APPENDIX

Additional Out of the Toolbox Lessons

Included below are additional Out of the Toolbox lessons that I often use in my teachings and trainings. I believe there is no such thing as an original idea, and I’m working within a long lineage of people who have resisted the Power Over culture. We don’t always know where the knowledge comes from, and we evolve what we have learned through our own lived experience.

I honor all who have come before, and hope that my offerings will be of value as we carry on and evolve the work even more.

Anti-Oppression Practices

These practices are modified/updated from a set of principles and practices I was involved with developing during my work with DAN-LA (Direct Action Network, Los Angeles) as well as my learnings from the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. We have all been impacted by oppression, and we all have healing to do. Change looks different depending on who you are, but here are a few ideas to get you started. These lessons apply to racism, sexism, class, ageism, ableism, and more.

Educate yourself and others about the history, beliefs, and systems of oppression. Recognize that they manifest at a personal, an institutional, and a cultural level.

Recognize that power and privilege play out in group dynamics in destructive ways that marginalize, exclude, exploit, or dehumanize others. Power and privilege can be used for the good, but only after we have a clear analysis and conscious awareness.

Internalized racial oppression has two sides: superiority and inferiority. We can be conscious and committed to understanding how white supremacy, patriarchy, classism, heterosexism, and all other systems of oppression affect each one of us, granting unearned privileges to some while dehumanizing others.

We did not create these systems of oppression, but once we are aware of them, we must take responsibility to undo them internally and externally; otherwise, we are complicit and perpetuate harm.

Developing anti-oppression practices is lifelong work and requires a lifelong commitment. No single workshop is sufficient for learning to change our behaviors.

Challenge yourself to be honest, be open, and take risks to address racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia head-on.

Notice body language, like if you avert your eyes when encountering people different from yourself. Learn to make eye contact, offer a smile, and say hello so people feel seen and valued.

When you witness or experience an abuse of power or oppression, interrupt the behavior and address it on the spot or later in a compassionate way, either one-on-one or with a few allies; addressing oppressive behavior allows people to change.

Challenge the behavior, not the person. Be sensitive and promote open dialogue. Talk about how hateful, oppressive language makes you feel.

Don’t generalize feelings, thoughts, or behaviors to a whole group.

Recognize that constructive criticism around oppressive behavior is a gift. Try not to get defensive, challenging the person or invalidating their experience. Give people the benefit of the doubt and don’t make assumptions.

Be willing to lose a friend, but try not to “throw away” people who screw up. Having clear boundaries is important, but distancing perpetuates oppression. Help them see how what they did/said makes you feel and ask them to take responsibility for making amends/reparations for their behavior.

Challenge macho bravado, rugged individualism, saviorism, and paternalism in yourself, in your friends, and in activism.

Understand that you will feel discomfort and pain as you face your part in oppression, and realize that this is a necessary part of the process of liberation and growth. We must support one another and be gentle with one another in this process.

Feeling shame or guilt is paralyzing. Instead, feel responsible. Being part of the problem doesn’t mean you can’t be an active part of the solution.

Respect different styles of leadership and communication. Remember there is no one way or no right way. Create welcoming spaces and prioritize time for those who have been most impacted by oppression.

Commit time to learn about one another, to share food and stories about our lives, our history, our culture, and our experiences.

Learn more about trauma, as it is a cause and consequence of violence and othering in our culture. Develop healing practices in all spaces you participate in.

Relax, do the work, listen, learn, have fun, and love one another!

Complexity Science

Complexity science is the study of complex systems and how they evolve and change organically through interactions and adaptations that allow new self-organized systems to emerge. As understandings of complexity science deepen and expand, many are translating it into social science and organizing principles. I’m no expert on this, but this is how I think about complexity science as it relates to organizing.

KNOW YOUR HISTORY. What came before impacts what will happen in the future, how it happens, and when it happens.

KEEP ENVIRONMENTS OPEN. The natural world exists in an open environment while humans tend to create closed environments. Open environments allow for a free flow of information; closed environments limit what comes in, whether it be people, ideas, or culture.

RELATIONSHIPS MATTER. All individuals and groups are agents that are part of something greater. Each agent is a form of self-organization that is always growing and changing.

NETWORKS WORK. Agents are interdependent, and our impact is maximized when we are linked up in moderately dense decentralized networks.

FEEDBACK IS KEY. Our interactions in these networks are based on feedback, both positive and negative.

BE OPEN, INCLUSIVE, AND WELCOMING. Positive feedback—collaboration, appreciation, gratitude—will lead to greater change, while negative feedback like competition, criticism, or judgment can lead to fragmentation or dissolution.

DIVERSITY IS OUR STRENGTH. It provides perspective, information, and ideas that can lead to the richest changes.

MULTIPLE STRATEGIES. Complexity science shows that the greater the variety of inputs, the greater the chances of change. There is not one way, but many. The more strategies we have, the greater our impact.

VIABLE PLANS. We can’t wait for the perfect. We must choose and believe in ourselves that we can do what needs to be done. Imagination ignites our fire.

SMALL TO LARGE. Nature works in fractals or repeating patterns. When our tactics are replicable, we can scale up quickly, forming a tipping point where change can happen fast. Change is triggered by smaller, singular events that ripple out with increasing impact.

CHANGE IS NOT LINEAR. Change happens in cycles. We often have to begin again, adapting with new information and experience when we do not achieve what we want the first time around.

Table A.1. Complexity Science and the Dynamics of Power
QUALITIES OF SYSTEMS OF POWER OVER	QUALITIES OF SYSTEMS OF POWER WITH
Stable	Dynamic
Closed	Open
Hierarchical	Horizontal
Linear	Non-linear
Mechanical	Organic
Information controlled	Information Released
Predictable	Unpredictable
Ordered	On the edge of chaos
Exploitive	Exploratory
Decaying	Emerging self-organization

ESCALATION TO THE EDGE OF CHAOS. The edge of chaos is where the greatest change happens. It is this sweet spot, the edge of possibility, where what once was must change or transform. We are not in control of the outcomes, but if we act with intention and the full force of our conscious beings, we have tremendous power to shift things in the direction we want.

EMERGENCE. In complexity science, emergence is when a system self-organizes to replace what was with a new order. It is the process of transformation. Change cannot be imposed. It comes from within, just as it is our Power Within that makes all things possible.

Table A.1 shows how complexity science can be applied to the dynamics of power.

Working in Groups

Working with people can be scary as well as fun and healing! We often hesitate to extend ourselves because we’re afraid of failing or being judged. To be fully available, we need to settle our bodies and our minds. If we’re feeling anxious, insecure, or afraid, we can ask: Am I truly unsafe in this moment? These feelings are often rooted in not feeling valued, respected, or heard. We believe we are not good enough. But we are! We all carry these feelings because we are all human. We are not better than or less than; we are just different. Our differences are gifts of resources and potential as we share ourselves, our power, and our dreams. Our creativity, imagination, and interactions allow new things to emerge.

We gather together in groups because we need support and care in order to fulfill our potential by healing oppression and injustice. Developing common values or principles that guide your work will build cohesion and help when there is conflict. Here are some of the basics for gathering in groups:

Find comfortable places to meet.

Share food and express gratitude for it.

Create time to check in—how are you doing?

Do some grounding work: Breathe, connect to Earth, stretch, sing, buzz, hum, make eye contact, scan your body to feel what is going on inside.

Review your group contract or agreements.

Prioritize time to share cultural and personal histories as you learn about one another.

Be clear on why you are coming together and what you want to do. Allot most of your time for this purpose.

If decisions are being made, allow room to discuss your feelings and thoughts.

If requests are being made, allow time to reflect on what can be learned and the possible consequences, positive and negative, should you choose to move forward.

Discuss how the proposed actions are an opportunity for everyone to connect and grow.

Remind people of group values and principles.

Keep dynamics of power and privilege visible. Adjust practices to ensure power is shared and opportunities are accessible to all. This does not mean that everyone does everything, but that everyone is informed, has an opportunity for input, and feels welcome and connected.

Share appreciations of each other.

Angeles Arrien’s Four-Fold Ways of the Warrior guides how I work in groups in a good way: Show up, pay attention, speak my truth, and stay unattached to outcomes.

Facilitation

Facilitation can make or break a meeting. Facilitators must be confident, be authentic, and work with integrity. They need to be aware of the energy of the group, group needs, and watch for body language cues. They need to work with intention in creating the physical space as well as the space for discussion. They must be strategic in how they use time. Facilitators need to understand the dynamics of power and oppression to release blockages. They must be flexible at all times, willing to change or put the agenda aside if needed.

The Role of the Facilitator

Build a container, a space that allows diverse participation.

Attend to basics, include sitting in a circle or other seating arrangements and thinking about lighting, food, drink, and breaks.

Skillfully and gracefully utilize the power to interrupt.

Visibly demonstrate or model the use and dynamics of Power With.

Take responsibility for the group journey and process: You don’t make decisions, but make sure decisions are made.

Be intentional about the kind of culture they are building/want.

Work with energy: pacing, energizing, punctuating, silence, stretching, music.

Produce powerful documentation: notes, charts, and so on.

Good Practices

Cultural opening: song, poem, music

Getting permission from the group to fill the facilitator role

Staying neutral or transparent on power and views; staying unattached to outcomes

Agenda prep: prioritizing group needs, decisions to be made, and space

Presenter prep, to ensure participants have all the information they need

Roles: Assign a notetaker, timekeeper, scribe, vibes watcher, door greeter, sign-in person, and so on

Guidelines or agreements for how we will work together and what we need from one another (for example, turn off phones)

Introductions, icebreakers, grounding, somatic tools, to help everyone feel welcome and present

Group process tools: small groups, brainstorms, go-arounds, dyads, active listening, straw polls, pro/con, progressive stack lists, and so on

Working with flip charts: People learn in different ways; visual tools can help, as well as using different-colored markers

Make the gathering cooperative and participatory

Set a tone with goodwill, spirit, creativity, and fun

Consensus

Decision making is how we exercise our power through the choices we make. Decision-making processes set the patterns that will either liberate or oppress. Consensus, if done well, is a process that supports liberation because it allows for all voices to be heard, and for everyone to decide. It is not about unanimity but consent. It is not a process of winners and losers like voting, but a process of building maximum support, knowing that not everyone will go along with everything all the time.

For consensus to truly work, the group needs to explicitly develop a set of shared values, common principles, and group agreements that can align/guide/inform our interactions. Without this, we are vulnerable to internal discord and external forces that want to undermine or stop us. Make sure everyone understands the consensus decision-making process, and work with an experienced facilitator. Deal with only one item or proposal at a time. Straw polls, or asking for a show of hands on the proposal or different options on the table, are often used in consensus because you can get an immediate sense of where the group is at. Each amendment made must be affirmed by the group as you go along, then the proposal as a whole.

All decisions start with identifying the problem or need, visioning a solution, and then developing a proposal for action.

The proposal is created by or brought to the group and presented.

The group is first asked if there are clarifying questions. Do you understand what is being presented? After all clarifications are made, you move to the next step.

Ask if there are any concerns. List concerns, then open discussion on how to address them. Modify the proposal accordingly. Once the concerns have been addressed, the proposal is restated in its new form to make sure everyone is clear on it.

Then the actual decision making begins in this order, which creates the space for each party to really be sure before saying yes:

ARE THERE ANY OUTSTANDING CONCERNS OR RESERVATIONS? At this point, nothing major should come up, but if it does, an additional amendment can be made.

ARE THERE ANY STAND ASIDES? This is where people may choose to opt out. They don’t have major concerns and don’t oppose the proposal, they’re just not called to it and may choose not to be a part of it. If there are a lot of stand asides, it is worth assessing if this is really what the group needs to move forward with.

ARE THERE ANY BLOCKS? This is when a group or an individual feels that the proposal is counter to the beliefs and principles of the group and that it could do harm to the integrity of the group and work. By blocking, they are choosing to stop the whole group from moving forward. It is my belief that if the process has been done well during the concerns discussion, all potential blocks would be addressed. If a person or group blocks without first raising their concerns, I do not consider it a legitimate block, but an abuse of power of someone trying to derail the work.

DO WE HAVE A CONSENSUS? If there are no blocks, then consensus has been reached. It is typically signified by people twinkling their fingers (this is the silent clap in American Sign Language), putting their thumbs up, clapping, or saying yes.

ONCE A DECISION IS MADE, you move to discuss implementation. Who will do what and by when.

Strategic Campaigns

Campaigns can be understood as the larger containers for our actions. Campaigns allow for escalation over a period of time. The more strategies you use, the greater and sooner the change will come. Campaign have phases and steps and can be changed based on external conditions and political opportunities. Broadly, there are four phases:

Phase 1: Prep

INVESTIGATE AND RESEARCH your opponents and allies. Learn all you can about who they are, where they are, and what they care about. Where do they make their money? Who influences them? Develop demands, maps, calendars, and plans.

NEGOTIATE. Give your opponent the opportunity to make a change to resolve the problem and implement your solution. Communicate your message through letters, delegations, meetings, and phone calls.

Phase 2: Launch

EDUCATE your allies and the public to garner support and pressure your opponent with teach-ins, flyers, social media, public events, and more.

MOBILIZE increasing numbers.

NEGOTIATE, AGAIN. Are they ready to make a change? If not, move to phase 3.

Phase 3: Battle

DEMONSTRATE. Organize protests, delegations, marches, rallies, street theater, and more.

DIRECT ACTION. Use delegations, pickets, strikes, and civil disobedience to take space and disrupt business as usual.

