Four Immediate Steps to Resist Authoritarianism

A practical guide to reclaim agency and push back—starting today.

A detailed Playbook for Resisting a Human Rights Collapse offering comprehensive strategies and deeper tactical guidance is coming soon. Until then, here are immediate actions we can take right now.

This is for those of us painfully aware of what’s unfolding, who feel the weight of dread and powerlessness as authoritarianism advances. The following steps transform that anxiety and fear into concrete resistance—empowering each of us to reclaim agency and push back together.

Resistance begins now.

1. Disrupt the Narrative

Authoritarianism thrives in silence, confusion, and normalization. That means the first layer of resistance is clarity.

• Speak clearly and often. Say what others are hesitating to name. Use your voice, platform, or small circles to say: “This is not normal. This is not okay.”

• Make the message visible. Posters. Stickers. Shirts. Cards. Graffiti. Art. Protest signs. Whatever you can do to name the threat publicly.

• Flood the algorithm with truth. Post, write, or share media that calls out authoritarian practices, especially from trusted sources or firsthand analysis.

• Push back on euphemisms. When media uses passive or vague language (“controversial policy,” “detainment center”), reframe it: “You mean torture and indefinite imprisonment without trial.”

2. Fortify and Inform Communities

We need networks, not just outrage. Authoritarianism isolates—resistance reconnects.

• Host small gatherings, in-person or online, to talk through what’s happening and why it matters. You don’t need to be an expert. You just need to open the space.

• Distribute resistance work in digestible formats. Make zines, mini handouts, QR codes, video explainers. Bring them to protests, libraries, laundromats, classrooms.

• Equip others with language. Many people feel something is wrong but don’t have the words. Give them those words—that’s power.

• Normalize exit strategies. Talk with loved ones about what you’d do if things escalate. Not to fearmonger but to plan with clarity. Authoritarian regimes count on chaos. Resistance plans.

3. Pressure Institutions While They Still Respond

Even weakened institutions are pressure-sensitive. They move when the risk of inaction becomes greater than the risk of action.

• Contact representatives, especially about immediate abuses (e.g. Trump’s deportation deal with Bukele, Kilmar’s case, CECOT use).

• Demand hearings. Call or email Judiciary Committee members and insist on congressional scrutiny of offshore detention, the use of the Alien Enemies Act, and the potential targeting of U.S. citizens.

• Support lawsuits. Organizations like the ACLU, Amnesty, and Cristosal are filing legal challenges. They need visibility, donations, and pressure behind them.

• Show up at protests but go prepared. Bring tools. Bring information. Be the one people walk away from saying: “I didn’t know that. Now I do.”

4. Build What They Want to Break

Authoritarianism is not just about repression—it’s about destroying people’s sense that anything different is possible. Our job is to prove them wrong.

• Support mutual aid networks: Help people survive the system while working to transform it.

• Defend public infrastructure: Libraries, health clinics, schools, housing support. That’s where the ground game of democracy lives.

• Celebrate dissent: Lift up truth-tellers, whistleblowers, leakers, journalists, and survivors. Let them know we see them. That’s fuel.

• Archive everything: Screenshot. Save files. Build offline copies. Document abuses. The truth is already being erased in real time. We must preserve it.

And finally: Ask this question every day

“What is mine to do?”

Not: Can I fix everything?

Not: Is it enough?

But: What is mine to do today?

Then do that. And tomorrow, do it again.

That’s how resistance grows. Not all at once. But relentlessly.

We are in this together. There are more of us than there will ever be of them and when we act collectively, history shows that oppressive systems always break before people do.

Next Step: Protests Are Our Voice: Make This Saturday Count

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Navigating Critical Resistance

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