Celebrating Sunrise and the youth led global diverse movement for planet and people

Can we find solutions that match the scale of the problems we face?

Nonviolence International believes that in this time of crisis, we must find a way to craft solutions that are capable of responding to the massive challenges before us. Typical delay and compromise politics are not sufficient to the reality of the moment. The time for small ideas is over. As is the time when we can allow our broken system to define our vision. When politicians receive funding from those actively destroying our precious planet, we must find another way to respond to the climate crisis. 

The exceptional young leaders of the Sunrise movement have tried a variety of approaches including education, letter writing, public protests, and direct action. They have even engaged in the dangerous often corrupt world of electoral politics. They have found that even after the vast coalition you represent plays a key role in getting leaders into office, they mostly follow. As usual, elected leaders must be pushed to fulfill key promises made during campaigns.

Now brave young people seeking to claim a livable future have begun a hunger strike. Extinction Rebellion UK just asked if this is the most important fortnight in history. They note that previous massive well-publicized conferences have not produced the change we need. We share the sense of urgency and know we will need each other even more after both the upcoming conference and the legislative process underway in Washington, DC fail to grasp the enormity of the moment. These young leaders understand the nature of the crisis we face, know well that US is by far the greatest historical polluter causing climate change, and deserve our active support. 

To learn more about each of these leaders and find ways you can help, please see the information below from Sunrise.

See also further explanation of this powerful nonviolent tactic in NVI's online database. 

Hunger Strikes

Relay Hunger Strikes


PRESS CONTACT

Nikayla Jefferson

619-961-6080

[email protected]

HUNGER STRIKE FOR

CLIMATE JUSTICE

bit.ly/hungerstrike4climate

We Demand:

Biden, deliver on your climate justice promises.

Pass the full scope of the reconciliation bill to ensure the United States reduces emissions at least 50% by 2030 while advancing justice and creating millions of new good union jobs.

The bill must include a Civilian Climate Corps, direct investments in public schools, housing, transit, and clean energy to reduce emissions across major sectors and improve our communities. No investments towards fossil fuels.


What can you do?

Write or Call the White House

 Go to https://www.whitehouse.gov/get-involved/write-or-call/ to bring our demands and our story directly to the White House.

Call your Members of Congress

Go to CallForTheGND.org  to call your Representative and Senators!

Phonebank

You can join an upcoming phonebank hosted by Sunrise Movement. (http://smvmt.org/gnd)

Donate to our GoFundMe

Help us pay for  water, supplies, transportation, housing, etc. Please help us out! (https://www.gofundme.com/f/hunger-strike-for-climate-justice)

Share this document (bit.ly/hungerstrike4climate) or the links above with your friends with a personal note!

Hey, there’s 5 young ppl on hunger strike rn for climate change. They’re only  drinking water til the gov passes the first part of the green new deal, and it could totally happen. They’re asking ppl to support them. I’m doing [], would u wanna join me?? See here bit.ly/hungerstrike4climate

On Wednesday, our team launched a hunger strike; help amplify by sharing and following on social media:

  • Accounts to tag
  • Hashtags
  • #NoClimateNoDeal
  • #NoCompromisesNoExcuses
  • #BidenChooseUs
  • #HungerStrikeForClimate
  • Posts to uplift

Press

KALW - Youth Climate Activists are on Hunger Strike Outside the White House

Al Jazeera - Climate Activists Go on Hunger Strike near White House

Yahoo News - After Manchin nixes clean energy budget provision, youth climate change activists go on hunger strike

The Guardian - Climate Activists Launch Hunger Strike Outside White House 

Teen Vogue - Hunger Strike for Climate Justice Begins in DC 

Democracy Now - Climate Activists Start Hunger Strike from White House

The New York Times - Biden Backs Compromise to Win Vast Social Agenda

New Republic - Climate Activists are Going on Hunger Strike

Rachel Maddow Show - It’s Been a Busy Week of Direct Action All Over the Country

Why now?

Joe Manchin is trying to purge climate policy from the $3.5T Build Back Better Act. The most crucial pieces for federal climate action: the Civilian Climate Corps (CCC), the Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP), pieces of the GND for Public Housing could be gone if Manchin and his corporate donors get their way. These policies are more than just acronyms – a CEPP means clean air and water. A CCC means jobs and opportunities for our generation. A robust reconciliation package means less human suffering. Joe Biden has the power to make this a reality right now, but has conceded control of the White House, the Democratic Party, and the future of this country to Joe Manchin and his fossil fuel fortune. Now, everything we’ve fought for is on the line.

That’s why on Wednesday, October 20, five brave young people began a hunger strike in the fight for what we need. It’s all hands on deck now and we need you in this fight.

We must pass the full scope of this bill or we will spiral deeper into the climate crisis. The urgency of now cannot be understated: This could be our last chance to pass federal climate policy for the rest of the decade and we won’t back down without a fight.

The time is now and we have nothing to lose. No climate, no deal.

WEDNESDAY 10/20: HUNGER STRIKE LAUNCH

Starting Wednesday morning outside of the White House, five young people will begin a hunger strike until Joe Biden and Democrats pass the full scope of the Build Back Better Act to combat the climate emergency. Our names are Kidus, Abby, Paul, Ema, and Julie and we are risking our bodies to demand Democrats deliver on their elected climate commitments, and pass the first pieces of the Green New Deal for climate justice.

Why a hunger strike?

The stakes of this moment are greater than our lives: the United States is at a crossroad on climate, and the Democrats have a choice between mass human suffering or mass human survival. Hunger strikes and fasting are tactics that have been used by social movements throughout history to draw attention to certain issues, underscore the moral authority of participants and put pressure on key targets. We hope our hunger strike can appeal to Joe Biden, bring more people into our movement and emphasize what is at stake -- future life on this planet -- in this bill.

MEET THE STRIKE TEAM

Kidus, 26, Dallas, TX

I’m hunger striking because I believe we can win. I’m fighting for my mom who is an in-home caregiver, the people in Texas who died during the TX Freeze, and my future children. I’m fighting for a Dallas that invests in green public housing in immigrant neighborhoods like my first home, Vickery Meadow.  I’m going on a hunger strike because we all deserve clean air, good jobs, and a livable future.  I’m striking for everyone I've ever loved and I won’t back down until Biden invests in us, our futures and his own agenda. Twitter: @Kidus_GirmaB Tiktok: kidusgirma460 Instagram: kidusgirma460

 


Paul Campion, he/him, 24, Chicago, IL

 

On Saturdays with my neighbors I pack and deliver groceries to other neighbors. On warm summer nights, I love to bike along Lake Michigan looking at the bright Chicago lights and the stars that poke through. I’m going on hunger strike because I want to live a full, beautiful life. I want to have carefree days where I can play in the park with my future children and evenings when I can invite friends and family over for dinners, a bonfire, and singing. I’m going on hunger strike to remind Joe Biden of the promise he’s made to tackle the climate crisis and the responsibility he has to follow through -- to not shrink & compromise away my generation’s future. I’m striking to remind him that it’s alway worth it to do all that we can to prevent pain, suffering, and death. I’m striking to remind him that love ought to show itself in deeds more than in words. He must deliver strong federal climate legislation, paid family leave, and the full scope of his Build Back Better agenda so that I and the people I love can live full, beautiful lives.

Twitter: @_paulcampion

 


Ema, she/her, 18, Santa Rosa, CA:

I’m going on a hunger strike because I am terrified about what the climate crisis is doing and will do to the people and places I love. This summer I marched hundreds of miles across California to demand action that meets the scale of the climate crisis. But paid-off politicians are refusing to take my generation seriously, despite wildfires spreading and our homes burning. We need to invest boldly in climate now, for my family and so that I have a chance at a livable future. Insta: @ema.govea


Julia Paramo, she/ella,  24, Dallas, TX:

I’m hunger striking for my Tejano community. My community has to rely on itself because the government currently won’t fight for us. I will fight for my people. Mi comnunidad looks like community gardens, urban farming, and working people who live in food-deserts putting in hours to only get cents back. I want a future where I can laugh and dance with my friends without the fear of being outside. So, I’m striking to carry on la lucha of my ancestors, for my parents who came to this country with false promises of the “American Dream,” only to fight tooth and nail out of poverty to barely land in the working class. We have abused mother-nature for too long, our communities are hurting.  I do not want this earth to die the way I already see my neighborhoods suffer everyday. I’m hunger striking because Joe Biden owes my community what he ran on. To show Biden the pain an entire generation faces if he and his administration fail to deliver on their promises.

Insta: @julieahp

Twitter: @julie_ahp


Abby Leedy, she/her, 20, Philadelphia, PA: 

 

I want to keep living in West Philly. I want to have a home here one day, with my mom, my wife and my kids. I want to have a garden and go to church every week. I’m hunger striking because that future means everything to me, and I’ll risk everything I have to make it real. I believe we can stop climate change, that there’s a future where Philly is above water, where my family can live with dignity, and peace, and joy. I don’t have millions of dollars to pay our politicians off to make that happen. I just have my life. Instagram: @abby.leedy

Tiktok: @notabbyfromqueereye


Check out this short powerful video from Greta Thunberg

 

Latest posts

Nonlinear Leadership Development Training

“The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.“

Marcel Proust

“To be outstanding leaders and achieve exceptional results, we have to change the way we think about the world and about what is possible.” 

Miki Walleczek

“We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” 

Albert Einstein

     Sami Awad giving a NLD training in Palestine, 2010

Are you in a leadership position but find yourself struggling to move forward efficiently and effectively? 

Are you an activist striving to make a difference but feel stuck? 

Do you want to have a breakthrough and lead with more clarity and confidence?

Are you seeking to achieve greater results in your life and for those around you? 

Join Nonviolence International in the launch of their first online training program to develop strong and effective leadership in order to face the challenges we are facing in the world today. 

Nonlinear Leadership Development promotes leadership paradigms that inspire leaders to think beyond traditional frameworks, by empowering individuals and communities to navigate complexities, embrace innovation, and drive positive change.

What is the Nonlinear Leadership Development Program?

It is a deep personal development program to enhance inner skills of leadership. The purpose of the program is to provide leaders with the tools that help them make the impossible possible at the level of their personal life, their work, community, and for their country.

The unique contribution of the nonlinear methodology is that it begins at the individual level, providing a methodology that can successfully put people in touch with their innate leadership potential by unleashing their self-responsibility, creativity, intelligence and commitment, and by giving them a voice and direct access to action through nonlinear thinking and the power of language.

Participants start by creating the visions and strategies for leadership within themselves - understanding what it means to be a leader - and then from there they move on to serving the larger community. Furthermore, this methodology is designed to ensure sustainability through the building of a dynamic, growing network of self-organising communities.

This approach emphasizes distinguishing between interpretations and facts, enabling individuals to move beyond past traumas and make decisions aligned with future possibilities. By adopting NLT, participants are encouraged to engage in deep self-reflection, challenge existing mindsets, and cultivate self-awareness, thereby fostering environments where teams can thrive amidst uncertainty and change.

The training will be provided by our co-director, Sami Awad

What will you learn?

  • Deal effectively with breakdowns and problems on the personal, professional, community and national levels.
  • Build relationships of mutual trust and respect.
  • Deal effectively with what’s happening here and now.
  • Build powerful networks to support you in the future.
  • Create a bold future which is informed by, and honours the past, but is independent from the past.
  • Accomplish breakthrough results.
  • Have effective, purposeful meetings which support you in delivering on intended results.
  • Understand the power and importance of creating and managing context.

What will you accomplish?

  • You will get access to powerful action and result oriented language.
  • You will get access to nonlinear tools that can be applied in different dimensions. 
  • You will unlock yourself from the constraints of the past.
  • You will create a future for yourself, family and community that will be inspiring and transforming.
  • You will build growing dynamic networks of self organising communities which give voice to making the impossible possible.
  • You will engage in the phenomena of nonlinearity, self organisation, and emergence.
  • You will ask yourself: “what allows for self responsibility?”
  • You will get a clear vision on decision making.

What are the requirements to participate in the training program?

  • Leaders committed to a future founded on the principles of nonviolence, justice, equality and peace within society and in relation to others.
  • Leaders who want to have a breakthrough in their lives.
  • Leaders who want to engage in making the impossible possible in their lives.
  • Leaders who are ready to challenge what they know in order to create new opportunities.
  • Be open and interested in learning, especially different approaches to leadership.
  • Commit to all sessions.
  • Selection-based process, since the attendance for this training is limited to a maximum of 25 participants, ensuring an exclusive and unique learning experience.
  • The full training program costs $600, however, our organization is committed to making this training accessible to everyone who feels they need it and is ready to fully commit. Therefore, we welcome voluntary contributions based on each participant's ability to give.

To apply, please fill in the following form: APPLY NOW 

Webinar: Syria Today - Stories of Return, Resistance, and Renewal

Join us on April 23, for a webinar that delves into current Syrian realities and the impact of sanctions. Our experts include long time Syrian human rights leader Bassam Ishak, NVI Board Chair Rafif Jouejati (now in Syria), and our NVI Co-Director Michael Beer who has just returned from Syria.

Guests will share their thoughts— and those of the people they represent - on what rebuilding the nation and fostering reconciliation, unity, and justice look like. This discussion will shed light on the paths to recovery and the steps needed to ensure sustainable stability, dignity, and hope for millions of Syrians.

This webinar is a unique opportunity to gain deep insights from sources who have played an important part in the struggle against tyranny and who offer valuable knowledge so you, as part of the global family committed to peace and justice, can contribute to Syria’s bright future. 

Don’t miss out—register now to be part of this important conversation!

You can RSVP to attend this webinar via our  sign-up page here!

David Hartsough: Presente! A Shining Light for a Nonviolent World

David Hartsough on left, along with Laurence Henry face down neo-Nazis at Arlington Virginia desegregation sit-in in 1961. Photo by Gene Abbott. Courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.

We share the passing of David Hartsough, a long-time supporter of Nonviolence International and the global nonviolence movement. David died at the age of 84 after a battle with cancer. He was a loving husband of Jan and of 2 children. He co-founded Nonviolent Peaceforce, Nonviolent Peaceworks, and World Beyond War, David was a Quaker who dedicated his life to nonviolence and a just world. His vision and commitment to nonviolence shaped countless movements. His memoir, Waging Peace: Global Adventures of a Lifelong Activist, tells the remarkable story of his decades spent on the front lines of nonviolent action. Can you believe he drove to Red Square in 1961 in a VW Bug from Berlin and protested against nuclear weapons? 

Col. Ann Wright called him the “Forrest Gump” of the US Peace Movement implying that he had a knack for being present at so many historic anti-war events for 70 years. In addition to ubiquitous protesting he actively worked on numerous campaigns for peace and justice. In the late 1950’s, he was arrested for nuclear & chemical weapons ban protests, in the 1960’s, he was among the earliest to oppose the Vietnam War, through the then newly created Washington Peace Center and the Friends Committee on National Legislation. In the 1970’s he worked for the American Friends Service Committee where he opposed US wars in Central America and supported the pioneering use of nonviolence intervention by Peace Brigades and Witness for Peace. He became so enamored with nonviolent intervention that In 1996 he presented his idea of a large scale nonviolent army to intervene in conflicts around the world at NVI’s global conference Mainstreaming Peace Teams. His dream later came to fruition at the 1999 Hague Appeal for Peace where he met Michael Beer, Mel Duncan and Timmon Wallis and Nonviolent Peaceforce was provisionally born. 

In 1996, he traveled to Kosovo to support and train the nonviolent student movement in its resistance to Serbian rule and repression. He then encouraged NVI Director, Michael Beer to follow to provide more coaching and training on nonviolent resistance. In the 2000’s, he was repeatedly arrested for opposing US wars against Muslim countries and co-led a peace delegation to Iran.  He then helped David Swanson start the World Beyond War, for which NVI, through David’s suggestion, served briefly as a fiscal sponsor.  He was a life-long war-tax resister and supporter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

But his legacy was not just about ending war. He met Dr. King in Alabama as a young teenager and was a courageous activist in the sit-in movement that ended segregation in the DC area. He was arrested uncountable times for environmental, poverty alleviation, anti-racism, and social justice issues.  In 2011, he was one of the co-founders of the Occupy Movement in Washington DC. Although not a wealthy man, he was a generous financial supporter of all NVI initiatives including our projects in Russia, Iran, Kosovo, Tibet,  Palestine, Burma, and Western Sahara. He donated his massive nonviolent training collection that has been partially digitized and uploaded to NVI’s Nonviolence Training Archives.

NVI is sad to see him leave us but grateful for his relentless support and encouragement. What a remarkable nonviolent life!

Job Fair at the US Senate Victory

Job Fair at the US Senate Victory: Some Workers Getting Jobs Restored...

 

Co-Director Michael Beer helped lead some of the initial protests by Federal Workers in the Senate. Much work remains to reinstate workers and to challenge the illegal firings of tens of thousands of government workers and contractors. NVI remains committed to nonviolently mobilizing public support in the US and globally against criminal actions by the Trump administration.

Article on reinstating fired workers

https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-administration-reinstating-24500-fired-workers-after-court-order-2025-03-18/ 

Job Fair at the US Senate to Protest Illegal Firings

This week, NVI Director Michael Beer, helped launch a “Job Fair” at the US Senate. Each day this week, illegally fired federal workers have walked into senate offices with resumes asking for jobs. These federal workers meet with Senators and staff and tell their stories of being fired from US Aid for International Development, Social Security, National Institutes of Health, and Department of Energy and many others.

Many of them had worked in the government for less than 2 years. Many have worked for decades and had strong job performance evaluations. All were highly skilled and some had previously worked for much higher salaries in the private sector. They fear that the vital work of their agencies will be dismantled and that people around the world will suffer because of the damage done to health and energy research or a sudden halt in humanitarian aid.

 

Here are some articles about the unconventional lobbying.

Here is a Washington Post Article.

 

You can hear some of these workers in their own words.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGV7h1Gx2sR/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGdvjVExh0L/

 

Most of these folks have never lobbied before. But they are angry and want to do something. Hopefully they can persuade/pressure Senators to stand up to Musk and Trump and stop these attacks on federal workers and on these congressionally funded agencies.

These firings are an attempt to cripple government services and force them to be privatized. Other agencies like the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau are cops who prevent and reverse financial fraud perpetrated by big firms and the oligarchs.

Others are doing a sit-in as we do this write-up.

 

Here is a good primer for those looking for something to do.

https://choosedemocracy.us/what-can-i-do/

Also, take a look at NVI’s huge database of 346 nonviolent tactics and get inspired and the number of things you can do.

 

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