PinnedYou Are Being Called to Greatness in the Face of the ApocalypseListen to the voices of veteran organizers to light the path forward and then organize for the power to change everything I am an optimist, so it takes a lot to get me down. But what is happening in the United States right now is a weight I am struggling…Workers Rights16 min read
Apr 16If You’re Not Building Power, You’re Just Admiring the ProblemStopping the climate emergency, winning immigrant rights, and ending inequality is now synonymous with defeating the Far Right along with fossil capital. Our planet is hurtling toward a climate disaster, and we’re running out of time. …Climate Change15 min read
Apr 2Interdependence and Self-InterestI wrote this in 2008 for the Center for Community Change (now Community Change) Convening on Community Values in Washington, D.C. and am sharing it more widely now that the Internet is here to stay. On the day after September 11th, 2001 a bulldozer drove up Chicago’s Argyle Street and…Self Interest10 min read
Mar 24For Want of Bread and Yeast: A Call for Renewed Support for Community Organizing in Eastern EuropeI wrote this reflection on organizing in Eastern Europe in October, 2011 during a training swing through Moldova, Romania and Bosnia organized by the European Community Organizing Network. Moldova’s people now fear that their country is next if the Russian invasion of Ukraine is successful. …Community Organizing6 min read
Feb 10How Long Must My Journey Go?An Organizer-Bodhisattva’s Guide to Enlightenment — “How long must my journey go? And my sorrow no one knows.” — Subrosa It’s tough to be a bodhisattva these days. Sorry, I mean community organizer. Or anything in between. In the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, a bodhisattva is someone who gets close to enlightenment, yet chooses to forgo liberation…Community Organizing14 min read
Published in Amateur Book Reviews·Sep 22, 2021Are You Committed to Fighting or Winning?Because there is a difference and it matters — Community organizers love the fight. Battle scars are worn with pride, and our identities as fighters are forged with care. The stories we tell each other at the bar or across the campfire brim with extraordinary tension and conflict with our opponents. …Strategy12 min read
Published in Amateur Book Reviews·Jun 29, 2021Finding Your Path to PowerJane Fonda and Alicia Garza on orienting yourself toward lasting change through relationships and collective action “Oh Maureen, Maureen, keep marching gal, just keep marching, and we’re with you, and we love you, promise you’ll keep marching!” — Jane Fonda in a video message to my mother (November 8th, 2019) …Climate Change10 min read
Published in Amateur Book Reviews·Apr 20, 2021We Have Found the Enemy (TLDR; It’s Not Us)How to disrupt the strategic use of racism by the Right and their corporate overlords and build a progressive majority “Make America Great Again” — Ronald Reagan The parasites that control the Right’s corporate agenda have already moved on from their last host, Donald J. Trump, and crawled into new…Racial Justice15 min read
Published in Amateur Book Reviews·Jan 19, 2021How Cheap Things Expose the Root Causes Of Our Biggest ProblemsBook review: A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet The pandemic has me watching a lot of Star Wars with my kids. Defeating Trump feels a lot like blowing up the Death Star at the end of the original movie. …Books10 min read
Jul 16, 2020Racial Justice Is The Key To Worker Power And Building Back BetterBut what happens if we fail at this again? Folks, we have hit the social movement trifecta: a racial justice uprising and pandemic in an election year where everything is on the line under an increasingly authoritarian president. …Racial Justice13 min read
