Most Effective

Here are a few projects that the Actipedia staff believe show clear evidence of effectiveness. Feel free to write to us with any other suggestions!
Dad Writes Anti-Sexism Timewarp Letter to Daughter's School
Practitioner:
Stephen Callaghan
Date:
Aug 12 2017

When the boys were sent on a field trip to a hardware store and girls went to get their hair done, this modern dad didn’t get mad, he got hilarious. He wrote a letter notifying the school that there was a rift in the time space continuum somewhere in the school and that his kids had been sent back to 1968. He requested that the administration fix the timewarp immediately. This kind of humor is a hallmark of creative nonviolence.

Vietnam comes to Washington
Practitioner:
Vietnam Veterans Against the War
Date:
Jun 15 1971

It’s the summer of 1971 and tourists flock around one of Washington DC’s most famous hotspots – the Capitol steps. Journalist Art Goldberg recalls ‘a squad of soldiers moving through the space. They are grubby-looking troopers, clad in jungle fatigues. Jumping a low fence, they begin shouting at a group of tourists. “All right! Hold it! Hold it! Nobody move. Nobody move!” Their voices full of tension and anger. A man runs from the crowd.

Stop Being Serious, This Protest is a Laughing Matter
Practitioner:
Farmers
Date:
Sep 1 1992
In Burma, dogs ridicule the regime
Practitioner:
Burmese dissidents
Date:
Sep 15 2007

Dogs featured in one ruse to ridicule the regime—pictures of dictator Than Shwe were hung around the necks of the stray dogs that roam the streets of Rangoon. The pictures, which rapidly found their way onto the Internet, are the work of an exiled Burmese satirist who goes by the name of Mr Creator. Downloaded copies of his pictures and cartoons are popular items among cyber dissidents.

Freedom riders
Practitioner:
Hundreds
Date:
May 4 1961

The first legislative victory of the Civil Rights era was obtained by hundreds of people going where they weren't invited. In 1961, Black and white Freedom Riders, well trained by SNCC in nonviolent action, rode Greyhound buses from Washington DC southwards primarily in order to wait, together, in waiting rooms that were still unconstitutionally segregated.

Minneapolis police station torched amid George Floyd protest
Practitioner:
activists
Date:
May 28 2020

(See also: approval rates for Black Lives Matter following the start of the protests over the murder of George Floyd by police.)

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