Burlington Resistance Skills and Strategy training

When tyrants seize power for themselves, ordinary people step in to take it back.

From Serbia to Chile to Poland, movements brought down authoritarian regimes by making them impossible to run, through strikes, boycotts, refusal, and millions of ordinary people deciding they wouldn’t help harm each other. But they didn’t wake up one morning and know how. Showing up to get trained is part of that tradition.

Here in Vermont, we’ve been doing plenty to fight back: From protesting ICE to advancing first-in-the-nation climate and clean energy laws to combat the climate crisis.

With the 2026 elections approaching, the next threat is clear: Trump wants to seize and hold power by keeping people from voting and controlling who counts. This is a moment to get ready: to build skills, expand our networks, and mean it when we say: Hands off our vote!

That’s why we’re coming together for a free, interactive training that will leave you with a clearer sense of strategy, a stronger community, and practical ways to take action.

This training will cover:

• The authoritarian playbook, and how to disrupt it
• Pillars of support: why power depends on everyday participation
• Real-world stories of movements that won
• What’s ahead in 2026 and how we can protect our vote
• Concrete next steps to plug into local organizing

This training is free and open to everyone ready to build real power to defend our communities and our vote, whether you’re brand new or have been organizing for years. It’s part of the national Protest: Respect It, Defend It, Use It book tour, and led by Nadine Bloch, Training Director at Beautiful Trouble and co-founder of Freedom Trainers. Join the more than 1 million people who have participated in these trainings nationwide.

Space is limited. Register early and forward to anyone who should be there.

PS – Get inspired the night before for a Protest book talk on Friday, June 5, at Patagonia Burlington, then come ready to build skills and take action.