Social movement especially with a feminist approach is the new sexy term in the funding and Civil Society Organisations (CSO) space. While this is a win for social justice activists, it coincides with the co-option of the word by anti-feminist and anti-social justice actors. Funders and governments are shaping the narratives based on current geopolitics. Who will win? Citizens, philanthropic bilateral funders, or community philanthropic contributions to the cause? We all need to reflect, strategize, and become intersectional and innovative in the way we fight for our interests as social movements.

In recent years Kenya and Africa have witnessed a visible shift in the struggle surrounding social movements and grassroots community organizing. This shift – or better said,  transformation –  has changed the way of organising so that it has become characterised by the co-option, appropriation, and dilution of key social movements and grassroots community organising.

As movement builders, community organisers, pan-African feminist activists,  and thinkers of all kinds, we have taken stock of our organizing for the liberation of Kenya and Africa. Are the strategies that we have been using working? What lessons can we learn from our successes and failures? How are we evolving in the new era of advanced technology and artificial intelligence? Is it an opportunity or a threat in strengthening and building our movements?

The public perception of CSOs is a combination of love-hate assumptions and critical narratives shaped by government. New and existing laws in many places criminalize CSOs and movements that contribute to  the shrinking civic space which prevents them from operating freely. Some have survived and thrived, others have died. Others have multiplied and found an evolving front for their struggle. This is the diversity of the movements that are supported by communities and co-created by the community.