TV: “Nonviolent Grassroots Remedies for Our Current Crisis”

People who support human rights, civil liberties, environmental quality, the climate, and other humane values were stunned by the November 2016 election and fear radical damage to these aspects of our civilization and ecosystems.

While the Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s December 2016 TV program (see www.olympiafor.org/tv_programs.htm) does an excellent job of helping people understand people’s feelings and other realities related to the election, our January 2017 TV program helps us figure out where to go from here.

Many people fear radical damage to human rights, civil liberties, the environment, and other necessities, and so forth. Some people feel overwhelmed and powerless, freezing like a deer in the headlights. Other people might vent their fears and frustrations in reactions that not only fail to move us toward practical remedies but might also counter-productively set us back.

Now is the time to organize strategically smart and nonviolent grassroots movements to effectively counter the oppression, repression, and other harmful policies that we are likely to experience. The Olympia FOR’s January 2017 TV program features two savvy guests – Mary Lou Finley and Glen Gersmehl – who are recognized experts in understanding the theory and practice of nonviolent grassroots organizing for social and political change. They share insights, positive historical examples of nonviolent organizing against violent oppressors, and creative encouragement of how people might proceed through our current crisis.

Besides watching the TV program and reading the thorough summary posted at www.olympiafor.org/tv_programs.htm, you can access many resources to help you understand what nonviolence is and how to use it effectively. See the “Nonviolence” part of www.olympiafor.org  and the “Nonviolence” category on Glen Anderson’s blog www.parallaxperspectives.org to find a number of resources that are informative, insightful, and useful. Olympia FOR’s web page on “Nonviolence” offers many resources under the subheadings “What Is Nonviolence?” and “Understanding and Using Nonviolence” and “Using Nonviolence in the Real World.”  Some of those resources also are posted on this blog.

Also, for decades I have been recommending resources by Gene Sharp and others at The Albert Einstein Institution, www.aeinsteinorg. The very recent books by Erica Chenoweth (Why Civil Resistance Works) and by Engler and Engler (This is an Uprising) and the previous book and video series by Ackerman (A Force More Powerful) are excellent resources. Contact Glen Anderson at (360) 491-9093 glenanderson@integra.net  for additional resources, speaking engagements, discussion-based workshops, referrals to other books, videos, etc., about building nonviolent grassroots movements, strategizing for social change, and related topics, even under very brutal dictatorships.

To watch the 1-hour interview, CLICK HERE.

To read a thorough summary of what we said during the interview and see many resources listed at the end, CLICK HERE.

About GlenAnderson 1499 Articles
Since the late 1960s Glen Anderson has devoted his life to working as a volunteer for peace, nonviolence, social justice, and progressive political issues. He has worked through many existing organizations and started several. Over the years he has worked especially for such wide-ranging goals as making peace with Vietnam, eliminating nuclear weapons, converting from a military economy to a peacetime economy, abolishing the death penalty, promoting nonviolence at all levels throughout society, and helping people organize and strategize for grassroots movements to solve many kinds of problems. He writes, speaks, and conducts training workshops on a wide variety of topics. Since 1987 he has produced and hosted a one-hour cable TV interview program on many kinds of issues. Since 2017 he has blogged at https://parallaxperspectives.org He lives in Lacey near Olympia WA. You can reach him at (360) 491-9093 glen@parallaxperspectives.org