In 1932, Ransome-Kuti had helped establish the Abeokuta Ladies Club.
The club focused on charity work, sewing, catering and adult education classes, and its early members were mostly Christian, Western-educated women from the middle class.
By the 1940s, however, the club was moving in a more political direction.
Inspired by an illiterate friend who asked her for help learning how to read, Ransome-Kuti began organizing literacy workshops for market women through the club, and she subsequently gained a greater understanding of social and political inequalities faced by many Nigerian women.
Writing about the freedoms granted by her own more privileged background, Ransome-Kuti noted that "the true position of Nigerian women had to be judged from the women who carried babies on their backs and farmed from sunrise to sunset … not women who used tea, sugar, and flour for breakfast".
In 1944 she developed a successful campaign to stop local authorities seizing rice from market women under false pretenses.

In 1946 the club was formally renamed the Abeokuta Women's Union (AWU), now open to all women in Abeokuta.
The organisation now turned its focus to fighting unfair price controls and taxes imposed on market women, with Ransome-Kuti as the AWU's president.
She had founded the union along with Grace Eniola Soyinka (her husband's niece and the mother of Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka), and the AWU gradually grew to represent 20,000 official members, with up to 100,000 additional supporters.
In an effort to unify women and avoid class conflict, Ransome-Kuti and other formally educated members spoke Yoruba and wore traditional Yoruba clothing to union meetings and events.

Ransome-Kuti's first well-known political activity came when she led the AWU in a protest against a tax on women.
In Abeokuta, alongside regular taxes for income and water usage, market women were also forced to pay a special tax that went directly to market supervisors or "parakoyis".
The Alake Ademola II, a local traditional ruler of Abeokuta who now helped enforce British colonial rule, had imposed taxes on women after the Egba Native Administration had been established in 1914.
After a failed appeal to British authorities to remove the current Alake from power and halt the tax, Ransome-Kuti and the AWU began contacting newspapers and circulating petitions.
Aiming to put more pressure on authorities, AWU members publicly refused to pay their taxes, staged long vigils outside the Alake's palace, and arranged an audit of the Sole Native Authority System (SNA) finance records.
Along with their objective of ending the tax on women, they demanded representation for women on the SNA's executive council.

By late 1947, Abeokuta authorities began forbidding women from organizing parades or demonstrations, denying them the necessary permits.
Undeterred, Ransome-Kuti and her fellow organisers declared that they were planning "picnics" and "festivals" instead, drawing up to 10,000 participants to their demonstrations – some of which involved altercations with police.
Ransome-Kuti trained women in how to deal with the tear gas canisters sometimes thrown at them, and the AWU used its membership dues to fund legal representation for arrested members.
According to one story, when a British district officer shouted at Ransome-Kuti to shut her women up, she responded "You may have been born, but you were not bred!
Would you speak to your mother like that?"
The West African Pilot described her as the "Lioness of Lisabi".

Tensions between AWU protesters and authorities came to a head in February 1948 when the Alake compared AWU women to "vipers that could not be tamed" and banned Ransome-Kuti from entering the palace for political meetings.
Immediately afterwards, AWU members blocked the palace entrance and refused to let the visiting British district officer leave.
The incident concluded with a scuffle when Ransome-Kuti grabbed hold of the steering wheel of the district officer's car and refused to let go "until he pried her hand loose".
Public sympathy grew in support of the women.
In 1932, Ransome-Kuti had helped establish the Abeokuta Ladies Club. The club focused on charity work, sewing, catering and adult education classes, and its early members were mostly Christian, Western-educated women from the middle class. By the 1940s, however, the club was moving in a more political direction. Inspired by an illiterate friend who asked her for help learning how to read, Ransome-Kuti began organizing literacy workshops for market women through the club, and she subsequently gained a greater understanding of social and political inequalities faced by many Nigerian women. Writing about the freedoms granted by her own more privileged background, Ransome-Kuti noted that "the true position of Nigerian women had to be judged from the women who carried babies on their backs and farmed from sunrise to sunset … not women who used tea, sugar, and flour for breakfast". In 1944 she developed a successful campaign to stop local authorities seizing rice from market women under false pretenses. 
In 1946 the club was formally renamed the Abeokuta Women's Union (AWU), now open to all women in Abeokuta. The organisation now turned its focus to fighting unfair price controls and taxes imposed on market women, with Ransome-Kuti as the AWU's president. She had founded the union along with Grace Eniola Soyinka (her husband's niece and the mother of Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka), and the AWU gradually grew to represent 20,000 official members, with up to 100,000 additional supporters. In an effort to unify women and avoid class conflict, Ransome-Kuti and other formally educated members spoke Yoruba and wore traditional Yoruba clothing to union meetings and events.
Ransome-Kuti's first well-known political activity came when she led the AWU in a protest against a tax on women. In Abeokuta, alongside regular taxes for income and water usage, market women were also forced to pay a special tax that went directly to market supervisors or "parakoyis". The Alake Ademola II, a local traditional ruler of Abeokuta who now helped enforce British colonial rule, had imposed taxes on women after the Egba Native Administration had been established in 1914. After a failed appeal to British authorities to remove the current Alake from power and halt the tax, Ransome-Kuti and the AWU began contacting newspapers and circulating petitions. Aiming to put more pressure on authorities, AWU members publicly refused to pay their taxes, staged long vigils outside the Alake's palace, and arranged an audit of the Sole Native Authority System (SNA) finance records. Along with their objective of ending the tax on women, they demanded representation for women on the SNA's executive council.
By late 1947, Abeokuta authorities began forbidding women from organizing parades or demonstrations, denying them the necessary permits. Undeterred, Ransome-Kuti and her fellow organisers declared that they were planning "picnics" and "festivals" instead, drawing up to 10,000 participants to their demonstrations – some of which involved altercations with police. Ransome-Kuti trained women in how to deal with the tear gas canisters sometimes thrown at them, and the AWU used its membership dues to fund legal representation for arrested members. According to one story, when a British district officer shouted at Ransome-Kuti to shut her women up, she responded "You may have been born, but you were not bred! Would you speak to your mother like that?" The West African Pilot described her as the "Lioness of Lisabi".
Tensions between AWU protesters and authorities came to a head in February 1948 when the Alake compared AWU women to "vipers that could not be tamed" and banned Ransome-Kuti from entering the palace for political meetings. Immediately afterwards, AWU members blocked the palace entrance and refused to let the visiting British district officer leave. The incident concluded with a scuffle when Ransome-Kuti grabbed hold of the steering wheel of the district officer's car and refused to let go "until he pried her hand loose". Public sympathy grew in support of the women.
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti