When we explained what activism is, we broke being an activist down to just three steps. See that something is unjust, believe it should be changed, take action to make that change. It’s a broader definition than you may have imagined, but the common stereotype of an activist is flawed. This post explains in more depth how to be an activist and what an activist is.
What is an activist?
Look familiar? Maybe not, it’s unlikely most of our readers have heard of the Finnish May Day riot. Then again, maybe it does. One riot looks much like another, after all.
The media often paints a vivid picture of activists. They are young (and don’t know any better), angry (and lacking judgement) and violent. We’re old enough to remember a different picture. Then, they were young (and didn’t know any better), smelly hippies (though there hadn’t really been hippies for decades by that point). It’s not a complete picture, it’s a stereotype: a bad one. You want to know what an activist actually looks like? A 75 year old man in a pale grey suit, with a white beard and sad eyes behind his glasses.
Jeremy Corbin was the leader of the Labour party, until they kicked him out so they could chase right wing voters with the tories. His activism has included the Anti-Apartheid Movement, advocating for a united Ireland and Palestinian statehood, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and Anti-Fascist Action. He was against the Iraq war, wanted to renationalise the railways, to reverse austerity, to Remain in Europe, and called for Tony Blair to be investigated for war crimes.
He rightfully called out the government’s plan to exclude trans people from the ban on conversion therapy as discrimination, and the media led a smear campaign against him.
But this isn’t about Jeremy Corbin. It’s about activism. It’s about what an activist is. An activist is a person who sees something unjust, believes it should be changed, and takes action to make that change. We laid out types of activism, from letter writing to rallies, but activism can be much smaller than that. A person who watches a documentary on factory farming and becomes vegan is an activist.
But the dictionary defines an activist as a person who campaigns to bring about political or social change…
There’s problems with that definition. Campaign is “an organised course of action to achieve a goal” but a walkout is a recognised form of activism and by it’s nature isn’t organised. Riots aren’t organised, either. Activists certainly can follow organised courses of action to bring about social or political change, but that’s not all they do.
An activist is simply someone who acts in a certain way to address an injustice they have identified. They can try to convince other’s of this injustice, but they don’t have to. They are unlikely to affect real change without help, but the key to it all is that their behaviour is the result of the injustice they have witnessed.
becoming an activist
Zoe watches a documentary on factory farming and becomes vegan. She saw injustice, she believed it should be changed, and she changed her behaviour to fit her new belief system. Zoe is taking action because she believes an injustice should be addressed. She’s an activist, but she’s not happy. She knows her dietary choices have very little impact on factory farming, because she is one person alone.
If you’re reading this because you want to become an activist, you’re probably in the same position as Zoe. You saw something unjust, you believe it should be changed, you changed your behaviour, and you’ve realised individuals have little impact. Now you want to organise collective action!
Slow your roll, cowboy. It’s almost always better to join existing organisations, to learn from the people already doing this. You may have noticed (and if not, you will learn) that causes are interconnected. To give the obvious example, perhaps you are here because of Trump. You’ve seen fascism rise in the US. Trump is pushing transphobia, so if you’re against him, you’re probably against that. He’s cracking down on immigration, so maybe you’re in favour of that, too. Trump’s warmongering, threatening Canada, Greenland, and Mexico. He’s removing climate change initiatives, he let Elon Musk take over the treasury, he wants to ban abortions. Suddenly there are a lot of things to be against. Suddenly people want to know your position on Gaza and if trans folk should play sports and if fracking is okay and what about paper straws?
Deep breath.
You’ve got time, you don’t need to know everything today. No one expects you to. It is things you should think about, though, discovering the interconnectedness of causes. Realising that the media gives you a very biased view of the world. Look at what Trump is doing with DEI. It was announced today that the National Parks Service is removing all mention of trans people at the Stonewall memorial. It was a trans person who started that riot. Trans people were instrumental in the fight for gay rights. History is being rewritten.
Education is a huge part of being an activist. It’s a hard part of it, too. You have to find multiple sources you can trust. Ones based in the US currently aren’t trustworthy. Rebel Wrath is based in the UK, and this site is hosted in Germany with Ionos.
Do not use this site as your only source of information.
The social change ecosystem map is a good thing to learn, or the four roles of activism. We’re also filling this site with links to resources and posts we think will be helpful. Check out or activism articles regularly.
Okay, you have your cause (the thing you saw as unjust), you’ve changed your behaviour, you’re educating yourself, and you still want to do more. You want to tell everyone about this injustice you’ve decided to fight. You’re fired up, passionate, ready to riot. Now ask yourself, honestly, these two questions.
- what do you bring to the fight?
- how far are you willing to go?
But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you.
Liam Neeson, Taken
Maybe you’re a coder and you don’t want to be on the front line. That’s great – every activist group has a website these days. Volunteer your help there, or in making an app. Maybe you’re good at organising, or you have a talent at public speaking. Maybe you have an online platform. Even if your skill is dance, there’s a place for you and a way to use that skill for the cause.
There are places for lawyers and graphic designers, musicians and medics. If you work in a shop or a factory, don’t feel like you can’t help. What are your hobbies and interests? Maybe you love knitting. There are ways for everyone to help.
Thing that is wrong + thing that you are good at.
Use the thing you are good at to solve the thing that is wrong.
