This is a step-by-step guide published by CrimethInc. detailing how to stay safe in the streets when engaging in direct action. Information on how to dress appropriately, prepare oneself, organize, and engage with law enforcement is included in the document.
This is a step-by-step anonymous guide published on CrimethInc.’s website detailing how to throw a squatted dance party. Information on gear, location, how to promote the event, handling the authorities, among other important instructions are included in the document.
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the US during the 1960s that sought to establish a New Left focused on civil rights, peace, and universal economic security. In 1965, SDS held a mass sit-in at the White House to protest the Vietnam War. This document is a flyer for the event, detailing the various demands, plans, and sponsors of the group.
This letter was released by Students for Justice in Palestine on April 21, 2024. In the document, SJP lays out its mission, sets forth various demands, expresses solidarity with SJPs across the country, and makes clear its determination to reclaim student power on campus to pursue justice and liberation for the people of Palestine.
This is a full pdf of CrimethInc.’s book, Recipes for Disaster: An Anarchist Cookbook. This novel serves as a tactical handbook for direct action and includes images, step-by-step instructions, firsthand accounts, among other important resources.
This is the third edition of the newsletter written by a compilation of individual authors and published by the National Students for Justice in Palestine. The importance of discomfort, the global struggle against imperialism, information on the Palestine Solidarity Movement, accounts of personal experiences, various calls to action, and other important topics were included in the newsletter.
This is the second edition of the newsletter written by a compilation of individual authors and published by the National Students for Justice in Palestine. Smiling as an act of resistance, Palestinian educational institutions, the role of US students and workers in the struggle for Palestine, decolonization as a practice, recommendations for student organizing, and other topics were included in the newsletter.
On April 29, 2024, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) released a statement defending the right to free speech and peaceful protest on college campuses, condemning the militarized response to these forms of student activism, expressing solidarity with all AAUP chapters and members nationwide who have supported these student groups, and calling on others to sign the statement.
This is a guide published by CrimethInc. on how to form an affinity group. Information on tactics, decision-making, organization, security, and more is included in the document.
The indigenous people of Sarayaku were faced with a devastating loss in 1996. The Ecuadorean state gave away a large part of their land to an oil company without consulting the people that were living there. In 2002, this company came into the land and set up massive amounts of explosives, which deeply endangered the community. The Sarayaku people took their case to the International Humans Rights System and substantially won their case. The explosives were removed and the company was censured. This is the link to the official website and below is the proceedings from the case.
The Battle of Blair Mountain is considered to be one of the largest civil uprisings in American history. Thousands of coal miners in Mingo County, West Virginia received terrible wages and horrendous treatment within the mines themselves. About 10,000 miners congregate at the edge of the country and refuse to budge. After threats of federal troops being sent in, four deputies of the local offices are taken prisoner and presumed to be killed. There’s five days of battling between troops and miners and eventually federal troops did come to intervene. This is considered to be a pivotal moment in the labor organizing history of America.
The Homestead Strike of 1892, centered at Carnegie’s steel plant in Pennsylvania, marked a pivotal moment in American labor history. It erupted over wage cuts and benefit reductions, leading to a violent clash between striking workers and Pinkerton detectives hired by the company. After Carnegie and his staff pushed workers out of the plant to replace them with non – union workers, they pushed back and barricaded within it. There was violent conflict between them and the Pinkerton detectives. Despite the workers’ efforts, the strike was ultimately suppressed. Nonetheless, the strike remains a significant event in the struggle for workers’ rights and fair labor practices. It became a rallying point for other labor activists.
During the Industrial Revolution in England, textile workers protested against the rise of machinery that took their jobs and reduced their wages. The factory heads and upper class started to push workers out and as a result, they pushed back. This was done through the sabotage of machinery and violently resisting against the people they felt were oppressing them. The PDF below includes pamphlets from this protest that detail the specific actions.
A communiqué is a report on direct actions that is typically shared either online or in print publications. This is a guide on how to submit an anonymous communiqué online. Key terms, step-by-step instructions, relevant websites, and other important information is included in the document.
This is a detailed guide published by Montreal Counter-Information, an anarchist and anti-authoritarian news source, on how to conduct a street demonstration.
This is a guide that was distributed by anarchists during the 2012 student strikes and social conflicts in Montreal. The document provides step-by-step instructions on how to form crews, how to create paint bombs, how to occupy a space, how to conduct a street demonstration, as well as other important tactics.
This is a statement made by the Students for Justice in Palestine at Bucknell University (BUSJP), located in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. The group set forth four demands for the university including disclosing the identities of all donors and investment portfolios, divesting from companies that fund the Israeli government, denouncing Israel and the repression of university students across the country who support Palestine, as well as detaching from corporate partnerships that support the genocide. Additionally, BUSJP calls on everyone at the university to join the student movement and participate in the strike by withholding their labor.
