By SF Bay Mutual Aid and PB
Authoritarians want us isolated and afraid. Through raids, bans, and cruel policies, they’re trying to make fascism feel normal. Families are separated, neighbors harassed, and whole communities pushed into silence. But we refuse to face this alone.
Solidarity Circles are small, self-organized groups where people choose each other and stand together. Small, trust-based groups have unique power. They can move faster than large organizations, go deeper than public campaigns, and act more creatively than top-down efforts. Civil resistance does not only mean confrontation. It also means building the world we want and refusing to comply with systems that cause harm.
Community Building
Community building lays the foundation for action. It is how we build trust, belonging, and political imagination. It creates the conditions for sustained resistance and collective care. You can invite friends, neighbors, coworkers, or others into your circle or help them form their own. Potlucks, movie nights, hikes, art nights, or skill shares build strong relationships and make movement work enjoyable and sustaining. Listening circles, ceremonies, or healing practices help process grief, joy, and transformation together.
Educational and Persuasion
Circles gather to raise consciousness and shift understanding of power, justice, and collective struggle. Circles can help make political education personal, grounded, and engaging by reading books or articles together and helping each other connect the dots between lived experience and systemic conditions. Circles can host teach-ins to lead public conversations about housing, labor, policing, climate, or racial justice. Some hang posters, create zines, put on performances, alter billboards, paint graffiti or chalk messages that shift public narratives.
Mutual Aid
Circles can responds to immediate needs while building alternatives to systems of neglect and control. This is a form of resistance grounded in care, survival, and solidarity and can include distributing food, transportation, funds, medical supplies, child care, or housing support. Some circles offer emotional support with peer listening partnerships or regular check-ins to reduce burnout and isolation. Circles can provide emergency support for people facing eviction, arrest, natural disasters, or personal emergencies. Circles can create systems like tool libraries, protest safety teams, or solidarity funds that increase community resilience.
Disobey and Refuse
Civil disobedience involves intentionally refusing to comply with unjust laws or systems. It can take many forms, from quiet acts of defiance to public disruption. Some circles engage in direct action such as sit-ins, blockades, banner drops, or other disruptions targeting harmful institutions. Others support strikes by showing up for workers on strike with material support and physical presence. Circles can provide sanctuary and protection by offering shelter and support to people targeted by law enforcement, including immigrants, trans people, or abortion seekers. We can all withdraw participation from systems of exploitation with boycotts, divestment campaigns or work stoppages.
There is no single best tactic. Circles are strongest when they act with intention, figure out what to do together, and stay connected to the broader strggle for justice. To join or start a circle in your area, solidaritycircles.org/join.