Recent years have seen our community and movement partners on the frontlines wracked by COVID-19, ongoing systemic anti-Black racism, accelerating climate disasters and growing authoritarian repression, which have all disproportionately harmed those we work alongside: those who survive at the margins, and those whose existence and resistance threatens the intolerable status quo.
Toolkit for the Movement is a collection of resources from the Center for Constitutional Rights to support and protect our communities. We’ve long known the authoritarian playbook; these resources are chapters in the People’s Playbook. The resource contains: Protest Planner to help organizers, participants and observers surface legal issues that may arise when planning civil disobedience and protest activities; If An Agent Knocks, offering information and advice for individuals targeted by the FBI or other federal agents; FOIA Basics for Activists, which breaks down how to use the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a tool that anyone can use to expose government and corporate actions and equip themselves with the information they need to organize; and, together with Immigrant Defense Project, an updated version of our Defend Against ICE Raids and Community Arrests Toolkit to resist criminalization, deportation, family separation and much more.
We hope you’ll take a look, take what you need, and share widely!
Protest Planner - Legal Questions
The Protest Planner contains categories of questions to help people considering engaging in civil disobedience and protest activities surface potential legal issues and risks, and anticipate various outcomes. The Protest Planner can help those participating as well as those organizing, observing, and providing support. This resource also provides recommendations for national and local legal organizations that may be in a position to support protesters and/or help locate legal representation in your area.
FOIA Basics for Activists
The federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other public records laws have long been critical tools at the core of the Center for Constitutional Rights' social justice work in support of community and movement partners. FOIA Basics for Activists, as a dynamic web resource, is designed to support activists, organizers, and social movements and provides step-by-step guidance in filing FOIA requests, as well as insight and examples of how to use FOIA strategically to aid ongoing advocacy. Find out more at Open Records Project: FOIA for the Movement.
If An Agent Knocks
Since its original release in 1989, If An Agent Knocks has been widely circulated in progressive activist communities across the country and regularly updated. The current version of If An Agent Knocks provides advice to activists and communities likely to be targeted by FBI agents or other federal law enforcement who have a history targeting radical and progressive movements. Drawing on decades of the Center for Constitutional Rights’ experience representing activists and communities subject to federal repression, If An Agent Knocks offers information and concrete suggestions for potential interactions with federal agents, how to document them, and how to protect yourself and your communities.
Defend Against ICE Raids and Community Arrests: A Toolkit to Prepare & Protect Our Communities
Defend Against ICE Raids and Community Arrests, the product of the Immigrant Defense Project and the Center for Constitutional Rights’ collective work against ICE arrests under Bush and Obama, serves as the first comprehensive guide and organizing resource to fight back against the efforts to criminalize communities and deport millions of people. The resource remains a critical tool for our communities, and the data is continuously updated via the ICEWatch Raids Map.