“If there is no functioning university in Gaza, there should be no functioning university here.”
This is the first edition of the newsletter written by a compilation of individual authors and published by the National Students for Justice in Palestine. The right to resist, a history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts, information on the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) and the Palestinian Feminist Collective movements, accounts of personal experiences, various calls to action, and other topics were included in the newsletter.
This is a screenshot of an excerpt from a 1924 newspaper on the proposed May-Day strike by French postal workers. In an effort to obtain a raise in wages, these postal workers sought to disrupt the operation of the mail service by enforcing all minor regulations, thus slowing down the service.
In this piece, Palestine Solidarity Groups at Harvard University take a stand against the violence committed against Palestinians and call on the Harvard community to take action. This is a part of a string of pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses across the United States against both the Israel-Hamas War and the financial ties these various universities have with Israel.
This is a press release from the Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine’s Twitter page. In the document, the organization demands their voices be heard, likens their quest for liberation to that of the Civil Rights Movement and other anti-war protests, as well as vows to remain in place until their demands are met. These demands include a complete divestment of all finances linked to the Israeli apartheid in Palestine, complete transparency of all of Columbia’s financial investments, and amnesty for everyone at the university who has been penalized for participating in the movement for Palestinian liberation.
This was a call to action posted on the social media accounts of the National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on April 19, 2024. In the document, the National SJP criticizes the decision of the universities to choose profit and reputation over the lives of those in Palestine and the will of the students. The organization expresses solidarity with other chapters of SJP across the nation and calls on them for continued action.
Over the past weeks at various universities across the United States, students have erected encampments to demand action to end Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip. These protests have arisen on the campuses of some of the US’ highest academic institutions, including Harvard and Columbia. This document is a press release from The New School Students for Justice in Palestine, a student-organization at The New School in New York City. In the press release, they expressed their solidarity with other student protesters across the country, described why they established the encampment, detailed the rich history of student protest at the school, and set forth a list of demands for the university. Some of these demands included a complete divestment from all corporations that benefit from and are complicit in the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people, greater protection for pro-Palestinian protesters, a full academic boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions, among others.
The Berkeley Tenants Union was established in 1969 and sought to organize low-income tenants to join in protest against rent increases, eviction, and poor housing conditions. This document is a flyer produced in 1969 by the union explaining the reasoning, goals, and strategy behind the city-wide renters strike as well as the various risks activists might face for carrying out these direct actions. Flyers such as this one began distribution during the end of 1969 and continued up until February of 1970, when the strike formally took place.
This is a call to action by the Network Against Psychiatric Assault, to join them in their direct actions against the psychiatric treatment program at St. Mary’s McAuley Neuropsychiatric Institute in San Francisco. In the document, NAPA brings attention to the inhumane and coercive techniques employed at St. Mary’s against patients, some of which include sheeting, sleep therapy, work tasks, among others. Additionally, NAPA has expressed its intent to theatrically demonstrate the sheeting practices of St. Mary’s in front of television cameras to draw awareness to the practice in an act of further resistance.
This document is a letter from the Philippine Solidarity Network and Coalition Against the Marcos Dictatorship requesting support for opposing the state visit of the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos. The letter focuses attention on Marcos’ track record of grave human rights violations and details the role of the Philippines as the United States’ strategic mainstay for military strategy in the Pacific. The organization calls on supporters to attend their direct action campaign at the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco and to take other resistance measures to oppose Marcos’ state visit.
The Young Lords established the first National Puerto Rican Student Conference, which debuted on September 22nd at Columbia University. This event marked the first nationwide consciousness-raising event hosted by Puerto Ricans since they came to the United States. The event’s goals were to conduct workshops to teach about revolutionary Puerto Rican history and culture and preach the importance of women and high school students in the revolution. People in these workshops brainstormed specific improvements for each of their respective organizations.
“Liberate Puerto Rico Now Committees were set up around the country to publicize the fact that Puerto Rico is a colony of the united states and is controlled economically, politically, and culturally by amerikkka. The Committees will be organizing for the October 30th action at the UN to demand independence for our homeland”
In a newspaper article form the Young lords, Education Lieutenant Carlos Aponte discusses the colonization of Puerto Rican education. When the colonizers landed in Guancia, they destroyed puerto Rican history books and replaced them with American education. The Young Lords refuted this erasure of history by setting up their own educational programs to aid younger generations in learning their roots and especially keeping the spanish language alive.
The John Brown Anti-Klan Committee, founded in 1978, was an anti-racist organization within the United States that took direct actions against the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist organizations in addition to publishing literature on the subject. This document, published by the organization, details 29 ways to resist racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination.
