Street Spirit - The Power of Protest and Mischief
WHEN NO ONE'S LISTENING, IT TAKES MORE THAN SHOUTING TO BE HEARD...
Steve Crawshaw's Street Spirit: The Power of Protest and Mischief, with a foreword by Ai Weiwei, celebrates some of the most remarkable protests from around the world – using humour, courage and creativity to defy the sceptics and bring about change.
‘Never retreat. Retweet.’

China, 2009. The artist Ai Weiwei, under arrest in an elevator. He shared the image with the world.
From the Foreword by Ai Weiwei
When a totalitarian society faces creative protests, it is like ice meeting fire …
Change is not a matter of belief. It is as inevitable as evolution. Over the centuries, human history has been impressive with its constant change. The only surprise is that the changes keep happening, faster and faster. They are beyond our prediction. The question is not whether changes will happen or not. Change can happen at any time, anywhere. It is happening now ...
No matter what kind of society we live in, it takes the individual to rebel and exercise civil disobedience for those in power to recognize public concerns. The only effective expression for protest is creative expression.
‘A hero is somebody who does what he can.’
Thailand, 2014: For the military junta, sandwich-eating and book-reading both became arrestable offences.
NARONG SANGNAK / EPA / ALAMY
Praise for Street Spirit
If you care about something deeply, your mind and your body will take you to the streets and force you to organize, to be political, to protest and to fight. This is a condition as basic and natural for a human being as love — and that’s why Steve Crawshaw’s book matters.
A lovely book, wonderful stories, fascinating ... In a world worried about too many isms, a bright antidote.
Full of wonderful and entertaining stories of the power to create change.
‘I, too, am America.’
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2016. Ieshia Murray, a Pennsylvania nurse, awaits her arrest.
JONATHAN BACHMAN / REUTERS
‘I have no symptoms, I have opinions.’
‘Your opinions are your symptoms. Your disease is dissent.’
Prague, Czechoslovakia, November 1989. Riding to the revolution.
Photo by Steve Crawshaw