Compassionate activism is the short-hand I've started to use to refer to 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.
Compassion-based activists contend that this activist 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
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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...
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Kazu Haga ·
“Bernard? Oh yeah, he’s great. He was always the principles guy.”
That was what an old Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC, organizer told me when I mentioned...
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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.
The philosophical aim is beautiful in...
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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...
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275 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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Frances Lee ·
We are alienating each other with unrestrained callouts and unchecked self-righteousness. Here’s how that can stop.
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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.
To ignore...
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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.
In the early 1960s his practice of what he termed...
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5 min ·
This is a short excerpt from Peacemaking.
I often think about this story when I think about the kind of activism I would like to bring into this world. I want to help build a...
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Kai Cheng Thom ·
In my first year of college, I stopped calling myself an activist.
It took attending just a few meetings of the campus queer group for me to realize that I didn’t fit in with...
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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...
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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...
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Tim Hjersted ·
No person or group of people is ever one thing. Inside each of us are a thousand diverse aspects - evolving dimensions.
So when we judge a person, cut off our hearts from them...
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Martin Luther King, Jr. ·
Martin Luther King, Jr. on the Importance of Losing Enmity
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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...
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Tim Hjersted ·
Today is 9/11. If you asked me what my intention is for today it would be this: "to see the world with eyes unclouded by hate."
This has been my goal for several years and...
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3 min ·
This is the incredible story of Daryl Davis.
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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...
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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...
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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
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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...
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Tai Amri Spann-Wilson ·
On #BlackLivesMatter, moral injury and activism
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Charles Eisenstein ·
This is how a war begins
“Their stupidity is amusing.”
“Stopping Trump is essential. Anyone who says otherwise is either foolish or blinded by privilege.”
“People should get...
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102 min ·
A New Story For Humanity presents a beautifully and sensitively woven tapestry of the rich diversity that is the human family. Featuring interviews on the essential topics of...
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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...
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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.
After Rosa Parks refused...
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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...
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Djuan Wash ·
One cannot claim to be intersectional while at the same time being elitist and exclusionary. Everyone isn't hip to what heteronormativity, heterosexism, cisgendered, cissexism...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Thich Nhat Hanh ·
An excerpt from his book "No Death, No Fear."
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Tim Hjersted ·
I often think about this quote from Malcolm X. It's a point that really can't be made too often.
Having become socially conscious to a certain degree, it can be easy to fall...
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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.
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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...
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Mickey Z. ·
“The first step in the revolution is eye contact.” - Alicen Grey
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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.
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Saddhamala ·
“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over.” - Thich Nhat Hanh
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Thich Nhat Hanh ·
Thich Nhat Hanh teaches us how to relax the bonds of anger, attachment and delusion through mindfulness and kindness toward ourselves.
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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...
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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...
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8 min ·
What can we do that honors and respects every human being on the planet? What vision of the future can we imagine that is so beautiful and enticing that every person with their...
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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...
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85 min ·
Join acclaimed director Velcrow Ripper on a journey deep inside the global revolution of the heart that is erupting around the planet. Humanity is waking up to the fact that...
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Tai Amri Spann-Wilson ·
Dear Youth,
On this day after the election, many are asking themselves how this could have happened. Regardless of who anyone close to you voted for, and regardless of how you...
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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.
For the entire speech, check...
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Charles Eisenstein ·
Looking out upon the horrid ruin we seem to have made of the planet, in spite of the kind hearts and good intentions of the vast majority of human beings, it is hard to avoid...
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Tim Hjersted ·
Is mass media used to manipulate the public? Yes, undoubtedly so. Examples to illustrate this are so numerous and backed up by intellectuals like
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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...
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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...
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Martin Winiecki ·
A Message of Solidarity from Tamera Peace Research Center to Standing Rock
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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.
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Rabbi Michael Lerner and Vandana Shiva ·
And we're going to create that world together.
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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...
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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...
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Audre Lorde ·
"Hopefully, we can learn from the 60s that we cannot afford to do our enemies' work by destroying each other."
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Tim Hjersted ·
"We need to have a new cultural protocol for disturbed, outcast, hateful and wounded people... We need a culture that is taught how to bring hateful, wounded and victimized...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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.
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Maria Popova ·
“Just how charitable are you supposed to be when criticizing the views of an opponent?”
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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...
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Joanna Macy ·
When you know where to look, you begin to see an unprecedented phenomenon now happening in this world of ours. Be they teachers in favelas, forest defenders, urban farmers...
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Mark Fisher ·
This summer, I seriously considered withdrawing from any involvement in politics. Exhausted through overwork, incapable of productive activity, I found myself drifting through...
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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.
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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.
I've come to consider often a...
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Tim Hjersted ·
"Influence is NOT about convincing people to want different things than they already want. It's about showing them that the way to get what they already want, is by following...
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Sofo Archon ·
Forgiveness – not revenge – is the answer. Here’s why.
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Tai Amri Spann-Wilson ·
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...
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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...
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31 min ·
If everyone watched this it could radically transform the world.
This is a segment from Moving Forward (2011). Watch the full documentary online here.
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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...
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Tim Hjersted is the director of Films For Action.