Welcome to Dispatch #50! Wow, it's wild that we're writing that, FIFTY dispatches! Thank you for sticking around with us for so long. We really appreciate it! This week we want to reflect on the student-led protests that are rocking countries around the world, from the US to Madagascar, France to Greece, and everywhere in between. We're seeing a record amount of uprising, but will there be revolution?
This week's Deep Dive we discuss a similar moment in the 2010s that didn't result in the change we expected, the limits of digital organizing, and how our movements can adapt to the rapidly evolving digital age. We also have a brief analysis of Tunisia's success in 2011, and the definition of "tactical freeze" which plagues many digitally organized movements.
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Easy Actions to Take
Why: Apple recently bought an Israeli AI company for nearly $2 billion and the iPhone 17e reportedly features a chip developed in Israel. Tech development in Israel legitimizes and fuels the genocidal apartheid state. Criminal complaints against Apple allege the corporation is also sourcing conflict minerals from eastern Congo tied to violence and child labor. As Apple launches iPhone 18, we're joining with a global coalition to say NO to Apple's complicity in atrocities against Palestinians and Congolese communities. Organized by Apples Against Apartheid
Why: On 15 October 2026 the Associated Press sent out a story by Sam Metz and Bassem Mroue under the headline "Israel says commercial goods will not enter Gaza, a major shut-off for the hungry territory". The headline presents Israel as the one passing on the news, not the state that decides what Gaza eats, and calls those people a "hungry territory", as if their hunger appeared by magic, with no one to blame. AP copy goes straight onto news sites around the world, distorting the reality on the ground. Organized by Newscord
⏱~3min | Send a letter to Fidelity to restore funding to Southern Poverty Law Center (Click here For Fidelity Customers)
Why: The SPLC has been a consequential civil rights organization for more than fifty years, tracking violent extremists before they act. Trump’s Department of Justice is trying to tear down the systems meant to hold white supremacist organizations accountable by indicting them and cutting off funding. Demand that Fidelity restore SLPC’s status as a grantee so that donors can still support them. Organized by Color of Change
Little (Movement) Wins
Why Tunisia Became the Arab Spring’s Most Successful Revolution
Activist History
In December 2010, a 26-year-old street vendor in a small Tunisian city set himself on fire in front of a government building. Twenty-eight days later, a dictator who had ruled for 23 years was on a plane out of the country in what many call the only successful revolution of the Arab Spring.
President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali had controlled the country since 1987. On paper, Tunisia looked fine: international observers pointed to economic growth rates of 4-5%. In practice, that wealth belonged to a thin slice of the population clustered around the capital and the wealthier north. Ben Ali’s government tightly controlled the press, and crushed political opposition before it could take root. The interior of the country, rural and forgotten, faced unemployment rates as high as 30% among young graduates.
The regime held onto power through a simple formula: economic pressure to keep people too exhausted to organize, and enough police repression to punish those who tried. For decades, it worked. Until one man was pushed to the breaking point.
Continue reading to learn about the Tunisian Revolution and what factors made it more successful compared to others during the Arab Spring.
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Tactical Freeze
The Conscious Citizens Dictionary
Tactical freeze refers to a state where individuals or groups become unable to make decisions or take action in response to a situation, often due to a lack of established leadership or organizational structure. This phenomenon can occur in rapidly formed movements or during high-stress situations, leading to a pause in effective response.
Learn more about this phenomenon in Zeynep Tufekci’s book *Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protests* which discusses the advantages and limits of protests organized through social media.
The Missing Ingredients for a 21st Century Revolution
Deep Dive
The world is being rocked by another wave of mass uprisings happening across nearly every continent. From North to South, East to West, movements overwhelmingly led by students and young people are mobilizing to demand change. Despite what the mainstream media might portray as “radical”, the demands of these movements are pretty reasonable: more accountability, public resources, and opportunities; less corruption, austerity, and militarism.
From the US to Brazil and Argentina, France to Spain and Serbia, India to Nepal and Indonesia, Morocco to Kenya and Madagascar, the story is very similar. A generation that is over-educated and under-resourced, highly connected by the internet, and pissed off about the world they are about to inherit.
As Millenials ourselves, we can relate to this feeling. Neoliberal economic policies have globalized the economy, crushed unions, and empowered an oligarch class that dominate political and civic life. The social contract of “study well, find a job, work hard, and get a good life” has been ripped apart. For all intents and purposes, this should be ripe conditions for a revolution of global scale - but where is it? It feels we are often at the precipice of massive change that remains agonizingly just out of reach.
Continue reading to learn why protests in the 2010s were largely unsuccessful, how digital media is changing the movement landscape, and how we can adapt to the changing times.
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“No movement can survive unless it is constantly growing and changing with the times. If it isn't growing, if it's stagnant, and without the support of the people, no movement for liberation can exist, no matter how correct its analysis of the situation is.”
- Assata Shakur
Resources & Tools
- Mass Deportation & ICE Defense Masterlist | Our huge collection of ICE-defense resources for immigrants and allies alike. Check it out and share widely as ICE activity increases ahead of US midterms!
- Election Defense Scenarios Guide by Freedom Trainers | This is a very comprehensive guide written by Daniel Hunter with messaging guidance by ASO Communications for Freedom Trainers outlining 18 different ways American elections could be tampered with, and how to resist.
- Movement Finance Explainer Series | A series of 6 short videos digging into the evolution of money, how it actually moves, and how it could move differently to build the future we want to see.
- 5 Part Strategy for a Living Revolution by George Lakey | Explore a 5-Part Strategic Framework for revolutionary systems change, drawing from nonviolent movements from around the world.
- Sitting Around | A family and community led babysitting co-op portal with local groups across the world, with the most groups in the US, Canada, and Australia.
➡️ Explore More on our Directory!
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With Love & Light,
Elisa & Ray
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