This paper explores the notion of participatory design activism to describe design interventions that fall in between participatory design and design activism, arising organically through self-organisation. Illustrated by three examples from the Colombian graphic (design) explosion, which occurred during the mass protests in 2021, a case is made to decentre the designer from the process, arguing that protests are instead (co)designed by a variety of actors. The nature of the interventions described show that participatory design can make a difference through its marriage to design activism. In this context, designers take a step back and allow others to use, appropriate and expand on their creative concepts, effectively self-designing the protest as well as its surrounding environment.