Tag Archives: Nonviolent Communication

Embracing Nonviolence

Embracing Nonviolence

When I discovered Nonviolent Communication (NVC) in 1993, I had no concept of the rich world that would open up to me over time. My intellectual and moral lenses were transformed beyond recognition through this encounter with NVC. When I thought of what to write my Ph.D. dissertation about, NVC …

Gandhi and the Dalit controversy: The limits of the moral force of an individual

Gandhi and the Dalit controversy: The limits of the moral force of an individual

by Miki Kashtan

When I first heard that Gandhi was viewed as “the enemy” by many Dalits in India (formerly called “untouchables”), I was dumbfounded. How and why could Gandhi be seen as having betrayed the Dalits when he opposed untouchability even in the face of active discomfort on the …

Does Nonviolence Work? Notes from OccupyOakland October 24th

Does Nonviolence Work? Notes from OccupyOakland October 24th

On my third visit to OccupyOakland, I co-led two workshops hosted by Nichola Torbett, founder of Seminary of the Street. In both of them I collaborated with Nichola and with Kazu Haga, an Oakland-based Kingian Nonviolence trainer. The conversations that emerged in these workshops, along with a recent post by …

In Search of Dialogue: Notes from OccupyOakland, October 22nd

In Search of Dialogue: Notes from OccupyOakland, October 22nd

After my first visit to OccupyOakland I felt inspired. I was connected to the vision, to a sense of possibility. I was fully open to the unfolding, to seeing what would come. I’ve been very encouraged by the response I’ve been getting to my post about that visit.

Before I …

An Alternative to Demands: Notes from OccupyOakland, October 18th

An Alternative to Demands: Notes from OccupyOakland, October 18th

The Occupy Oakland I visited on October 15th was not a protest. You could say that I knew it, because I have read about it before I was there. I still couldn’t understand it fully until I saw what it meant. I suspect the same is true elsewhere, though I …

Truth, Care, and Words

The Hebrew Bible tells us that “death and life come through the power of the tongue.” My father, who was a (mostly) lay linguist, raised all three of his daughters to be in awe of the power of words to create effects. It’s no wonder that I have dedicated my …