Inspiring Nonviolence zine

A zine about dreaming of a more
peaceful and just world

Welcome to our Inspiring Nonviolence zine
Turning the Tide (TTT) originated in the UK in 1994 as a
programme centrally managed by Britain Yearly Meeting. Its
aim, inspired by the Quaker peace testimony, is to support
nonviolent social change at the grassroots. They teamed up
with Woodbrooke, who provide online Quaker learning
including courses about peace and justice.
From February to April 2020, a group of human beings as
community activists, thinkers, speakers, listeners, artists’,
campaigners and researchers from around the World were
invited to join this second run of the Inspiring Nonviolence
course, allowing us all to explore hopes, ideas and collective
power to undertake imaginative, nonviolent action for
positive social change. There was an emphasis on reflective
learning and participation in themed weeks and
encouragement of conversation building and seed sowing on
online forums, to make it a truly person centred, yet
community orientated experience.
The aims of the Inspiring Nonviolence course are to inspire
ideas about creating positive change through nonviolent
campaigns, actions and movements. The course considered
approaches to think through the complexity of conflict and
offered a platform to explore how to harbour nonviolent
means to create sustainable change in our communities.
There has been much room to reflect on personal
transformation, as well as to review the broader picture,
locally and globally.
Themes explored on the course were: definitions of
nonviolence and civil resistance; the principles and qualities
of nonviolence; inspiring stories of imaginative nonviolent
campaigns from across the world; a glimpse at some of the
research into nonviolence; what sort of hope we might need
to sustain ourselves and some of the ingredients needed to
build strategic and effective campaigns.

This zine gives an insight of some inspiring moments from the
course, which we hope will also inspire others who are
interested in learning about non-violence and peacebuilding,
too. There has been a vast amount of material shared and
we would like to thank all of the organisers, speakers and
participants for their spirit of generosity and sharing of life
experiences, which has been incredibly insightful for us, as
learners and artists, processing the knowledge we have
gained with creativity.
Through the period of this course, the World has been forced
to close its doors due to the Covid19 pandemic. It has
brought the global family and Mother Earth to pause ‘until
further notice’. This is a critical time and anxiety is
streaming high. At the same time many more are connected
in ways that we were not/could not before. Systemic power
and failings of the state are becoming more apparent. Still,
we are told to wait and #StayAtHome to #SaveLives. The
vital work around peacebuilding and non-violence continues.
David Gee and George Lakey offer some hopeful reflections
to see the opportunities of the virus as it offers space to
take stock and go on an inner-journey with this rare gift of
time we sit in, as nature continues to do its thing.
For more information about Turning The Tide, please visit
https://turningtide.org.uk. For more information about
Woodbrooke, visit http://woodbrooke.org.uk
With love, active hope and some gentleness at this time.
Jean McEwan and Uzma Kazi (Artists and participants of
Inspiring Nonviolence 2020)

Seeking transformation, not retribution in East Africa
‘One of the first things I noticed about the work of our
East African colleagues was the lack of an obvious
distinction between the activities of peacebuilding and
nonviolent action. These are commonly seen as two
separate disciplines – an academic distinction that is not
reflected in reality, at least in my experience. In East
Africa this division was virtually non-existent, and I heard
about example after example where they have been
integrated with incredible results.
I also noticed a real sophistication in our colleagues'
understanding of the complexities of violence. This was
in evidence when we met young people who had formed
peace clubs in schools and communities. They have
been inspired by TTT Rwanda to create courageous
youth-led campaigns that challenge violence towards
young people in schools and communities using diverse
methods that range from theatre performances to public
speaking.
I left Rwanda with a replenished hope for humanity and a
reinvigorated belief in the power of nonviolence. The
activists I met are actively demonstrating that these kinds
of approaches can make a difference, even in really
tricky contexts. They are seeking transformation, not
retribution, and staying committed to the belief that the
'opponent' is capable of change.’
Turning The Tide UK programme manager Lisa Cumming
on visiting members of TTT East Africa in Rwanda,
excerpted from the following blog post on Quakers in
Britain website, posted on March 2019
https://www.quaker.org.uk/blog/seeking-transformationnot-retribution-in-east-africa

Abdul Ghaffār
Khān( 1890 - 1988)
was also known as
Badshah Khan and the
Frontier Gandhi.
A political and spiritual
leader known for his
nonviolent opposition,
a lifelong pacifist and
devout Muslim.
Abdul Ghaffār Khān
founded the Khudai
Khidmatgar ("Servants
of God") movement in
1929, the world’s first
nonviolent army of
100,000 Pathans.
“Today’s world is traveling in some strange direction.
You see that the world is going toward destruction
and violence. And the specialty of violence is to
create hatred among people and fear. I am a believer
in nonviolence and I say that no peace or tranquility
will descend upon the people of the world until
nonviolence is practiced, because nonviolence is
love and it stirs courage in people.”
To find out more, visit :
Abdul Ghaffār Khān: Faith love and nonviolence in
Islamhttp://www.nidemocracy.org/en/publications/abdulghaffar-khan-faith-love-and-nonviolence-in-islam/

Excerpted from blogpost “Finding
The Courage to Hope” - read the full
blog here https://www.quaker.org.uk/
blog/finding-the-courage-to-hope

Words by June Jordan: from ‘Poem for South
African Women’ (shared by Susan Clarkson)