Compassionate activism is activism that is rooted in an underlying compassion for all beings. It is an activism that resists the strong urge we all face to dehumanize our opponents, as they often do to us, and we often do to them. This collection of articles and videos highlight perspectives and voices of people who are striving to stay off the warpath - to not reproduce in our own activism the oppressive mentalities that we seek to change and transform in the wider world.
Compassionate activism contends that this philosophy is the most powerful way to create transformational change - beyond traditional left/right paradigms, beyond the traditional language and logic of war, which has historically influenced both left and right activism. We call this tendency of activists to use "the master's tools" ideological oppression - whereby people living in a culture predicated on the logic of domination ultimately strive to create change using methods, thought-patterns, and strategies that were learned and used against us growing up.
Shame, judgment, fear, insult, attack, punishment, othering, violent language and sometimes physical violence are all tools that have been used against us, or we have seen used on others, by virtue of living in this culture, and so we learn to use these tools on each other.
The left attacks the right, the right attacks the left, the left and right attack themselves, and many other labels for groups of humans have attacked each other and themselves in similar ways. We have been waging war against each other for a long time.
Compassionate activism is an activism that is ready for the war to end.
We're looking forward to the day we can put down all weapons, both physical and verbal, and embrace each other as the family that we truly are.
We're not perfect in our own practice of this ideal - we know we can do better - but that's the goal.
Our personal mission is to practice and promote not just physical non-violence, but also embody that in our communication, our thoughts and in our hearts - even when we may strongly disagree - to remember in a secret place in our hearts that we are still family and that beneath our disagreements we all share the same basic universal human needs. It's from that seed of compassion that we strive to speak and act.
If we fall short of this ideal, we ask you to help us remember, and (we hope! )... show us how to do better, through your own practice and example. May we strive for this ideal together!
May we all strive for the day when we can put down all weapons of war, and our children can play together without fear, where we can all embrace each other in the middle of the circle, and celebrate the beauty of 10,000 peaceful ways of life. - Films For Action
|
|
Thich Nhat Hanh ·
I believe that true justice should have compassion in it. When someone does something harmful, destructive, the destruction is done not only to the person who is the victim, but it is also done to the person who has committed the...
|
|
|
Martin Luther King, Jr. ·
So I want to turn your attention to this subject: “Loving Your Enemies.” It’s so basic to me because it is a part of my basic philosophical and theological orientation: the whole idea of love, the whole philosophy of love.In the fifth...
|
|
|
Tim Hjersted ·
I have made a promise to this world that I will carry with me to my last days. It is my vow to lessen the suffering of the world while I am here - it is to ensure that every toxic legacy that I inherited from our culture ends with me ...
|
|
|
198 min ·
Buddhist Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the most respected and celebrated teachers in the world.
|
|
|
Rivera Sun ·
“There is a place between passivity and violence. I’ll meet you there.” – Rivera Sun
Nonviolent struggle is on the rise globally. Neither passive, nor inaction, this powerful way of working for change is proving Gandhi’s audacious...
|
|
|
Frances Lee ·
We are alienating each other with unrestrained callouts and unchecked self-righteousness. Here’s how that can stop.
|
|
|
Tim Hjersted ·
Our real opponents are the billionaires, the war profiteers, and the politicians in both parties bought by corporate money—not the few imperfect allies we have in power, and not the working class people who vote or think differently...
|
|
|
44 min ·
The Third Harmony tells the story of nonviolence, humanity’s greatest (and most overlooked) resource.