Just Stop Oil started out protesting against oil companies. They wrecked fuel pumps and surrounded tankers. The media ignored them. To get their message out, they threw paint over famous pictures at galleries. Now some of the members are in jail. Aaron Busnell set himself on fire outside the Embassy of Israel in Washington to protest the genocide in Palestine. Whilst no one will ask you to die for your cause, knowing what lines you will and won’t cross before you start protesting gives you a firm foundation. It also makes it easier to say no when group organisers are looking for volunteers for things that you know you can’t and won’t do.
don’t let people pressure you into crossing lines
Seriously, that shit is so important we gave it it’s own little section, centred it, and made it bold so it pops. It’s about risk and reward. Like Zoe. She knows she wants to campaign against factory farming, but she also knows she’s a single mum and if she goes to jail her kids end up in care. So she won’t risk jail time, but there’s plenty she can do for her cause that won’t end with her in prison.
It’s really important to know the lines you won’t cross because, if you’re in the US, the ones trying to convince you to cross that line could be the FBI. They’ve been entrapping people for decades by convincing them to break laws then arresting them for doing so. In the UK, undercover cops have even been sleeping with activists. If a trans person doesn’t declare they’re trans before sex, that’s rape, but cops can lie about everything and that’s just sex. Some of those cops had kids, and those kid’s fathers “vanished” when the mission was over. All cops are bastards, and rapey undercover spy cops are especially bastards.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t break laws. It is saying that you should not break laws without fully understanding the worse case scenario and its impact on your life if you are caught. Know exactly what you are risking when you do it. Weigh the pros and cons, know exactly what you are risking it for. What will be the impact on the cause if you do this? What will be the impact on your life if you are caught? Don’t break laws with others you haven’t known for years. Don’t break laws your first few years as an activist, unless you absolutely have to, and you understand the risks. If you are in the US, and especially if you are Black, those risks include being shot. But you knew that anyway.
Joining a Group
So remember that bit about five sentences ago about not breaking laws with someone you haven’t known for years? Some organisations are hard to get involved with. They have to be, when any new member could be an undercover cop. Some organisations are too easy to get involved with – you know that first ever job you had, when you had no experience, and they paid you almost nothing and treated you like crap? You’re back there with no experience again. No one in the scene knows you.
Which ties back to what we said about education. If you’ve been educating yourself, you know the local groups. You probably know of local events. If you don’t, look for your local radical bookshop. Follow organisations on social media, and join in with their public actions. You don’t need to be a member of a group to attend its marches and rallies.
Different groups will work in different ways. Some really are just movements, thousands or tens of thousands of people pulled into the zeitgeist with no real organisation. The protests and riots after the murder of George Floyd were like this. Some are so organised they function almost like a corporation. Greenpeace has a CEO and a board, 2400 staff members and 15000 volunteers. Each regional director is elected by the regional board, too.
Everything between those two extremes exists.
Some groups will need a cv of sorts, which means your name and probably your social media. It’s not just cops they’re watching for, they have to check you’re not a Nazi.
We’re possibly naively optimistic, but we believe in non-profits and charities. We’ve been warned about them, though, so we’ll pass that warning on here. A group that relies on donations will receive more donations when they are viewed as necessary. They are incentivised not to win. If they are no longer seen as necessary, they will no longer receive donations.
Starting a Group
There are issues with starting groups for a cause. One of the major issues is dilution of resources. Let’s say you decide to start a group that gathers stray cats and takes them to get neutered. You rely on donations, and you start pulling in $500 a month. But there are already two other groups in your area doing this, and they were getting $750 a month each. Now they’re getting $500. If there was one group getting $1500, they could potentially do more than three groups getting $500 each.
You take on responsibilities you never considered. What will you do when one of your group sexually assaults another? It could happen, and you need a plan for when it does. Rebel Wrath publishes fiction, and has a marketing plan. The first section in that plan is crisis management. The first section in any marketing plan should be. What could go wrong, and what will you do when it does?
If you’re white, and your group consists of your friends who are also white, you may come under fire for lacking intersectionality. If the person you put in charge of donations does a bunk with the cash, you will be held partially responsible. Anytime there is cash, expect it to be stolen. If your activists break laws, you may end up in court.
It’s not all bad though.
Starting a group comes back to the earlier equation we did. Thing that is wrong + thing that you are good at. Use the thing you are good at to solve the thing that is wrong.
You’ve identified injustice and you’ve identified your strengths. You know what is wrong, you know what you’re good at, now get together with some friends and work out how to use your combined talents and skills to fix the issue you identified. You could be illegally distributing HRT in a place where it’s banned, smuggling queer people out of a country that will kill them, or printing a zine about ways to stand against fascism. Maybe you want to provide food to hungry people, shelter for people experiencing homelessness, or adopt dogs that have spent too long in “kill shelters.”
Even when a similar group exists, it can be worth beginning another one. If there are multiple groups, it becomes harder for undercover cops to infiltrate them all.
The Activism Dial
Sometimes in our lives
Lean On Me, Bill Withers, 1972
We all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there’s always tomorrow
Activism isn’t a sprint, and it isn’t a marathon. It’s more like a treadmill. Sometimes you’re on the treadmill, and sometimes you’re not. This is probably the worst analogy ever written, but it’s 3 A.M. The point is, life circumstances change. Our safety alters depending on our situation. Your mental health will alter. Seeing a lack of progress will harm you.
Have a dial on your activism. Sometimes you’ll be full throttle, and sometimes you’ll dial so far back it’s almost turned off. Take care of yourself or you can’t care for anyone else.
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