We all want a nonviolent world

Look around. Thousands of people are taking nonviolent action for a wide range of causes. Climate activists are blockading the doors of fossil fuel financing banks. Jewish peace activists held a sit-in in the U.S. Capitol Building for a ceasefire in Gaza. A National Day of Mourning was held for Sonya Massey, a Black woman killed by the police. In Minneapolis, city parks workers are on strike for higher wages; in Los Angeles, hotel workers continue their rolling strikes for better pay.

At first glance, these seem like disparate issues. At a closer look, they all share something in common.

Every one of them opposes a form of direct, systemic or cultural violence.

Violence comes in many forms. We often think of it as direct or physical, such as bombs, guns, domestic abuse, fist fights, mass shootings. But violence also causes harm through systems and structures, too, such as mass incarceration, pollution, poverty wages, homelessness, the climate crisis and much more. A third kind of violence — cultural violence — runs underneath all of this. It’s the beliefs and attitudes that cause the harm to occur, such as racism, sexism, colonialism, militarism and many others.

We dare to envision a world in which all our movements have succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.

For 11 years, the Campaign Nonviolence Action Days, which take place from Sept. 21-Oct. 2, have been bringing people together to see that our issues are connected. War. Poverty. Racism. Environmental destruction. Each one is awash with many kinds of violence and social movements often arise to address, challenge and transform the pain and suffering caused by these forms of violence.

From the Poor Peoples Campaign to Black Lives Matter to #LandBack, the vast majority of social movements not only aim to stop some form of violent harm, they also propose solutions or alternatives that could be viewed as a form of systemic, cultural, or direct nonviolence.

It’s this vision of a nonviolent world that Campaign Nonviolence has been working toward for over a decade.

We dare to envision a world in which all our movements have succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. This is a world rooted in a culture of active nonviolence, one that replaces war with peace, low wages with living wages, homelessness with affordable housing, racism with equity and equality, colonialism with Indigenous sovereignty, police brutality with community safety, mass incarceration with abolition and restorative justice, gun violence with conflict transformation, homophobia with LGBTQ+ celebration and inclusion, ableism with disability justice, fossil fuels with renewable energy, climate disasters with ecosystem restoration, street fights with violence prevention programs, and so much more.

When we look around, we see that not only are our social movements challenging violence with nonviolent solutions, they’re overwhelmingly using active nonviolence to work toward their goals. They’re using tools like blockades, protests, sit-ins, banners, vigils, marches, strikes, boycotts, divestment, and so much more.

This is part of our vision of a culture of active nonviolence. As Mohandas K. Gandhi said, “means are ends in the making.” If we want to grow an oak tree, we have to plant acorns. Nonviolence offers us the tools to build a world of nonviolent solutions.

The Campaign Nonviolence Action Days, which will take place again this fall are a chance for us to build this world together.

Stretching from the International Day of Peace (Sept. 21) to the International Day of Nonviolence (Oct. 2), the Campaign Nonviolence Action Days invite people to mobilize for a culture of peace and active nonviolence, free from war, poverty, racism and environmental destruction. Hundreds of groups and tens of thousands of people move into action during these 10 days. In 2023, over 5,000+ actions and events were held across the United States and around the world. Over 60,000 people took part in everything from peace concerts to street patrols preventing violence to direct actions at military bases and much more.

If we want to grow an oak tree, we have to plant acorns. Nonviolence offers us the tools to build a world of nonviolent solutions.

In 2024, more than 3,340 actions and events have already been announced, with thousands more expected to join in between now and September.

We encourage groups to join in with whatever nonviolent actions and events they have planned. In addition to welcoming these ideas, Campaign Nonviolence also issues specific calls-to-action. Each one is designed to offer people ways to address core issues and to explore the hundreds of tactics in the nonviolent toolbox. From listening circles to sit-ins, marches to vigils, mutual aid to divestment, there are dozens of ways to take action.