PROTRACTED STRUGGLE. The action continues and must be anticipated, with many rounds of strategic campaigning and escalating actions, bringing the situation to the edge of chaos.

Phase 4: Winning Win-Wins

COMPRESSION. Your opponent must feel that they have no place to go other than settling, going out of business, or losing their job.

SETTLE. Which outside or neutral party can bring both sides together to negotiate the change? Are the people most affected at the table?

PARALLEL ORGANIZATION. Make plans for replacing the bad actor with a community alternative.

CELEBRATE AND FOLLOW UP to ensure that all solutions are implemented.

Action Planning

At core, actions are all about having an impact. No matter where you are, who you’re with, what your goal is, or what materials are at your disposal, here are questions I ask myself when thinking about an action:

Is the action symbolic or direct?

Will the action be public or secret?

Does the action have a beginning, a middle, and an end?

Does the action make sense in the context of what came before and what will happen after?

How can we make the action colorful, life affirming, fun, and dramatic?

What visuals can we use that will tell our story?

How will all of the basic needs of the participants be met—water, food, bathroom, transportation?

How will the action engage participants and observers emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually?

Always remember that vision counts and details matter!

I have also found it useful to think about goals, the target, the message, the mobilization, and the scenario or framework for the action.

GOALS. The goal must be concrete, tangible, and winnable. What does victory/change look like?

TARGET. Who are we trying to impact? Who has the power to decide?

MESSAGE/DEMANDS. What is the problem, and what is the solution? Are there audiences besides our target, and what do we want them to know and do?

MOBILIZATION. How many people do we need and want to participate? How will we get them / keep them informed, committed, and involved? What are the logistical factors needed to support their participation?

SCENARIO/ACTION FRAMEWORK. What will happen? Where will it happen? When will it happen? Have we scouted the location? What does it look like? How will people join in? Is it creative, impactful, and visual? Will it attract people?

Most actions, especially during mass mobilizations, will also include some form of the following elements that require planning and strategy:

PUBLICITY. Social media campaigns, flyers, ads, PSAs, emails, mailings, calendars, et cetera.

PROGRAM. Are those impacted speaking for themselves? Have we included cultural elements—song, spoken word, music?

SCHEDULE. What happens when, by whom, from pack-up to cleanup.

LOGISTICS. Everything that is needed, from transportation to water bottles.

PROPS. All the materials we need to tell the story, engage participants, and offer images that inspire.

SECURITY/TRAFFIC PLAN. What is needed? Who will coordinate, train, and recruit?

COORDINATION/PREP. Training and prep meetings, communication, art, and a final pre-action meeting to make sure everyone understands the plan and their role.

Civil Disobedience

Making a decision to risk going to jail requires additional infrastructure and support beyond typical actions. This infrastructure gives us the confidence needed to take additional risks. A few things to put in place if you’re planning for civil disobedience include:

SCOUT AND MAP. Make sure you scout and map the site.

TRAININGS. Organize trainings, including nonviolent direct action trainings, legal trainings, and street medic trainings.

MODEL OF ORGANIZATION. Choose your model of organization and put it in place, whether you’re using affinity groups, action teams, buddies, or swarms.

SPOKES COUNCILS OR TACTICAL LEADERSHIP. Have a system in place for how decisions will be made in advance and during the action, like a street spokes council.

TACTICAL COMMUNICATIONS. This might include bikes, radios, text loops, flags, and runners, or a specified time, movement, or sound to trigger the action.

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE PROPS. Signs, banners, or full-page stickers with message for arrestees to wear.

LEGAL PLAN AND STRATEGIES. Do you have lawyers and legal observers? What is the legal hotline number? What are the laws and consequences? What are the politics of the DA?

POLICE STRATEGIES AND SETUP. Will you inform the police about the action, get permits, or rely on the element of surprise? Will you ask for rules of engagement that would protect people and communities?

JAIL STRATEGIES. Is outside support organized—rides, food, love? And is inside support planned for, including jail solidarity? Will people be cooperating or not?

MEDIA. Make plans for the action to be documented with video, photos, and social media.

STREET MEDICS. Do you have street medics? Do participants have basic first aid information as well as information on police tactics and weapons for crowd control? Do you know where hospitals are?

TRAUMA AND HEALING. If people are hurt, what is your plan for dealing with trauma?

POST-ACTION LEGAL FOLLOW-UP. Have you set up an arrestee meeting and secure ways to stay in touch? Track the court dates and possible legal options—diversions, community service, or lawsuits.

CELEBRATE AND APPRECIATE those who have gone to jail and those who have supported them.

