| CARVIEW |
Choose Democracy stands against Trump’s authoritarian regime.
We’re democracy-loving people. We share practical actions and lessons from around the globe to fight autocrats.
What can I do to fight authoritarianism?
Starting points on how to orient and help fight authoritarianism:
1. Get with others to act
2. Pressure a pillar of support to defect
3. Devote yourself to a long-term project
Read complete guide: “What can I do to fight authoritarianism?”
Get ideas and inspiration from stories of resistance at: Resist List
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Honoring the many responses to Renee Nicole Good’s murder by Daniel Hunter published in Waging Nonviolence -
Trump's Bloody Hands: Estimated deaths from Trump policies in 2025 by Daniel Hunter published in Waging Nonviolence -
Feeling powerless doesn’t mean you are powerless Report by Choose Democracy -
Timely lessons for keeping people safe in the streets by Eileen Flanagan published in Waging Nonviolence -
Can nonviolent struggle defeat a dictator? This database emphatically says yes by George Lakey -
Democracy is a Verb International lessons on fighting full-blown authoritarianism from Waging Nonviolence
Strategic Escalation in a Trump Era
120-minute training
Goals
- Understand different of actions: symbolic actions, noncooperation (omission), disruption (commission), and alternative cooperation
- How to be more powerful in action design, from humorous street theater to dilemma actions
- Discuss how tactics may shift under a Trump Presidency
- Touch on action safety and maintaining discipline
Sense-making and Vision: how did we get here?
120-minute training
Goals
- preparing people emotionally to be ready to fight back (emotional triage),
- girding people for the long fights ahead by making people feel part of a large resistance community (how to organize under the new threat),
- orienting towards our next steps (you can adapt this to your design — here we’re introducing the “Block and Build” strategy).This design requires some adaptations for your group, including your specific plans next and some chances for leadership to openly reflect on what they’re taking away from this moment. (People will want to hear from you!)
Action Security and De-escalation
120-minute training
Goals
- how to make actions safer before, during and after an action;
- de-escalation with people on our side and opposition.
How to talk with people you might disagree with
120-minute training
Goals
- Learn skills for bridging with unlikely allies:
– reframing condemnatory ways of communicating
– intro to Race/Class Narrative
– asking open ended questions
– sharing personal narratives - Committing to at least one place where we will practice (e.g. public invitations or deep canvassing or…).
120-minute training
Goals
- Understand what mutual aid is and why people do it
- Know the initial steps of starting your own neighborhood pod
- Learn about Pod Mapping
Have additional resources for your own mutual aid work
120-minute training
Goals
- Build understanding of the contours of political violence, especially in our own contexts
- Awaken imagination about how we might assertively respond in the face of threats or acts of political violence
- Explore concepts that can help us identify and undermine political violence
- Practice tools and approaches you can use at home right now or in a moment of crisis
- Connect with others who are also working to interrupt political violence
- Celebrate the ways our communities have creatively resisted political violence
