Jakarta's urban poor have found a way to fight City Hall - and win

Black Lives Matters protests have been sustained by an autonomously organized mutual aid network providing a range of services for protesters and community members. Requests for information and assistance are sent using encrypted communication. The groups provide medics, public protest art, legal and financial aid, and even mechanics to service protesters’ cars and a group that helps protesters replace glasses that were damaged or lost due to police encounters. The extensive mutual aid network enables flexibility to respond to a diverse set of changing needs, sustaining protests longer than in other cities.

The high census completion rate in Lee-Harvard, as high as 70%, compared to Cleveland’s 50% as a whole, is the result of regular meetings, pre-pandemic, to educate residents of the benefits of the census and dispel common myths. After the pandemic, volunteers at the community center’s monthly food distribution provided census-related information. A group of retired women, called the Ward 1 Volunteer Navigators, also went door-to-door to make sure everyone got counted. Because many of the residents are long time homeowners, neighbor-to-neighbor relationships also led more residents to complete the census.

Native individuals and members of groups like Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women have taken it into their own hands to find members of their communities who have gone missing. Recognizing that decades-old legislation often under-prioritizes tribal lands, indigenous populations have turned to grassroots efforts and social media to form their own search parties – and are seeing results.

After an earthquake devastated the town of Düzce, Turkey, residents banded together to create a housing cooperative and later Düzce Hope Studio, a group of pro-bono architects and engineers working to help rebuild the town. What makes the building team unique is that the design process included and valued residents’ voices. Yaşar Adanah, an urban researcher, states, “What’s happening in Düzce is a rare example of a holistic approach to housing that can be a model for other neighborhoods.”

Climate change is a growing issue, but the Citizens' Climate Lobby (a group of volunteers who work to get Republicans and Democrats to work in unison) is aiming to curb carbon emissions. So far the group has had a large increase in number of volunteers and politicians joining and willing to work together.

Bogotá has become a danger for pedestrians. Cars have the right of the way and it is up to pedestrians to stay alert and safe. Now, citizens are using paint on sidewalks and roads to draw attention to dangers such as potholes or areas where pedestrians have been killed.

Global social and economic problems are difficult to change. However, fan-activism fuels the interests of fans of popular young adult fiction. Books such as Harry Potter and the Hunger Games have inspired activist groups that raise awareness of global hunger, reading, and relief supplies to impoverished nations, among others. Being a fan has served as a bridge to become politically active and solve the world’s problems.

L’Heure Civique aims to make it easier and more flexible for French citizens to volunteer in an era where fewer and fewer people are regularly volunteering, requiring just an hour of service per month and offering up opportunities as they come rather than requiring long-term commitment. The organization is now active in about 250 communities with more than 24,000 volunteers.

Honor the Earth is an anti-data center coalition monitoring the construction of hyperscale data centers in or near indigenous land. Through their efforts, town halls, doorknocking, attending tribal council meetings and more, they’ve formed a community with people in agriculture and beyond, working to push back against data center construction and enact protections for communities. As a result of their efforts, the Tulsa City Council signed a 9-month moratorium on data centers, and the Seminole Nation also unanimously passed its own moratorium.

Philadelphia’s Chinatown remains authentic and keeps its position downtown by organizing together to preserve the community through activism.