We Are Power: How Nonviolent Activism Changes the World

by Todd Hasak-Lowy

Overview

A stirring look at nonviolent activism, from American suffragists to Civil Rights to the Climate Change Movement

We Are Power brings to light the incredible individuals who have used nonviolent activism to change the world. The book explores questions such as what is nonviolent resistance and how does it work? In an age when armies are stronger than ever before, when guns seem to be everywhere, how can people confront their adversaries without resorting to violence themselves? Through key international movements as well as people such as Gandhi, Alice Paul, Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez, and Václav Havel, this book discusses the components of nonviolent resistance. It answers the question “Why nonviolence?” by showing how nonviolent movements have succeeded again and again in a variety of ways, in all sorts of places, and always in the face of overwhelming odds. The book includes endnotes, a bibliography, and an index.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419741111
Publisher:	ABRAMS
Publication date:	04/07/2020
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Todd Hasak-Lowy is the author of several books for young readers. He is a professor of creative writing and literature at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Hasak-Lowy lives in Evanston, Illinois, with his wife and two daughters. Visit toddhasaklowy.com.

Table of Contents

Introduction Rethinking History: Who Makes It? And How? vi

1 Nonviolence is How to Resist When You Refuse to Submit or Take Up Arms: Gandhi and Indian Independence 1

2 Nonviolence is How to Fight When Everyone Thinks You're Weak: Alice Paul and Votes for Women 37

3 Nonviolence Is How to Fight When Your Opponent Really Hates You: Martin Luther Kind Jr. And Projects 89

4 Nonviolence is How to Grow Your Side (So You Can Win the Fight): Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement 143

5 Nonviolence Is How to Create a True Democracy out of Its Exact Opposite: Václav Havel and the Velvet Revolution 193

Conclusion: Nonviolence Is How to Fight Today for a Livable Tomorrow: Greta Thunberg and the Climate Change Movement 241

Other Notable Nonviolent Movements of the Last One Hundred Years 262

Notes 268

Bibliography 287

Image Credits 294

Acknowledgments 295

Index 296

Editorial Reviews

01/06/2020

In his introduction to this cogent appeal to young fighters of injustice, Hasak-Lowy (Roses and Radicals) carefully distinguishes institutional activism from nonviolent activism: the more “disruptive, risky tactics that challenge those in power and interrupt the way things normally work—without taking up arms.” Succeeding chapters, illustrated with black-and-white photos, cover Gandhi’s advocation of nonviolent resistance during India’s quest for independence, Alice Paul’s campaign for women’s right to vote, Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight for civil rights, Cesar Chavez’s work organizing farmworkers, and Vaclav Havel’s leadership of the 1989 Czech “Velvet Revolution.” In each case, despite different hostile conditions, activists’ insistence on nonviolent but forceful actions successfully mobilized large groups of courageous people to fight for what they believed was right. Hasak-Lowy argues that oppressed individuals can create powerful change and that individual responses enable change. A striking and very timely conclusion highlights teenage Greta Thunberg’s bold challenge to fight global climate change. Substantial back matter covers other notable movements of the past century and includes notes and a bibliography. Ages 10–14. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"Nonviolence may have been the greatest invention of the twentieth century, more important than nuclear fission or genetic coding. It offers us the chance to build a working twenty-first century, and since young people will have to lead that fight, this book is a crucial gift!" —Bill McKibben, climate activist and author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?

"I'm so glad this book exists! From the opening pages where we meet Gandhi, to the closing with Greta Thunburg, and in between with Alice Paul, Martin Luther King, Vaclav Havel, Ceasar Chavez, and others, it is beautifully written, informative, and so moving. Readers young and older will be inspired to rise up peacefully, to act, to change the world—to save the world."—Deborah Heiligman, author of Torpedoed: The True Story of the World War II Sinking of 'The Children'

"It’s a book that grants that kids have brains, that they can understand complexity, and that in a world where everything seems very gloom and doom, it is possible to make things better. And to be frank, that’s the kind of message we’re all in dire need of right this very second."—A Fuse #8 Production

**STARRED REVIEW**
"Hasak-Lowy's writing gives life to both the people and issues involved, taking time to explain historical backgrounds and the ways the lessons from one movement affected future ones."—Booklist

**STARRED REVIEW**
"Highly recommended for its outstanding treatment of the history of social justice. A good resource for student activists."—School Library Journal

**STARRED REVIEW**
"There has never been a time when a book is more relevant than this one."—School Library Connection

“A striking and very timely conclusion highlights teenage Greta Thunberg’s bold challenge to fight global climate change.”—Publishers Weekly

"This excellent, timely overview will open eyes and deserves a wide readership."—Kirkus

". . .Readers will gain new appreciation for how nonviolent methods, often inspired by other movements for justice, led to victories."—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

From the Publisher

**STARRED REVIEW**
"Hasak-Lowy's writing gives life to both the people and issues involved, taking time to explain historical backgrounds and the ways the lessons from one movement affected future ones."