"I am exhilarated and grateful to the filmmakers for bringing forth such a fine gift for the future of life on Earth. Hurray! and...
|
|
|
Tim Hjersted ·
With every new terrorist attack we hear about in the news, whether it be by ISIS, a white supremacist or military general of a powerful nation, I think back on this piece. The thoughts I wrote here continue to stay with me every time a...
|
|
|
185 min ·
The Basics of Nonviolent Communication with Marshall Rosenberg, Phd, is a recorded presentation of a 1-day workshop held in San Francisco, CA in April 2000. "The purpose of Nonviolent Communication is to help you learn what you already...
|
|
|
Asam Ahmad ·
Call-out culture refers to the tendency among progressives, radicals, activists, and community organizers to publicly name instances or patterns of oppressive behaviour and language use by others. People can be called out for statements...
|
|
|
6 min ·
“We undermine how easy it is for us to become the people that we dislike” - Ayishat Akanbi
|
|
|
Miki Kashtan ·
I have not found a word that captures the exact line that I am looking for. Commitment may be a bit too strong, and tends to connote “should,” thus invoking the non-choiceful energy of obligation and duty. “Intention” is not strong...
|
|
|
Kazu Haga ·
“Bernard? Oh yeah, he’s great. He was always the principles guy.”
|
|
|
Ricky Sherover-Marcuse ·
No one is naturally or genetically oppressive; no human being is born as an oppressor. No one is naturally or genetically destined to be oppressed; no one is born to be oppressed.
|
|
|
John Dear ·
I've been reflecting on the principles of nonviolence that Martin Luther King Jr. learned during the historic yearlong bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala.
|
|
|
5 min ·
Has wokeness replaced compassion with moral superiority?
|
|
|
Tim Hjersted ·
In a world marked by division, inequality, and growing despair, navigating daily life with integrity and purpose can feel overwhelming. Yet, even amid this brokenness, profound change is possible through acts of radical compassion.
|
|
|
Tim Hjersted ·
When every cultural force beckons us to hate, to harden our hearts and vilify the other, we must have the courage to look, deeply, with an intention to understand.
|
|
|
Tim Hjersted ·
No person or group of people is ever one thing. Inside each of us are a thousand diverse aspects - evolving dimensions.
|
|
|
Charles Eisenstein ·
I am told by Native American friends active at Standing Rock that the elders are counseling the Water Protectors to undertake each action prayerfully and to stay off the warpath.
|
|
|
73 min ·
Weaving together traditional stories, personal experiences and core concepts, Thich Nhat Hanh offers step-by-step practices that foster understanding and intimacy in any kind of relationship: between lovers, parents and children, even...
|
|
|
Martin Doblmeier ·
Thich Nhat Hanh has published nearly 100 books and is one of the best-known teachers of Zen Buddhism in the world today.
|
|
|
5 min ·
This is a short excerpt from Peacemaking.
|
|
|
Kai Cheng Thom ·
In my first year of college, I stopped calling myself an activist.
|
|
|
Teodrose Fikre ·
Not one person in this world has been able to escape the clutches of being hurt in life. I never really understood the truth of that statement until I spent two years sojourning from state to state. It was in my time of tribulation and...
|
|
|
Tim Hjersted ·
A few years ago, Maria Popova wrote an article on how to criticize with kindness, based on the work of philosopher Daniel Dennett.
|
|
|
Teodrose Fikre ·
"If we pass on kindness to others in immediate circumference, we can accomplish infinitely more than we can by chanting political slogans in cordoned areas and marching in restricted protest zones."
|
|
|
3 min ·
This is the incredible story of Daryl Davis.
|
|
|
4 min ·
"Love is the felt experience of connection to another being. An economist says 'more for you is less for me.' But the lover knows that more of you is more for me too. If you love somebody their happiness is your happiness. Their pain is...
|
|
|
Charles Eisenstein ·
Many people have little trouble confessing to being hard on themselves, to being “my own worst critic” or to being a perfectionist. They are, after all, merely confessing to something that our culture upholds as a virtue: the struggle...
|
|
|
Charles Eisenstein ·
He who fights too long against dragons becomes a dragon himself; and if thou gaze too long into the abyss, the abyss will gaze into thee.
