Hierarchical movements concentrate power and messaging — but remove the hub and the network fractures. Distributed cell networks are harder to behead. Drag the slider to simulate a crackdown and watch what survives.
The SCLC under Martin Luther King Jr. exemplified hierarchical organising: centralised moral authority radiating from a single charismatic leader. It excelled at a unified public message, large coordinated actions like the March on Washington, and a clear spokesperson for the press. But that structure concentrated risk — when King was assassinated in 1968 the SCLC struggled to keep momentum without his singular voice.
Network resilience depends on topology. Distributed networks survive targeted attacks because power is diffuse — there is no single node whose removal collapses the whole structure.