If you are looking for action ideas, here are our specific calls-to-action for 2024:

International Day of Peace: Build a culture of peace

• From Ukraine to Gaza, Sudan to Colombia, the need for peace is urgent and widespread. On Sept. 21, the International Day of Peace, take action to call for ceasefires, educate the community about peace, and honor the peacemakers on the local and global levels. More info.

International Day of Nonviolence: Nonviolence teach-ins

• Oct. 2 is Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday and the International Day of Nonviolence. On this day, connect with as many children and adults as possible to discuss, learn about and explore nonviolence. Use our tools and resources to host creative teach-ins. Do a Facebook live or Instagram post on the subject of nonviolence. Or put up informational posters around town. Or interrupt classes or meetings with a 5-minute speech on nonviolence. Or sidewalk chalk nonviolence principles in public places. More info.

Ending violence: Train to interrupt violence and harassment

• Train your community in bystander intervention, de-escalation and anti-harassment skills. Prepare people to be able to stop incidents of violence and harassment at work, on public transit, in the home, at the store, or in the streets. As we approach the 2024 elections, you could also help poll workers and poll watchers prepare to de-escalate potential violence at the polls. More info.

Ending poverty: Mutual aid and labor strike solidarity

• Organize a group to participate in mutual aid and/or labor strike solidarity, i.e. hold a bake sale for a strike fund, go to a picket line, join a boycott of a business where the workers are striking, or other ways of supporting a strike. More info.

Environment: Peace and planet solidarity

• Use our Peace & Planet Solidarity Toolkit to take action on the ways the climate crisis and militarism connect, or how war damages the environment. You will also find creative ideas for organizing peace and planet events with children. More info.

Divest from violence — Move money out of weapons and fossil fuels

• Take action to stop money from going into industries that manufacture war, weapons, nukes and fossil fuels. Plan an action at a bank, public office or university. Challenge them to reinvest in peace and planet. More info.

Racial justice: Host a racial healing circle and/or train to interrupt harassment

• Help your community address racism that impacts Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian-American, Arab-American and Jewish individuals. Host a racial healing circle that allows personal stories to be shared and heard. Train your community in practical ways to intervene when someone is being targeted by hate. Your actions can focus on the issues your area is struggling with, such as welcoming migrants or addressing both antisemitism and Islamophobia. More info.

Campaign Nonviolence Action Days offers the chance to link arms symbolically (and sometimes literally) with our fellow activists working to end war, poverty, racism and environmental destruction.

These calls-to-action have been crafted with some of our key partner organizations. Campaign Nonviolence Action Days are made possible by them and other collaborating groups, including Sandy Hook Promise, Nonviolent Peaceforce, Cure Violence, World BEYOND War, DC Peace Team, Backbone Campaign, Global Silent Minute, World Clean-up Day, Pathways to Peace, Unity Earth, Jared’s Heart of Success, Nonviolent Cities Project, Catholic Nonviolence Days of Action, We the World, Up2Peace, Arms, Militarism, and Climate Justice Working Group, L.O.V.E. Is the Answer; local chapters of CODEPINK, Pax Christi; longstanding Peace Day efforts like Peace Day Philly, Peace Week Delaware, and Arkansas Peace Week and many more.

One of the benefits of participating in Campaign Nonviolence Action Days is the chance to link arms symbolically (and sometimes literally) with our fellow activists working to end war, poverty, racism and environmental destruction. It’s easy to feel isolated and lonely when we’re working on a social issue. Action Days is a time to “zoom out” and see the big picture of how our efforts connect to others. It’s a chance to reframe the size and scope of our campaigns into an interconnected movement of movements working in tandem for the big, broad vision of the future that we want. 

Those looking to participate can sign up for the Campaign Nonviolence Action Days here: https://paceebene.org/action-days

If violence is what we oppose, then let’s work toward a nonviolent world together. We have solutions. We have tools. We have people. And we have vision. Join us.