Anatomy of an Intersection

Intersections are not just physical spaces, but symbolic ones that in many mythologies represent a place of deep power and energy where choices are made. In the more literal sense, there are many kinds of intersections where roads, cars, trains, buses, people, stores, parks, homes, or fields meet, come together, or move apart. Some intersections have more energy or juice than others, so it’s important to scout them beforehand. Look around, pause, and observe, especially around the same time of day you’re planning your action. Questions to ask include:

How many lanes are there? Single, double, or multilane?

How many cars are going through? What is the flow of traffic like?

What surrounds the street? Is it open and wide with fields or parking lots? Or constricted with stores, buildings, or fences?

Are there construction sites? Bus stops, trains, or subway entrances? Stop signs and traffic lights?

What are the escape routes?

All of these things matter when you want to take that space. Single lanes can be closed with a handful of people, while multiple lanes obviously take more. When taking an intersection, here are key things to think about:

What is your goal? Are you stopping traffic to get your message out, holding it temporarily, or trying to shut it down? Are you willing to take arrests? If you are not prepared to take arrest, standing makes it faster to get out. If you are prepared to take arrests, sitting sends a determined message.

Make sure your line of people extends from curb to curb. If drivers sense even a little space or opening, they may try to drive through.

Long banners or signs not only help take the space, but make your message clear.

Have a few people designated to talk to the drivers. Prepare leaflets about the cause with actions to take: “If this makes you angry, please call this representative about this issue.”

In big intersections, assign people to every lane to stand right in front of the car, maybe wearing a safety vest. This can deter cars from advancing to your line, especially if you’re sitting.

In big intersections, it can be helpful to have teams of people on every corner who initially move in on the side of the street just before the light turns green, with other teams poised to move in soon after.

It is key to stop the incoming traffic first, allowing all the cars in the middle to get out before shutting the whole thing down.

You need to be prepared for moments of chaos when you first deploy—Whoa, everything goes in slow motion—but this quickly settles down once you have secured the space.

Once you have shut the intersection down, be prepared for the crazy driver who decides to drive through. I have learned that sometimes it’s better to just open your lines, let them through, then shut it down again.

I tend to like doing these kinds of actions earlier in the day when people are headed to work or at lunch as opposed to when they’re headed home.

As scary or complicated as this all sounds, it’s really quite easy. The safety of everyone involved is the highest priority, and having a clear plan makes all the difference.

Solidarity in Practice: Sample Agreements

We are very different groups. We are not necessarily immediate allies nor are we each other’s greatest enemy. There are many things on which we do not agree. But we will be in the streets together during the protests. We know that the police and media are trying to divide us in order to crush our movements. Solidarity is the way in which our diversity becomes our strength; we build our movements, and we protect each other’s bodies, rights, and lives.

We believe we have some things in common. We believe in basic human rights and the need to live with respect and dignity. We believe we must protect this planet––our air, water, earth, and food––or we will all die. We believe these global corporate and political institutions are only serving the interests of the rich. We all agree it’s time for fundamental change.

As we take to the streets together, let us work to be in solidarity with one another. The following suggestions offer ways in which we can make our solidarity real.

Personal

Challenge and critique other groups and individuals in constructive ways and in a spirit of respect.

Listen without getting defensive. Be open in thinking, not rigid in positions.

Don’t make assumptions based on what a person looks like or what groups they belong to.

Don’t assume tactics are the only way to measure militancy or radicalness.

Refrain from personal attacks, even with people with whom you strongly disagree. (Focus on how you feel, not what they did.)

Understand that even though we may disagree, we have come to our politics, strategies, and choice of tactics through thoughtful and intelligent consideration of issues, circumstances, and experiences.

Street

Do not intentionally put people at risk who have not chosen it.

Do not turn people over to the police.

Do not let people within our own groups interfere with other groups.

Respect the work of all medics, legal observers, and independent media people.

Share food, water, medical, and other supplies.

Support everyone who is hurt, gassed, shot, or beaten.

Respect other groups’ rights to do a certain type of protest at certain times and places. If you choose to participate, do so within the tone and tactics they set. If you do not agree, do not participate in that protest or bring another protest into that time and space.

Understand that our actions and tactics have repercussions that go beyond ourselves and our immediate groups. And that some tactics overrun the space of others.

If you choose to negotiate with the police, never do so for other groups of which you are not a part.

Media

Do not denounce other demonstrators.

Talk about your strategy, not those of others.

Acknowledge other groups’ existence and the roles they play in creating change.

Acknowledge that we sometimes disagree about strategy and tactics.

Avoid using the word violence.

Condemn police repression and brutality.

Share media contacts and do not monopolize the media’s attention.

Jail

No one is free until everybody is free.