If you have had the opportunity to visit South Africa of recent you undoubtedly are inspired by the friendliness of the people of all races, ages, and backgrounds. Their smiles are contagious, and you wonder how this levity can be so pronounced against the backdrop of such a dramatic history of both tragedy and triumph; tragedy in the growing senseless violence that has gripped the nation in recent years, and the triumph of the fall of apartheid and the building of a new society. Continue Reading The Nonviolent Legacy of South Africa »

I was in E. Germany in 1976 talking with a nonviolent activist. We were sitting on the porch of his apartment on the 2nd story overlooking Dresden. He said, and he felt depressed and discouraged, heartsick: “There aren’t 30 people in Dresden now willing to oppose this evil regime.” Given the violence of the E. German government and the Soviet Union behind them, arguably one of the most violent in history, he could have sought to resort to coercion. Sabotage, whatever. He didn’t.  Just thirteen years later, in Continue Reading Nonviolence wins with patience»

For two years I ran job readiness group for 10 teenagers in Rochester, NY. During one of my last meetings formal meetings with the group my favorite moment of those two years took place. For me, it was the most amazing of all of our times together.

My youth were usually pretty wild and would spend most of their energy talking over me, fighting, and making each other cry, but this night was different and changed the group dynamics for the rest of our time together. Continue Reading Nonviolence is Seeing Oneself in the Other»

David Chomsky, brother of Noam, was married to a woman who gave military legal counseling to sailors of the USS Nitro, docked at Sandy Hook, NJ to pick up fragmentation bombs for the Vietnam War. Annie LaBois of France was there in Leonardo, NJ with me as advance liaison for the Stone House community of West Philadelphia in 1971. Lillian Willoughby and about fifty others sat on the railroad tracks to symbolically prevent munitions from reaching the Nitro. Continue Reading Conscientious Objectors Slow a War Effort»

I have been a sexual assault crisis counselor for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) since May 2008. It was the only way I knew how to stay involved with the issue post-graduation. At the University of Maryland I had played a key role in organizing a Men of Strength Club for men to talk about masculinity and gender-based violence and had taken part in advocacy and outreach campaigns for about two years. Continue Reading …from a crisis counselor»