The Unlock Apartheid’s Jails Campaign, initiated by The Africa Fund, fought for the release of detainees and political prisoners in South Africa. This compilation of documents included a letter from Dumisani S. Kumalo, a coordinator of the campaign, as well as various newspaper articles attached by him that detail the success of the campaign on focusing the nation’s attention on South Africa’s prisoners of conscience.
This document, written by Native American Warriors from South Dakota, was addressed to Prairie Fire, the Weather Underground, and all third world and anti-imperialist allies. The Native American Warriors called on these groups to help them liberate their homelands and connected the Vietnamese victory in Vietnam to their struggle against US empire and imperialism.
In 1955, the African National Congress (ANC) sent out 50,000 volunteers to various townships and rural areas throughout South Africa to gather “freedom demands” from average people. The ANC was tired of the repressive government and its desire to quell dissent. The demands made by the people of South Africa were synthesized into a document that was adopted later that year and became known as the “Freedom Charter.” This document is significant in that it was the first time in which the people were actively involved in creating their own vision for an alternative society.
“The people shall govern!”
“These freedoms we will fight for, side by side, throughout our lives, until we have won our liberty.”
In December of 1970, Gloria Gonzales and Denise Oliver took a ten day trip to Puerto Rico. Their experiences, written in a newspaper article, underline the destructive impacts that western colonialism, specially from America, has on Puerto Rican communities. Oliver describes the psychological impact of colonialism and its devastating impact on young Puerto Rican populations. Oliver rejects the influence of western supremacy on the island, and advocates for a independent Puerto Rico.
In a newspaper from 1971, Richie Perez from the Young Lord’s Party discusses the Nixon administration’s policies on “drug control.” Perez argues that Heroine has been an issue harming the Puerto Rican communities for years, However “for the politicians, it didn’t become an “emergency” until heroin spilled out of our ghettos into white communities and into the amerikkkan army.” Perez defines the enemy as the United States government and exposes their negligence.
“Nixon is a liar, and he’s surrounded by other liars and hypocrites. Since 1969, the white house has known about the increase of drug addiction in the army. They have received many reports about this, but instead of being honest and presenting this problem to the people they are supposed to represent, they covered it up”
Richie Perez
This document is a statement of solidarity for Occupy Oakland from the Occupy Wall Street General Assembly after the occupiers were forcefully evicted from their two-week old encampment. In the statement, the GA condemns the violence of the Oakland police department, calls for an immediate release of all detainees with all charges dropped, as well as demands that the mainstream media accurately report the events that ensued.
“WE WILL NOT LET INJUSTICE AND VIOLENCE DESTROY OUR SOLIDARITY AND STRENGTH. RE-OCCUPY OAKLAND! OCCUPY EVERYTHING!”
In a direct statement from CAM, they held a general meeting to discuss their organization’s updated goals and even there, they faced resistance from the Chilean government. They resisted against them successfully enough to finish their meeting in totality. In this statement, they address the allegations that they are terrorists without a motivation and other propaganda that the Chilean government has raised against them.
On June 21, 1990, U.S. political prisoners sent a statement to Nelson Mandela, who, at the time, was the Deputy Vice President of the African National Congress. In the statement, US political prisoners compared the criminalization of radical and progressive movements for social and political change within the US to what was happening in South Africa as well as contrasted the ways in which racism presents itself in both countries. They seek to relate to Mandela as because of his political views and activities on behalf of the African American community, he was a political prisoner himself. Additionally, they express solidarity with those in South Africa, who like them, are fighting a struggle for freedom against racial oppression.
In Chile, the Machupe people are an indigenous group that have been fighting off outsider invaders to their land and livelihood for years. The Lafchenke Machupe groups are a resistance group that use tactics like sabotage, arson, and violent resistance to push out the Chilean government, who they now see as invaders to their ancestral land, and protect their forests/land from destructive practices. Below, there is a statement the group released in which they take responsibility for sabotage and arson against corporations and government efforts.
In October 1968, Al-Fateh delivered a statement at the 23rd session of the General Assembly of the UN. In this statement, Al-Fateh compared the Palestinian resistance movement to those against German occupation during WWII, declared the continuance of this struggle against the foreign occupation of Palestine no matter the time taken, rejected the proposed Security Council resolution, called on the United Nations and the peoples of the world to take a stand in respect to the cause of the displaced Palestinian people, in addition to making various other demands.
