What Happened When Activists Took Over Vacant Homes in Los Angeles

With a major political party taking over the presidency, most governorships, Congress, and state legislatures, the minority party can feel powerless. However, there are effective ways to organize protests including using humor, acting locally, and intense planning strategies.

As protests begin to develop nationwide in opposition to a Trump presidency, Tina Rosenberg provides key reminders on good protesting. By highlighting lessons such as diversifying tactics, generating an inclusive brand, and having a concrete plan, the author provides an informative guide of effective organizing strategies.

Protesters opposing a proposed income tax hike in Jordan stayed away from polarizing language and avoided proposing structural changes to the political system, a shift away from rhetoric used during the Arab Spring. “This is a Jordanian movement for the core causes that affect all Jordanians: taxes, unemployment, and corruption,” said Mohammed Hussein, a 26-year-old protester. “We do not want a group to hijack this movement for their own agendas.”

The Fuentes Rojas call attention to Mexico's staggering murder rate and commemorate the lives of victims by staging interventions in public space. By hanging handkerchiefs embroidered with details of a victim's life, the group creates a visceral, empathetic memorial for those that have been lost.

Disability activists have used nonviolent direct action for decades, including lying in the street to protest inaccessible public transit and crawling up the steps of the U.S. Capital to support the Americans with Disabilities Act. “We have never gone out a door that we do not have a solution for,” says ADAPT member Dawn Russell. “That’s ADAPT 101.”

After a raid in a Tennessee plant resulted in 97 immigrants being detained, and 130 American-born children affected, a town came together to help their immigrant neighbors. A church was converted into a crisis response center, professors organized a speaking event at the college, 1,000 attended a prayer vigil, and 300 marched in a protest downtown. “We love Morristown. We are here to send a message of love and unity.”

In the face of climate change as a result of increased CO2 emissions, millions of concerned citizens have grown frustrated at the lack of change from more traditional forms of civil engagement such as petitions, protests, and campaigns against the behemoths of the oil industry. But some have found hope in a growing movement that pushes governments and large corporations to leverage a more effective tool: divestment - or withdrawing financial support from the fossil fuel industry.

Criticism and protests led by community activists in NY led to wide scale changes in NYPD’s policing, it resulted in a large decrease at the unequal way the NYPD racially profiled black and latino men. Many of this activism was led by the mothers of young black men killed at the hands of NYPD. In Baltimore, mothers are also coalescing around the same issue, but they’re taking a different approach.

Photos and videos show various actions religious leaders and institutions in Baltimore are taking to help rebuild their community and foster positive interaction in the midst of racial tension, looting, and rioting.

The Protest Banner Library is a space for people to make, house, and 'check out' signs for progressive protest. Formed in the wake of Donald Trump's election victory, the Library has built community as well as a way to be useful for those that can and those that cannot attend street protests. Chicago artist Aram Han Sifuentes began sewing protest signs in the wake of Donald Trump's election—then she turned her collection into a community lending library so that anyone can make or borrow one.