By Jill Wainscott
Building Unity for Nonviolent Action
“Today it is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence; it is either nonviolence or nonexistence.” The Reverand Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In a time when governmental violence is on the rise, Building Unity for Nonviolent Action (BU4NVA) is working to change that — one connection at a time. This coalition now has over 25 members organizations, congregations, neighborhoods and individuals across our region. Its mission is simple but powerful: to bring people together to get united, organized, trained and ready to engage in nonviolent action for peace, justice, sustainability and democracy. We do this by creating community educational events, hosting nonviolent training sessions, and organizing a United Nonviolent Action Network of small Nonviolent Action Teams.
Five ways to get involved
1. Sign the Solidarity Statement. The BU4NVA Solidarity Statement is a public, collective call for an end to violent and authoritarian rule. You can ask leaders, neighbors, friends and family to add their names. Sign at: tinyurl.com/BU4NVA-Solidarity-Sign-on.
2. Join a Nonviolent Action Team (NAT). Working through existing organizations, neighborhoods, congregations, workplaces and schools, BU4NVA is forming small Nonviolent Action Teams. Members receive weekly text messages with suggested actions. When rapid mobilization is needed, Emergency Action Alerts are sent to all teams. Learn more at: tinyurl.com/BU4NVA-NAT-Info.
3. Get trained for nonviolent action. United, disciplined and sustained nonviolent campaigns are among the most effective tools for creating change. BU4NVA offers training workshops to prepare people for nonviolent action as well as other prescient topics. Details at: tinyurl.com/NV-Training-Info.
4. Promote and take part in the “Spring Into Solidarity” community-wide campaign. The goal is to use spring events to build solidarity, awareness and increasing momentum for a simple set of unifying goals and actions that most of us (including our elected leaders) can take. As this article goes to press, we are just beginning to craft our unifying timeline, goals and actions. You can learn more about them by going here: tinyurl.com/Spring-Solidarity-Info.
5. Join our meetings. BU4NVA holds two types of meetings where anyone can get involved in learning, connecting, planning, and helping to create our community of nonviolent actors.
• Whole Coalition Meeting: first and third Tuesdays of each month at 5:30 pm (for representatives of groups that are members or who might want to be members);
• Nonviolent Action Team In-Formation Meetings: first and third Mondays at 7:30 pm (for anyone interested in learning more about our coalition and how you can get more involved).
If those times do not work for you, or if you need a meeting link, call BU4NVA directly at 608-630-3633.
For more information about how you can help build unity for nonviolent action in our community, call us at 608-630-3633 or visit us on the web at buildingunitywis
consin.org, on Facebook at facebook.com/buildingunitywi, or on Instagram at insta
gram.com/buildingunitywisconsin.
