By Greg Pierce. A collection of over 50 stories, essays, letters, poems, sermons, eulogies, and other writings by leaders and organizers. Shows how people in America—from the beginning—figured out how to “fight back” against those who would ignore, abuse, or oppress them and “fight for” their families, their institutions, and their communities. Consists of three main sections: Roots of Organizing, Foundations of Organizing and Future of Organizing. Argues that to be successful, people’s organizations need to follow the universal principles of relational power such as:
- Be political — but non-partisan.
- Be as diverse as possible by: race, ethnicity, faith and philosophy, political persuasion, economic circumstances, education levels, gender identity, sexual orientation, geography, age, class, or caste.
- Be made up of “people’s institutions” such as religious organizations, labor unions, not-for-profit service providers, community and small-business groups, ethnic and civil rights organizations.
- Follow the “Iron Rule” — never do for people what they can do for themselves.
Each entry is accompanied by background information on that writer and three questions for personal reflection or group discussion. Read more.