Channeling Grassroots Energy Into Collective Action: General Strike US

Cover: Solidarity strike in New York with Minnesota General Strikers.

Radical Guide || On February 15, A Radical Guide sat down with organizers from General Strike U.S. to talk about what it takes to build a movement that holds together — through uncertainty, across distance, and toward something bigger than any single action.

General Strike U.S. is a decentralized grassroots movement organizing toward a nationwide general strike. They work through local chapters focused on mutual aid, strike preparedness, and community engagement, anchored by the “Strike Card” — a pledge that activates once participation reaches 3.5% of the U.S. population, a threshold historically tied to successful nonviolent movements. It’s a long-game strategy, and it demands the kind of organizing that keeps people together while building toward collective power.

Daii organizes with the Michigan Chapter, bringing a Detroit-rooted commitment to self-reliant communities and collective resilience. Eliza Blum facilitates the NYC Chapter and comes out of SEIU and the Fight for $15 campaign, where she learned to channel grassroots energy into collective action.

Together they share what their chapters are doing on the ground, how they’re building solidarity across a national network, and what they’ve learned about sustaining movements through uncertainty. We dig into what survival looks like when you’re doing mutual aid with limited resources, how chapters stay connected and accountable to each other, and how local organizing fits into a strategy for mass collective action.

A Radical Guide is a movement partner of General Strike U.S.