The Iranian Green Movement, also known as the Persian Awakening or the Persian Spring, came to existence after the June 12, 2009 Iranian Presidential Election, in which activists demanded the removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from office. On February 4, 2023, the leader of Iran’s Green Movement, Mir Hossein Mousavi, released this statement, calling for a “fundamental change” in Iran based upon “Woman, Life, Freedom.” He argues for the drafting of a new constitution as well as a transition towards democracy led by an “assembly of founders.” Mousavi notes that Iranians have stopped believing in the government’s ability to reform itself, and instead calls for a referendum for Iranians to vote on both a new constitution and a new government rooted in democratic ideals.
This is a communique published by Occupy Oakland in solidarity with Longshore workers in Longview, Washington. Occupy Oakland strongly condemns the actions taken by Export Grain Terminal (EGT), as the company has engaged in union busting as well as repression and recrimination against Longshore workers. Additionally, Occupy Oakland cites these actions by EGT as the reason for why it mobilized to shut down the Port of Oakland and concludes by declaring its solidarity with Longshoremen and commitment to shutting down the 1%.
Occupy Oakland, a part of the larger Occupy Movement, published this piece calling for a blockade of all the West Coast Ports in order to shut down operations and disrupt the profits of the 1%. They reflect on the success of the Oakland Port shutdown that had occurred the previous month, highlighting the effectiveness of solidarity and uniting together in struggle.
In 2010, anti-Afghanistan War activists turned Parliament Square in London into a protest camp, renaming the square “Democracy Village.” Over the course of the occupation, between May 1st and July 20th, other groups joined, including climate change activists, pro-democracy campaigners, anarchists, the homeless, and more. This piece came from the anti-war activists. They described what they were fighting for as well as the importance of taking direct action to resist injustice and tackle the problems that plague society.
As the quote below indicates, the Dalit Panthers were a group shaped after some of the ideologies of the Black Panthers. Dalits are know as untouchables and they are at the very bottom of the caste system. They were resisting the oppressive nature of the caste system and the marginalization that it caused these people, especially by the caste members at the top. The government at this point was run by the upper members of the caste system so Dalits felt as if their needs were being ignored by those in power. In their manifesto linked below, there’s a clear explanation of all the tiers of their organization and ideological aspects.
“Due to the hideous plot of American imperialism, the Third Dalit World, that is, oppressed nations and Dalit people are suffering. Even in America, a handful of reactionary whites are exploiting blacks. To meet the force of reaction and remove this exploitation, the Black Panther movement grew. From the Black Panthers, Black Power emerged . . . We claim a close relationship with this struggle.“
In this document, Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief and warrior, details a message of both resistance and spirituality. He writes to a community larger than just the Shawnee, calling on all the “red men” to unite and to reclaim the land that has been stolen from them by the “white people.”
“The way, and the only way, to check and to stop this evil, is for all the red men to unite in claiming a common and equal right in the land, as it was at first, and should be yet; for it never was divided, but belongs to all for the use of each.”
During the aftermath of the Great Recession, between September 17 and November 15, 2011, the Occupy Wall Street movement occurred in opposition to economic inequality, corporate greed, money in politics, and big finance. This document was drafted by the Call to Action Working Group and ratified by the New York City General Assembly on September 29, 2011. The piece explained who the occupiers were and why they were taking up public space. A list of grievances are included in the document as well as a call to action for all communities to take action to assert their power.
In a newspaper article from the Young Lords in 1970, Iris Morales writes about the genocide committed against Puerto Rican women. In 1947-1948, “7% of the women were sterilized; between 1953-1954, 4 out of every 25 Sisters were sterilized; and by 1965, the number increased to 1 out every 3 women.” Morales identifies the United States government and capitalist systems as the perpetrators of this genocide. She states that sterilization is a mechanism the racist government uses to control the Puerto Rican population. She calls on fellow Puerto Rican women and men to work together to raise awareness of this genocide and resist the demise of the future generation of Puerto Ricans.
Jeunesse Communiste Révolutionnaire, a French Trotskyist organization, wrote this piece, describing the transition from a student revolt into a general strike of workers contesting capitalist society during the May 1968 events. The organization included a list of demands and called on other workers and students to join them in the future actions they will take in their fight against the current system.
This document is a firsthand account of the events that occurred in Paris, France during the May 1968 time of unrest. The anonymous author describes the various strikes, occupations, and other actions taken by workers and students between the period of May 3rd to May 18th.
Paris, France, beginning in May of 1968, was a city filled with general strikes, demonstrations, and occupations of universities and factories by students and workers. In this piece, the Enragé-Situationist International Committee Council for Maintaining the Occupations calls for the creation of workers councils as the solution to gain working-class autonomy in the proletariat revolutionary project. They reflect on the way in which their occupation of factories and public buildings has brought the economy to a halt and led to a widespread questioning of society, calling on the international proletariat to join in the fight for this transformation.
“This is the beginning of a revolutionary movement, a movement which lacks nothing but the consciousness of what it has already done in order to triumph.”