Booklist

"Nonviolence may have been the greatest invention of the twentieth century, more important than nuclear fission or genetic coding. It offers us the chance to build a working twenty-first century, and since young people will have to lead that fight, this book is a crucial gift!"

climate activist and author of Falter: Has the Bill McKibben

"I'm so glad this book exists! From the opening pages where we meet Gandhi, to the closing with Greta Thunburg, and in between with Alice Paul, Martin Luther King, Vaclav Havel, Ceasar Chavez, and others, it is beautifully written, informative, and so moving. Readers young and older will be inspired to rise up peacefully, to act, to change the world—to save the world."

author of Torpedoed: The True Story of the Wor Deborah Heiligman

**STARRED REVIEW**
"There has never been a time when a book is more relevant than this one."

School Library Connection

"It’s a book that grants that kids have brains, that they can understand complexity, and that in a world where everything seems very gloom and doom, it is possible to make things better. And to be frank, that’s the kind of message we’re all in dire need of right this very second."

A Fuse #8 Production

". . .Readers will gain new appreciation for how nonviolent methods, often inspired by other movements for justice, led to victories."

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

**STARRED REVIEW**
"Hasak-Lowy's writing gives life to both the people and issues involved, taking time to explain historical backgrounds and the ways the lessons from one movement affected future ones."

Booklist

★ 02/01/2020

Gr 6 Up—Hasak-Lowy profiles six past and present leaders of nonviolent resistance from Gandhi to Greta Thunberg. Gandhi's methods of protest (disobeying the law, being arrested, marching with groups of followers along historical routes) proved to be so effective that other leaders modeled their tactics on his techniques. The book focuses on activists of the 20th century: Alice Paul went on a hunger strike in prison to advocate for women's suffrage, Martin Luther King Jr. and thousands of children went to jail in Birmingham to protest segregation, and Cesar Chavez led a grape boycott that resulted in the United Farm Workers gaining decent pay and working conditions. Photographs provide context. Gandhi is shown dressed in a three-piece suit with trimmed hair when he was a practicing lawyer from 1893 until 1913. Later he's shown barefoot and wearing homemade clothes suitable for the Salt March in 1930. The author describes the suffering inherent in the work of these brave men and women and captures the joy of victory. Readers will learn about others equally important and worthy of mention: Bayard Rustin, James Bevel, and Dolores Huerta. The source notes and bibliography are excellent. VERDICT Highly recommended for its outstanding treatment of the history of social justice. A good resource for student activists.—Patricia Aakre, P.S. 89, New York

School Library Journal

2020-01-21
Hasak-Lowy introduces a polemic: Over the last war-ridden century, nonviolent activism has proven to be a powerful way to effect social change.

He chronologically presents five significant movements, focusing on leaders who fostered the resources of aggrieved people—their bodies, courage, and persistence—to oppose injustice nonviolently. Mohandas K. Gandhi, initially among Indian workers in South Africa, then in India, adopted techniques of nonviolent resistance to gain independence from British colonial rule. The American suffragist Alice Paul, drawing on her Quaker upbringing, led the “Silent Sentinels”: banner-wielding women who demonstrated at the White House. These activists endured beatings, arrests, incarceration, forced feedings during hunger strikes, and more in their determined quest for their full rights as citizens. The chapter on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. credits his many mentors and collaborators, presenting their arduous work in planning and executing civil action in Birmingham. In early May 1963, thousands of demonstrating Birmingham youth endured water cannons, police dogs, and widespread arrests, stunning the nation. Chapters on Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers movement and Vaclav Havel and Czechoslovakia’s astounding Velvet Revolution round out the volume. The author deftly connects these movements: Far from avoiding conflict, each leader actively engaged in it, helping people reassume the power previously ceded to their oppressors. A concluding section cogently illuminates Greta Thunberg’s urgent work on the climate crisis.

This excellent, timely overview will open eyes and deserves a wide readership. (other notable movements, source notes, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews