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Person

Lisa Fithian

Nationality:

American
Born:

1961
Occupation(s):

Professional Activist

Protest Consultant/Organizer

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Lisa Fithian is a radical-left professional activist and protest consultant who has organized and supported numerous left-of-center protest movements, including the Occupy Wall Street movement, and supporting pro-Palestinian protests during the 2023-2024 Israel-Hamas war. 1

Fithian lives in Austin, Texas, but spends the majority of her time on the road, teaching classes on protest organization and attending left-of-center rallies in support of social justice causes. 2 She is the author of Shut It Down: Stories from a Fierce, Loving Resistance and wrote the foreword to the 50th anniversary reprint of left-wing radical Abbie Hoffman’s book, Steal This Book. 3 4

Early Life and Education

Lisa Fithian was raised in Hawthorne, New York. 5 She attended Skidmore College where she studied social work. 6

Fithian began her work in activism and protest organizing while president of her high school’s student government, where she protested budget cuts that reduced student funding. 7 She continued her early activism work at Skidmore College where as president of the student government association, she led the fight to save the nursing program. 7 Although the program closed, the university agreed with Fithian’s petition to allow the then-current students to finish their degrees. 7

In 1983, upon her graduation from college, Fithian spent a year working with Abbie Hoffman, a left-wing radical who founded the anti-war Youth International Party (the “Yippies”) and was a part of the Chicago Seven Trial regarding the 1968 Democratic National Convention protest. 8 9 Together, they worked at the environmentalist organization Save The River, where they stopped a billion-dollar Army Corp of Engineer project on the St. Lawrence Seaway. 7

Early Activism

Lisa Fithian focused her post-collegiate activism on the United States’ involvement abroad, toward what she claimed is a mission of nonviolent social change. 7 She also worked in LGBT activism, antiracism, and labor and trade protest organization on top of radical environmentalism. 7

Anti-War and US Foreign Policy

During the 1980s, Lisa Fithian worked for Pledge of Resistance to stop a potential US invasion of Nicaragua, coordinating nonviolent civil disobedience. 7 She also led a 1987 shutdown of the CIA Headquarters where over 600 people were arrested. 7

Fithian worked for seven years with the Washington Peace Center, during which time she organized protests against the First Gulf War. 7

LGBT Rights

Lisa Fithian coordinated a 1987 protest in support of gay and lesbian interests at the Supreme Court where 800 people were arrested. 10

Antiracism

During her time at the Washington Peace Center, Lisa Fithian orchestrated a seven-year antiracist campaign after there were concerns that the organization was insufficiently diverse. 7

Labor Unionism

In 1993, Fithian joined the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) Organizing Institute to advocate labor unionism for hotel and hospital workers in Washington, D.C. 7 Fithian gained greater access to the labor movement, transitioning to protest and direct action organization roles with Justice for Janitors in D.C., Denver, Boston, and Los Angeles; the Dignity Campaign; and the United Auto Workers. 7

During the Justice for Janitors bridge blockades of the mid-1990s, Fithian trained hundreds of union members in nonviolent direct action to force contract negotiation for Local 82 in Washington, D.C. 11 In 2006, she consulted with Justice for Janitors in Houston to achieve the best first contract in the history of the union. 7 12

During her time in California, Fithian directed a statewide hospital campaign which led to union membership for thousands of workers. 7 In Los Angeles, she served as the Mobilization Coordinator for the 800,000 member Los Angeles Federation of Labor. 7 As recently as 2007, Fithian coordinated a security workers strike in San Francisco leading to new labor contracts which became a bargaining template for six more cities. 7

Trade Protests

In 1999, Lisa Fithian helped coordinate demonstrations against the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle. 7 The protests were intended to bring attention to the protesters’ opposition to globalization and international trade, but soon turned violent as the Seattle Police controlled the crowd with tear gas. 13

The success of the WTO shutdown propelled Fithian’s activism career as she began working more with the left-of-center global justice movement and the Continental Direct Action Network. 7 She went on to organize protests of the 2003 WTO meeting in Cancun, Mexico; the 2000–2002 IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington, D.C., Prague, and Ottawa; and several Group of Eight (G8) Summits across Europe. 7

Environmentalism

In 2002, Lisa Fithian worked with the Save Our Springs Alliance in Texas and founded the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, which works with Texas environmental groups to win Environmental Justice (EJ) grants. 7 As of May 2024, these environmental alliances have brought twelve EJ grants to Texas environmental groups. 7

After Hurricane Katrina, Fithian worked in New Orleans with Common Ground Relief to help residents resettle after losing their homes. 7 She also advocated antiracist, antisexist and “Undoing Racism” workshops to advocate left-of-center racial teachings in post-Katrina communities. 7 Regarding her work in New Orleans, Fithian stated, “When people ask me, ‘What do you do?’ I say, ‘I create crisis, because crisis is the leading edge where change is possible.’” 8

Occupy Wall Street

In 2011, Lisa Fithian helped organize the precursor to the Occupy Wall Street movement with the “On May 12th” protest. 7 This week-long affair culminated in 20,000 people converging on Wall Street to protest economic inequality. 7

The success of this protest influenced the official Occupy Wall Street movement that began on September 17, 2011, during which Fithian claims she “was in New York City training [activists] on the night of the 16th and taking the streets and parks with them that day.” 7

Black Lives Matter and Antiracism

Following the 2014 fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Fithian helped coordinate the political demonstrations and riots that ensued. 14 She continued her antiracist work with Black Lives Matter (BLM) in 2020 following the death of George Floyd, organizing riots and training protestors. 14 15

2024 College Campus Protests

Lisa Fithian was seen aiding the Columbia University protests against Israel’s war against Hamas in April 2024. 14 In widely circulated video footage, she can be seen instructing and coaching students how to occupy Columbia’s Hamilton Hall and how to remove counter protesters who attempted to defend their school and the United States. 14 The New York Police Department called Lisa Fithian a “professional agitator,” and both New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) and Columbia University president Minouche Shafik have blamed the radical protests on people with no connection to the university. 16

Fithian responded to these allegations by stating that she was “absolutely not” the person responsible for organizing the Columbia protests. 16

Consulting

A 2012 article in Mother Jones magazine dubbed Lisa Fithian, “Professor Occupy,” as it described the classroom-like instruction Fithian gives the young radicals whom she teaches to break the law. 8 The article reported that unions and activists pay Fithian $300 per day to both organize and run protests as well as teach and instruct future left-wing advocates. 8

She has received criticism for her paid protest consulting work the wake of her 2024 resurgence in the anti-Israel protests on college campuses. 15

References

  1. MacDougald, Park. “The People Setting America on Fire.” Tablet Magazine. May 6, 2024. Accessed May 13, 2024. https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/people-setting-america-on-fire-soros -tides-wespac
  2. Lisa Fithian Resume. Organizing for Power, Organizing for Change. Accessed May 13, 2023. https://www.organizingforpower.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Bio-2008.pdf
  3. About Lisa. Shut It Down Now. Accessed May 13, 2024. https://shutitdownnow.org/about-lisa/
  4. Steal This Book (50th Anniversary Edition). GoodReads. Accessed May 13, 2024.  https://www.goodreads.com /book/show/59383616-steal-this-book
  5. Poleo, Germania Rodriguez. “Meet the $300-a-day professional protester Lisa Fithian, 63, slammed by Eric Adams who helped stir up Columbia University protests – then left before arrests began.” Daily Mail. May 2, 2024. Accessed May 13, 2024. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13375673/ professional-protester-columbia-university- nyc-lisa-fithian.html
  6. Melville, Barbara. “Peace and Justice Activist Lisa Fithian ‘83: Winner of the 1992 Palamountain Award for Young Alumni.” Skidmore Scope. June, 1992, Volume 22, NO. 6. Accessed May 13, 2024. https://digitalcoll.skidmore.edu/record/5189/files/0_complete_object.pdf
  7. About Lisa. Organizing for Power, Organizing for Change. Accessed May 13, 2023. https://www.organizingforpower.org/about/about-lisa/
  8. Harkinson, Josh. “Meet Professor Occupy.” Mother Jones Magazine.March/April 2012 Issue. Accessed May 13, 2024. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/03/lisa-fithian-occupy-wall-street-teaching-civil- disobedience/
  9. McQuiston, John T. “Abbie Hoffman, 60’s Icon, Dies; Yippie Movement Founder Was 52.” April 14, 1989. Accessed May 13, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/14/obituaries/abbie-hoffman-60-s-icon-dies-yippie- movement- founder-was-52.html
  10. Bunn, Austin. “Them Against the World, Part 2.” New York Times. November 16, 2003. Accessed May 13, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/magazine/them-against-the-world-part-2.html
  11. Labor Organizing: Fighting for Justice! Organizing for Power, Organizing for Change. Accessed May 13, 2024. https://www.organizingforpower.org/labor-organizing/
  12. Musynske, Gavin. “Houston janitors campaign for economic justice, 2005-2006.” Global Nonviolent Action Database. https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/houston-janitors-campaign-economic- justice-2005-2006
  13. Scruggs, Gregory. “What the ‘Battle of Seattle’ Means 20 Years Later.” Bloomberg. November 29, 2019. Accessed May 13, 2024.   https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-29/what-seattle-s-wto- protests-mean-20-years-later
  14. Keh, Andrew and Rosman, Katherine. “The 63-Year-Old Career Activist Among the Protesters at Columbia.” New York Times. May 1, 2024. Accessed May 13, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com /2024/05/01/nyregion/columbia-university-protest-consultant-lisa-fithian.html
  15. Poleo, Germania Rodriguez. “Meet the $300-a-day professional protester Lisa Fithian, 63, slammed by Eric Adams who helped stir up Columbia University protests – then left before arrests began.” Daily Mail. May 2, 2024. Accessed May 13, 2024. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13375673/
  16. Winter, Tom, Ortiz, Erik, and Schapiro, Rich. “A veteran activist joined Columbia protesters. Police call her a ‘professional agitator.’” NBC News. May 1, 2024. Accessed May 13, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com /news/us-news/veteran-activist-joined-columbia-protesters-police-call- professional-a-rcna150261
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