Are you passionate about creative activism, social movements and Quickbooks? Are you a detail oriented, number-literate activist? Here is an opportunity to work with a network of creative changemakers as they build a more solid organizational foundation for either world domination or financial sustainability, whichever comes first.

Have you heard the news? The latest international version of Beautiful Trouble is hot off the press and stirring up trouble!

Hello Troublemakers,

Last week we reported on what turned out to be the inaugural gathering of the Beautiful Trouble Training Network. We promised a follow-up post to describe the new collective vision for the Network that is unfolding, and outline a potential path forward. Well, this is that post. But before we dive into our brave new future, a bit of back-story is essential.

Over Memorial Day weekend, 23 intrepid movement builders traveled by plane, train, automobile and bicycle (yes — bicycle! David Sievers from Avaaz rode his bike 14 miles from the train station) to the gorgeous Watershed Retreat Center in Millerton, New York for the first ever Beautiful Trouble Training for Trainers.

In early February, while on the train from Paris, members of the non-violent Basque action group Bizi devoured an early release copy of “Joyeux Bordel” (that’s French for Beautiful Trouble) that they had just picked up from the ATTAC France offices. Inspired, they thought up the action “requisition cityoenne” before they reached home in Bayonne.

If you’ve been to any of the #blacklivesmatter protests, you may have seen the slogan “Justice from Ferguson to Palestine” on a protest sign. You may have wondered: Really? How are these struggles really connected? This December, I was in Palestine, and I found out first hand.

“I don’t have the privilege of losing hope,” said Nabila Espanioly, a Palestinian feminist activist speaking on stage. “The urgency of action requires reflection to be more sustainable and effective.” In two breaths, Espanioly addressed two ongoing philosophic activism questions — How can we find hope in such troubling times? and How can we find time for thoughtful reflection amidst the chaos outside? — and poised herself as a beautiful troublemaker.

Hello Beautiful Troublemakers,

As my friend Max Haiven said this week, “Last year, we refused to keep losing. This year, we teach ourselves to win.”

And Beautiful Trouble is right in sync with the movements teaching themselves to win. In 2014 we re-invented ourselves — into something more ambitious, more diverse, and perhaps a bit extraordinary — three Beautiful(s) in one. 2015 is going to be 300% more Beautiful!

Beautiful Trouble is “A Toolbox for Revolution.” It doesn’t belong on the coffee table. It belongs in the hands of organizers and artists on the frontlines working to make the world a better place. This holiday season, you can help put one where it belongs.

The global south has long been at the forefront of creative protest tactics and strategies. Beautiful Rising, a partnership between ActionAid and Beautiful Trouble, seeks to document, systematize and share these innovations so that others can learn from them and apply them in their own contexts.

Hello Troublemakers!

We’re thrilled to tell you about Beautiful Trouble: Handbuch für eine unwiderstehliche Revolution—the brand-new hot-off-the-presses THIRD international version of Beautiful Trouble.

This past month was a big, big moment for the Climate Justice movement. And Beautiful Trouble was there. In fact, we were kind of everywhere…

Beautiful Trouble just completed our most ambitious training yet — and it was a smashing success!

The Beautiful Trouble collective is excited to announce a new partnership to develop an online “solutions gallery” with This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate, the forthcoming book by Naomi Klein and documentary by Avi Lewis. The Beautiful Solutions gallery will launch as part of the This Changes Everything website in September, and will highlight the solutions, tactics, values, and theoretical concepts needed to build new institutions grounded in justice and sustainability.

Exciting new partnership will collect & share lessons from activists in the global south!

The collective that brought you Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution is teaming up with Rachel Plattus and Eli Feghali of the New Economy Coalition to assemble a toolbox for building a just and livable future. Beautiful Solutions: A Toolbox for the Future will adapt the modular, interconnected structure of Beautiful Trouble, as well as its successful model of movement-wide collaboration. If you’re involved in building alternatives anywhere in the world, we want to hear from you.

Hello Troublemakers!

We’re thrilled to tell you about Bella Revuelta: La Caja de Herramientas Para Hacer La Revolución—the brand-new hot-off-the-presses SECOND international version of Beautiful Trouble. Published by Milrazones, this Spanish version of BT’s Pocket Edition was officially launched in March 2014, with several events in Madrid and Barcelona that featured BT wrangler-in-chief Andrew Boyd.

In a first time collaborative effort, Beautiful Trouble, The Yes Lab, and the Center for Artistic Activism came together to deliver a two-day Creative Action Training for 50+ activists and artists at NYU’s Hemispheric Institute.

Dear Troublemakers,

Our partners-in-trouble, Waging Nonviolence, are launching a new column entitled “Beautiful Trouble” that is inspired by, you guessed it, the growing world of Beautiful Trouble. The first essay, “When Martin Luther King Gave Up His Guns”, was published on January 15th, 2014, to coincide with the birthday of the eminent civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dear Troublemakers,

We have exciting news — Beautiful Trouble has begun rolling out BRAND NEW CONTENT to expand and deepen our approach to the art and science of creative action. The first new chapter is Tactic: Light Brigade, which showcases how the national coalition Overpass Light Brigade bears witness to injustice with illuminated messages in public spaces.