100 Days of Political Non-Violence
for such a time as this…
I’m sure you’ve seen many emails and news stories focused on the next 100 days before the U.S. Presidential elections on November 5th, 2024.
In this post, we won’t focus on how these times or this particular election is unprecedented because our country and our world have been in similar situations before. The details are different, and the particular players have changed, but the questions before us remain the same.
- What kind of world are we living in?
- What kind of world do we want to live in?
- What is our responsibility as individuals and communities to bring that world into reality?
We can also ask what resources, relationships, and creativity we need for a time like this. And perhaps each of us are here right now because, “we were born for such a time as this.” Esther 4:14.
This is why we have started collecting an inspiration list for 100 days of political nonviolence. Unlike political violence, political nonviolence seeks to bring about long-term change through nonviolent means like the ones listed below. Research also shows that nonviolent movements will often leave a more democratic society in their wake.
Yes, yes, we know it’s actually 95 days until November 5th, but we believe this work is about more than just one election. It’s about how we show up before and after election day and many days beyond. Our work at the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign directly correlates to policies and elected leadership just as much as it’s about the relationships we cultivate, the stories we share about and with each other, and our deeply held values and ideals. For Reverend Lawson and many other non-violent activists, it’s a life’s work, but we thought you might be overwhelmed if we said the next 21,360 days (60 years x 365 days). LOL
Here are some (among many!) ways to build your practice of political non-violence:
Self-Work
- Reconnect with your own deeply held values and ideals. Find and recommit to your own spiritual practices.
- Know and live into the roles you hold in your communities and families. DO it for yourself and do it in community. Explore tools like Valarie Kaur’s Revolutionary Love, Deepa Iyer’s Social Change Map, or Common Ground USA’s Peacemaker’s Toolkit.
Democracy Work
- Prepare for elections and dive into Interfaith America’s Faith In Elections Playbook and check out our post: Questions to Ask as we Approach the Upcoming Election.
- Consider becoming a Poll Worker or a Poll Chaplain. Learn what it means to build a Faithful Democracy and see a faith-rooted example in Jewish Partnership for Democracy.
Community Work
- Tend current relationships and build new ones. Dive deep into the ListenFirst Project or StoryCorps’ One Small Step, or host a Potluck for Democracy or a Love Anyways Feast.
- Have fun together! Try competing for good with blood drives, food drives, school supplies drives, etc.
Communications Work
- Crisis plan now & communicate effectively. Check out the Bedrock Election Violence Resource Hub and OverZero’s Communicating During Contentious Times: Dos and Don’ts to Rise Above the Noise. Explore how civic language unites, divides, and motivates American voters in this Civic Language Perceptions Project 2024.
- Prevent hate and discrimination in the digital world. Check out the Digital Peacebuilders Guide from ConnexUs, Search for Common Ground, and Build Up. Read How to: Use Social Media for Good from Sojourners
During the next few months, we will highlight these and other relevant tools and actions. If you engage in any of them and/or if you have something you’d like to add to the list, please let us know. We’d love to hear from you.
Our Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign and coalition hope that we choose to live into the ordinary, and the extra-ordinary, ways and practices of building the communities we long to see — communities where everyone is treated with dignity, respect, and joy.
My personal hope, inspired by Rev. Lawson, is that these will inspire and revive your own practice of creating a life and community in the image of God.
In power and prayer,
Cassandra