—Nietzsche
|
|
|
Joe Brewer ·
I’m going to let you in on a little secret. There is no such thing as “the bad guy.” Every time we see an enemy it is because our minds have projected them onto the world. If we didn’t create them first in our thoughts and perceptions...
|
|
|
Thich Nhat Hanh ·
Without communication, no real understanding can be possible. But be sure that you can communicate with yourself first. If you cannot communicate with yourself, how do you expect to communicate with another person? Love is the same. If...
|
|
|
Tai Amri Spann-Ryan ·
On #BlackLivesMatter, moral injury and activism
|
|
|
Tim Hjersted ·
One "piece of the oppressor" that I have found in myself during my inner activist journeys is my use of shame as a method of engaging with the world's problems. Having learned that "shame" is a tool that has been used by the world's...
|
|
|
J. Krishnamurti ·
FEAR, PLEASURE, SORROW, thought and violence are all interrelated. Most of us take pleasure in violence, in disliking somebody, hating a particular race or group of people, having antagonistic feelings towards others. But in a state of...
|
|
|
Ejeris Dixon ·
This story is the second in Truthout's "Visions of 2018" series, in which activist leaders answer the question: "What would you like to see created, built, imagined or begun this year?" Each piece will focus on a bold idea for...
|
|
|
Charles Eisenstein ·
This is how a war begins
|
|
|
Thich Nhat Hanh ·
HAPPINESS IS ONLY POSSIBLE WITH TRUE LOVE. True love has the power to heal and transform the situation around us and bring a deep meaning to our lives. There are people who understand the nature of true love and how to generate and...
|
|
|
Tim Hjersted ·
I often think about this quote from Malcolm X. It's a point that really can't be made too often.
|
|
|
Peter Joseph ·
I get a lot of emails as to why I do not bring up notions such as the “New World Order”, “Illuminati”, “Zionism”, “Secret Societies” and other popular occult/conspiracy concepts which are very topical in this day and age. While I, of...
|
|
|
Bob Wentworth ·
Our way of being — the intentions, attitudes, and quality of the energy that we bring to an interaction — is more important than the particular words we choose to speak. The heart of Nonviolent Communication is not about speaking using...
|
|
|
Tim Hjersted ·
There is no one right way to be an activist.
There is no one right way to change the world.
There is no one right philosophy of leftist politics.
There is no one right solution to the massive problems we're facing.
|
|
|
Gene Sharp ·
Practitioners of nonviolent struggle have an entire arsenal of “nonviolent weapons” at their disposal. Far too often people struggling for democratic rights and justice are not aware of the full range of methods of nonviolent action.
|
|
|
Maria Popova ·
“So many people are frightened by the wonder of their own presence. They are dying to tie themselves into a system, a role, or to an image, or to a predetermined identity that other people have actually settled on for them.”
|
|
|
Thich Nhat Hanh ·
An excerpt from his book "No Death, No Fear."
|
|
|
Tim Hjersted ·
One of the things I've been reflecting on a lot lately is the importance of holding simultaneous realities in our hearts and awareness at the same time. When it comes to ending the violence and divisions of racism, nationalism, and...
|
|
|
Mickey Z. ·
“The first step in the revolution is eye contact.” - Alicen Grey
|
|
|
Araz Hachadourian ·
The story of a KKK leader’s transformation shows us that we need not live forever with the kind of violence we saw in Charleston this month.
|
|
|
Pat McCabe ·
"You think you know what ‘feminine’ is, but you don’t. And you think you know what ‘masculine’ is, but you don’t. All you really know is how the ‘masculine’ behaves when it is plugged into a power-over paradigm. And all you know is how...
|
|
|
Saddhamala ·
“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over.” - Thich Nhat Hanh
|
|
|
Charles Eisenstein ·
My new home of West Asheville is in the news. A local coffee shop, Waking Life Espresso, closed its doors after its owners Jared Rutledge and Jacob Owens were outed for hosting a misogynistic blog. In addition to repulsive and degrading...
|
|
|
Jacob Devaney ·
"At first I thought… The most powerful thing that you can do for your people, your future, your land, your air, your water is to fight and die for what you believe in. But it’s not true… you have to LIVE for what you believe in." ...
|
|
|
Thich Nhat Hanh ·
Thich Nhat Hanh teaches us how to relax the bonds of anger, attachment and delusion through mindfulness and kindness toward ourselves.
|
|
|
58 min ·
Can we really create peace in the world? Made for World Peace Day, join UPLIFT on a journey into peace in this inspiring new film.
|
|
|
Charles Eisenstein ·
Charles Eisenstein has a radical idea: instead of greeting violence with the threat of punishment and more violence, let's seek understanding instead. Rather than dehumanize our enemies, perhaps it is time to try compassion. The process...
|
|
|
Chris Hedges ·
The horrific pictures of the beheading of American reporter James Foley, the images of executions of alleged collaborators in Gaza and the bullet-ridden bodies left behind in Iraq by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant are the end...
|
|
|
David Cain ·
On Facebook I quietly unsubscribe from friends who regularly make angry issue-related posts, even if they’re right. I don’t want to be pummeled by “truth,” no matter how true it is.
|
|
|
8 min ·
What can we do that honors and respects every human being on the planet?
|
|
|
Laura Grace Weldon ·
Working in a retail job, you think you’ve become accustomed to bad behavior on the part of children as well as parents. But you are appalled to see a mother use an umbrella to spank a small boy. Will intervening threaten the child or...
|
|
|
85 min ·
Join acclaimed director Velcrow Ripper on a journey deep inside the global revolution of the heart that is erupting around the planet. Occupy Love explores the growing realization that the dominant system of power is failing to provide...
|
|
|
Tai Amri Spann-Ryan ·
Dear Youth,
|
|
|
11 min ·
"The Empathic Civilization" is one of the biggest ideas of the 21st century. The arrival of this era will be monumental. Jeremy Rifkin explains.
|
|
|
Tim Hjersted ·
What can we do to create a culture where none of our children grow up to become killers?
|
|
|
Tim Hjersted ·
Is mass media used to manipulate the public? Yes, undoubtedly so. Numerous examples illustrate this point, with intellectuals like Noam Chomsky and Norman Solomon highlighting it, and figures like
|
|
|
Martin Winiecki ·
November 9th, the day after the U.S. election, will be a peculiar anniversary. On this day in 1938 more than 1000 synagogues and 7000 Jewish businesses were burning all over Germany, set ablaze by the Nazis. Going down in history as...
|
|
|
Martin Winiecki ·
In the name of humaneness, we express our gratitude to the courageous water and land protectors at Standing Rock. This camp of Sioux and many other First Nation people, accompanied by activists from across all camps is a true light of...
|
|
|
Frances Moore Lappé ·
Feelings of fear and powerlessness are driving the cycle of violence that surrounds us. To change that, we need to recognize that we need each other to thrive as individuals.
|
|
|
Chelsea Rustrum ·
Allow me to share a few personal anecdotes…
My dear aunt recently passed away from bone cancer at just 60. To make sense of her passing, I went through a period of blaming the doctors, her Christian Science background (which doesn’t...
|
|
|
Rabbi Michael Lerner and Vandana Shiva ·
And we're going to create that world together.
|
|
|
5 min ·
Why we need to move empathy from personal emotion to collective moral concern -- Empathy comes in two distinct forms: affective empathy is our instinct for mirroring the emotions of others, while cognitive empathy is our conscious...
|
|
|
Arno Arr Michaelis IV ·
I see all sorts of well-meaning and otherwise intelligent and thoughtful people applauding neo-Nazi Richard Spencer being punched in the face. Here’s why this is not something to celebrate:
|
|
|
Audre Lorde ·
"Hopefully, we can learn from the 60s that we cannot afford to do our enemies' work by destroying each other."
|
|
|
R.L. Stephens ·
Perhaps the most redeeming aspect of my father’s ministry was his tireless work to help people heal from guilt and shame. I saw the transformative impact that his efforts had on people’s lives as they built the strength to lay down...
|
|
|
Kazu Haga ·
I admit, I laughed a little too. When I first saw videos of white nationalist Richard Spencer getting punched by a protester, I thought it was funny. And even now, I’m not exactly shedding a tear for him. I certainly pray that the...
|
|
|
Jacob Devaney ·
‘Think of a world without war, a world of social justice,
a world of ecological sustainability.’
This is how Robin Grille starts his talk at TEDX Pittwater. Robin is a psychologist, author, educator and advocate for children who is...
|
|
|
Mark Fisher ·
We need to learn, or re-learn, how to build comradeship and solidarity instead of doing capital’s work for it by condemning and abusing each other. This doesn’t mean, of course, that we must always agree – on the contrary, we must...
|
|
|
Sarah Freeman-Woolpert ·
It’s been a roller coaster year for Sammy Rangel, the executive director of Life After Hate — a non-profit organization that encourages people to leave violent extremist groups by offering them support and a community of other...
|
|
|
Shemsi Prinzivalli ·
There is an ancient and well-kept secret to happiness which the Great Ones have known for centuries. They rarely talk about it, but they use it all the time, and it is fundamental to good mental health. This secret is called The Fine...
|
|
|
Paul Graham ·
The web is turning writing into a conversation. Twenty years ago, writers wrote and readers read. The web lets readers respond, and increasingly they do—in comment threads, on forums, and in their own blog posts.
Many who respond to...
|
|
|
Colin Beavan ·
If you want to sustain yourself for the work ahead, here’s some advice: It doesn’t matter whether the other side “deserves” anger.
|
|
|
Maria Popova ·
“Just how charitable are you supposed to be when criticizing the views of an opponent?”
|
|
|
Miki Kashtan ·
“I want to kiss you all over your smile.”
|
|
|
2 min ·
So you want to fight prejudice and change people’s minds? Step 1: Don’t insult them. Step 2: Have a real conversation.
|
|
|
Prefigurology ·
For many marginalized people, social justice communities are an essential form of social and emotional support. They can bring the oppressed and isolated together and help keep them afloat in a world that is at turns indifferent and...
|
|
|
Tim Hjersted ·
Depending on where you start on this journey it can take many many years to unlearn what we are conditioned to believe by our toxic culture.
|
|
|
Tim Hjersted ·
Lately, I've been interested in exploring how we can apply this strategy to combatting white supremacy and other harmful, extremist and violent ideologies. Obviously, the goal would not be to show them how following us will help them...
|
|
|
Sofo Archon ·
Forgiveness – not revenge – is the answer. Here’s why.
|
|
|
Tai Amri Spann-Ryan ·
What is this world we’ve created for our youth? 7,000 dead to gun violence since 2012?! What is that? The weight that we are leaving for our youth is unbearable to bear witness to, but if we don’t… what kind of world will we have created?
|
|
|
Kazu Haga ·
What’s next? That is the big question facing this country after the election of Trump. And many people have been sharing their thoughts on that over social and traditional media, over dinner conversations, at the office and on the bus...
|
|
|
31 min ·
If everyone watched this it could transform the world.
|
|
|
56 min ·
Robert Sapolsky is an American neuroendocrinologist and author. He is currently a professor of biology, and professor of neurology and neurological sciences and, by courtesy, neurosurgery, at Stanford University. Recorded: May 2017
|
|
|
Miki Kashtan ·
"So what can I do, as an individual?"
|
|
|
Miki Kashtan ·
In response to my recent newsletter, which I named “Tenderness, Vulnerability, and Mourning as a Response to Patriarchy”, I received two comments from men that led me to choose to write this piece. In two very different ways they...
|
|
|
Eric Bowers ·
Two of the most supportive things parents can do for their children are healing their own attachment trauma (thereby further developing their own neural pathways for emotional regulation and secure attachment) and reclaiming disowned parts.
|
|
|
Ricky Sherover-Marcuse ·
Since, under present world conditions, everyone either is now, or has been, or will be at some time a target of social oppression, and since everyone is now, or has been, or will be in a non-target group in relation to some other...
|
|
|
Vu Le ·
Hi everyone. This might be another one of those serious posts, so please take a few deep breaths and eat some dark chocolate. While perusing an online group, I witnessed a conversation between several colleagues, and it was...
|
|
|
Charles Eisenstein ·
Over the past decade I’ve watched with alarm the widening polarization of the body politic across Western societies (and to some extent globally). As commonly recognized, the public is split into irreconcilable political factions who...
