power? People parrot this from his list without ever explaining it.

So, we need to consider: is this a document set in stone? Is what it says immutable and eternal? Honestly, this list frequently repeats itself and Sharp on more than one occasion throws in terms that are opaque to today's protestors like: hartal, satyagrahic, and Lysistratic. Sure, they can look them up, but that alienates the audience. Why should they listen to a high-status white man, who can't make an effort to speak directly to them? Sorry Gene, don't spin too fast in your grave. You too were a product of your era, and still did amazing work.

If I were Gene, and I'm not but please go with this thought experiment, I would feel that my list of nonviolent actions is meant to inspire, and not be the final word. I would hope I can hear him saying, "Please make changes to suit the needs and make use of the tools of this era--expand on this to ensure we live in a just and democratic society."

So, I am going to go through 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action and create a personal revised edition. I would like to hear from others what changes and, most especially, additions they would like to make.

Keep your eyes open for my next installment!

Here is where you can read the original:

198 Methods of Nonviolent Action

#MediaFreeDiaspora #nonviolence #courage #kindness #mfd

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Media Free Diaspora: Be in the Eye of the Storm

Have Courage–Be Kind

I am seeing so many people getting lost in a maelstom of grief, anger, and fear over the current turn politics has been taking around the world, and in the US in particular.

This sort of burst of intense emotion is easy to justify, and completely understandable. But a key word here is "lost". So long as we are caught in this whirlwind of emotions, we become victims no longer able to see hope or to take action. Honestly, we never know if we have no hope until we live step by step through what life has handed us. Before that point, it's just fear.

And if we are indeed facing the end of the world, don't we want to savour everything that is good about life? Don't we want to honour the things we love--those things that have made life worthwhile, up until our very last breath? It is important to be witnesses to what is best in this world. It is also important to be adding to what is best in this world.

Do what you can to keep your hearts pure. And if you stumble, that's okay. Just pick yourselves up, brush yourselves off, and keep pointing yourselves towards the light.

#MediaFreeDiaspora #peace #courage #kindness #mfd

photo by Patrick Schätz on Unsplash

Media Free Diaspora: Underground Railroads

Have Courage–Be Kind

I am hoping that people in the US are already forming underground railroads and maroon communities for those persons who are being targeted by the current federal government for oppression. Please consider being part of such a network.

The networks of the US Civil War were not as glamorous as they have been portrayed in movies, tv, and books. However, that should encourage people to contribute to a modern version, since they may already have the means to help.

"The popular mythology of the Underground Railroad is filled with stories of tunnels, secret hiding places, quilts and lawn jockeys. Let me be clear on this--there is virtually no evidence for any of these elements in the historical record. We have numerous narratives of the self emancipated and their helpers, and no one actually connected with the Underground Railroad ever mentioned tunnels, quilts (as signals) or cast iron statues. Specially built secret hiding places were so rare as to be almost non-existent. It was much easier to hide people, if secrecy was necessary, in the attic, the spring house, the barn or the field than build a hidey-hole. However, my major concern is that this fascination with the mechanisms of the Underground Railroad distracts from understanding the networks that made escape possible."

Quakers and the Underground Railroad: Myths and Realities
By Christopher Densmore

I spent a year visiting people being held in detention camps in Australia. I wrote various works to help people to understand what was actually happening. I became familiar with people who to this day are opening their homes to hide refugees. These acts are not just moments in history. People are putting themselves out there to protect the vulnerable from mistreatment in their own houses here and now! Please consider doing what you can--even if it's just pointing people in the right direction to find protection.

#MediaFreeDiaspora #ProtectTheOppressed #courage #kindness #UndergroundRailroad #mfd

Media Free Diaspora

Have Courage--Be Kind

Now is a time to reconsider the safety pin symbol.

The backlash over safety pins and allies, explained

...What gets lost in the fight to deem the safety pin movement good or bad, or to write it off as a facile white crutch, is that a lot of people in this country are feeling a very real sense of helplessness right now. Being disgusted by one human attacking another because of the color of their skin or their religious beliefs isn’t partisan. Lots of people feel a very real need to speak out about these atrocities and fight fear, but don’t know how — and if wearing a safety pin helps them start to do so, we shouldn’t condemn them for it.

“I’d like you to consider not ruining something that could help this one, vulnerable group, just because some people misinterpreted its meaning or because it doesn’t help the much greater danger you’re facing,” film director Lexi Alexander wrote in a blog post about the importance of the pin to Muslim Americans. “We are all afraid.”

The pin was never meant to fix institutional racism, and perhaps applauding it as a gesture, a start, a beginning — in addition to being honest about its limitations (especially to those wearing them) — is the way to celebrate it. We should all be asking what else we can do, rather than acting like it shouldn’t exist.

#safetypin #ProtectTheOppressed #courage #kindness #MediaFreeDiaspora