Toolbox:

An interconnected web of the key strategies and tactics that have inspired people-powered victories & upended the status quo. Start anywhere and explore…

Story

Angola 15+2

Angola 15+2

The story of how 17 young activists risked their lives in hunger strikes and flash mobs to force out Angola’s brutal dictator and bring an end to over 30 years of oppression.

Methodology

Baraza

Baraza

A large community gathering to discuss important matters, share information, & hold leaders to account.

Story

Bring Back Our Girls

Bring Back Our Girls

In April 2014, 276 girls were abducted from their school by the Boko Haram terrorist group, sparking a massive global campaign demanding their return.

Tactic

Citizen’s arrest

Citizen’s arrest

What can people do when criminals or corrupt officials are beyond the reach of the law? Arrest them!

Tactic

Cultural disobedience

Cultural disobedience

Civil disobedience is the deliberate violation of unjust laws. In a similar spirit, cultural disobedience bravely subverts unjust cultural norms.

Principle

Escalate strategically

Escalate strategically

Since a target rarely gives in after one action, it is often necessary to strategically increase the pressure on them in a step-by-step escalation that draws upon a diverse mix of tactics.

Principle

Expose inequality with a viral gesture

Expose inequality with a viral gesture

A simple, defiant gesture (say, thousands of stone-broke people turning their pockets inside-out as they go about their day) can bring economic inequality to the surface and make oppressive institutions panic.

Story

Fees Must Fall

Fees Must Fall

The 2015 tuition hikes sparked a national student movement in South Africa that demanded comprehensive reform and questioned the political, social, and economic status quo of the “rainbow nation.”

Story

#​Gambia​Has​Decided

#​Gambia​Has​Decided

After almost a decade of building momentum, Gambians seized a crucial window of opportunity in 2016 to overthrow a notorious dictator.

Theory

Gerontocracy

Gerontocracy

Gerontocracy is the rule of the old over the young — a form of oppression primarily exercised across a society or culture, but sometimes also specifically within governments or other institutional structures.

Story

Ghana ThinkTank

Ghana ThinkTank

A global art project that flips the script on the international aid model by enlisting regular folks in Ghana and elsewhere throughout the Global South to help “develop the First World.”

Principle

Give voice to those that can’t speak

Give voice to those that can’t speak

Trees can’t speak, right? Wrong! There are many creative ways to give voice to those that can’t speak — be it trees, animals, or archeological artifacts — so humans can hear their plight loud and clear.

Tactic

Hunger strike

Hunger strike

The deliberate and public refusal of food, and sometimes water, as a moral protest against injustice or abuse of power. A single individual can hold a hunger strike, or hundreds together in solidarity.

Story

Kisangani Demands Electric Power

Kisangani Demands Electric Power

Despite state violence, the people of Kisangani forced the Congolese authorities to honor their constitutional right to reliable electric power.

Tactic

Lamentation

Lamentation

Public mourning as protest.

Story

Manich Msamah

Manich Msamah

After the revolution, Tunisian youth combined their wit and passion to demand “no reconciliation without accountability!” and prevent the corrupt business elite from escaping justice.

Theory

New Pan-Afrikanism

New Pan-Afrikanism

A continuation of the historic Pan-African struggle for freedom, justice, and dignity across the continent, renewed to tackle the particular challenges Africa faces today.

Theory

Palace coup

Palace coup

When civilian resistance threatens to depose a dictator, that dictator may try to short-circuit the people by handing over power to one of his own. This is known as a palace coup, or “faux-verthrow.”

Principle

Solidarity, not aid

Solidarity, not aid

Grassroots leaders around the world must support each other to set local and global guidelines for NGO intervention in order to guarantee sustainable community empowerment and leadership.

Story

Street Graduation

Street Graduation

Graduates across Zimbabwe creatively turned their unemployment into a daily protest routine, instilling a clear link in public consciousness between unemployment, the financial crisis, and corruption.

Story

#​This​Flag

#​This​Flag

One individual’s outcry for a better future inspired the citizens of Zimbabwe to find their courage and overthrow a ruthless dictator.

Principle

The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself

The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself

What’s better than waging a campaign and winning? Not waging a campaign and still winning! You can do that by making a (credible) threat your opponent gives into without a fight (or even calling your bluff).

Principle

Use organizing strategies that scale

Use organizing strategies that scale

Once your movement has a clear story, structure and strategy, you can scale up quickly by finding ways for people to start organizing using the resources already available to them in their daily lives.