|
|
|
16 min ·
How do you deal with a bully without becoming a thug in return? In this wise and soulful talk, peace activist Scilla Elworthy maps out the skills we need -- as nations and individuals -- to fight extreme force without using force in...
|
|
|
Prof. Michael Nagler ·
Joanna Macy talks about three tasks needed to bring in a world of spiritual progress: create new institutions, change the culture, and stop the worst of the damage. At Metta we feel that the worst of the damage has been to the human...
|
|
|
Hardy Merriman ·
Three attributes can make the difference between success and failure for nonviolent movements around the world: unity, planning, and nonviolent discipline.
|
|
|
Films For Action ·
This playbook is inspired by the insights of George Lakey and the transformative movements of Norway and Sweden in the early 20th century. These nations, once marked by extreme poverty and inequality, achieved remarkable economic...
|
|
|
Starhawk ·
If we want to build a broad-based movement, a regenerative movement that can heal and renew the world, a movement that attracts people as they really are, not just as we think they should be, a set of guiding principles can be helpful...
|
|
|
Starhawk ·
It is my deepest desire to see the emergence of the movement we need right now—one that is open, welcoming, broad-based, strategic, and oriented to our core human needs, one that can gain the power to make this world more balanced...
|
|
|
Films For Action ·
Regenerative living is a revolutionary philosophy rooted in reciprocity, creativity, and care.
|
|
|
44 min ·
In the face of widespread ecological destruction, social injustice, economic deprivation, there are powerful countercurrents. 'Ordinary' people in several parts of India are resisting the disruption of their lives by constructing...
|
|
|
3 min ·
Best known for his 8,000-mile walk for peace, former monk, activist, author and educator Satish Kumar has been inspiring global change for nearly 70 years. Between his home in the south of England and an experience returning to India...
|
|
|
Local Futures ·
Join the localization movement to build resilient local economies and flourishing communities. Local Futures produced a detailed Localization Action Guide to encourage everyone to 'GO LOCAL' - anytime, anyplace. It offers tangible and...
|
|
|
Films For Action ·
Make Earth Great Again (MEGA) exists to support and amplify the movements that are actively working towards a just, regenerative, free and egalitarian world. MEGA seeks to reclaim the Earth from corporate globalization and create a...
|
|
|
Films For Action ·
"The Democratic Socialists of America condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and demands immediate diplomacy and de-escalation to resolve this crisis. We stand in solidarity with the working classes of Ukraine and Russia who will...
|
|
|
25 min ·
Black feminist and reproductive justice organizer Loretta J. Ross has spent decades dealing with people she fundamentally disagrees with, starting with an encounter she had as a young sexual assault survivor. She was working as a rape...
|
|
|
Tim Hjersted ·
The real extremists are the corporate and political elites who wear $5,000 suits and calmly explain why war, profit and greed are good on the evening news.
|
|
|
13 min ·
Jonathan Smucker explains How to Not Be an Activist. Keynote talk from Personal Democracy Forum 2017
|
|
|
6 min ·
Across diverse landscapes of conflict and peace, a common thread unites them: the unwavering resolve to confront injustice. From the depths of their courage, they challenge the very essence of what it means to defy forces that seek to...
|
|
|
35 min ·
This is the full interview of Dr Roxy Manning on the subject of Nonviolent Communication.
|
|
|
45 min ·
A conversation with Michal Halev, whose only son was murdered by Hamas on October 7. She tells the story of how she came to call for an end to vengeance.
|
|
|
3 min ·
Here is a message of peace from my friend Michal Halev, the mother of Laor Avramov who was murdered on October 7th, 2023. I share this with you and stand behind her:
|
|
|
11 min ·
Marshall Rosenberg, PhD effectively mediated conflicts throughout the world for more than 40 years. His method, Nonviolent Communication, has brought together warring factions as diverse as Irish Catholics and Protestants, Rwandan Hutus...
|
Book Recommendations:
A Compassionate Civilization: The Urgency of Sustainable Development and Mindful Activism - Reflections and Recommendations
Choosing Peace: New Ways to Communicate to Reduce Stress, Create Connection, and Resolve Conflict
Tim Hjersted is the director of Films For Action.