In 1986, between 5 and 6.5 million Americans held hands for 15 minutes in an attempt to create a human chain across the United States. The event was known as “Hands Across America” and aimed to raise money for poverty and hunger. Three years later, two million Latvian, Estonian, and Lithuanian citizens joined hands, not to raise money, but to protest the illegal occupation of their countries by the Soviet Union.
Year: 2022
People Power in the Philippines
February 2022 marks the 36th anniversary of the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) People Power Revolution in the Philippines, when the population overthrew dictator and kleptocrat Ferdinand Marcos and abolished the martial law implemented during his rule. However, history is at risk of repeating itself as Marcos’ son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., won the presidential elections in May 2022, marking the Marcos family’s return to Malacanang after 36 years.
The Overturning of Roe v. Wade and the Role of Activism for the Future
Since the decision of Roe v Wade in 1973, many cases narrowed the scope of this decision but never overturned it completely. This all changed in May 2022 when a draft of a majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, was leaked to political news sources.
Music as a Form of Protest During the 2020 Black Lives Matter Protests
Hip-hop’s historical connection to social justice has allowed it to be used as a tool to empower the black community to speak out about racism in America.
How the “Capitol Crawl” Galvanized Congress Into Passing a Landmark Civil Rights Bill
Sometimes, the fight for civil rights is an 83-step process. Such was the case for disability rights activists in March of 1990, when delays in Congressional action on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) were stalling the overdue passage of a landmark bill to protect individuals with visible and invisible disabilities.
The Final Flame: An Obituary to Venerable Thích Nhất Hạnh (1926-2022)
Dear Thay (as your students refer you ‘Master’)…
Nichidatsu Fujii: A Buddhist Pacifist?
Nichidatsu Fujii (1885-1985) was a Japanese Buddhist monk and peace activist who founded the Buddhist order Nipponzan Myōhōji in 1918. Nipponzan Myōhōji is a small lay and monastic order of about 1500 people that continues to be active to the present day, and scholars consider it to be one among Japan’s many new religious movements, albeit much smaller in terms of its size and scale than other groups in this category.
Reclaiming What is Theirs – How Native Activism in Milwaukee during the 1970s resulted in Land Back and Community Growth
While many efforts to maintain treaty rights proved unsuccessful, the 1971 protests by Native activists in Milwaukee were a rare example of Native protests that resulted in Indigenous gain.
An Overview of Article 9 and Anti-War Protests in Contemporary Japan
Japan’s devastating defeat in World War II led many ordinary Japanese people to develop a general antipathy and aversion to war and militarism. Pacifism was enshrined in the famous Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which states that Japan “forever renounce(s) war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.”
SEALDs: Assessing Student-led Anti-War Protests in Contemporary Japan
SEALDs (Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy) was a student organization founded in May 2015 as part of the protest movement against Shinzō Abe and his government’s legislations to reinterpret the Japanese Constitution to allow Japan to engage in collective self-defense on behalf of its allies, e.g., the United States.