Category: Community organizing
Rathke: The transplant system is needlessly allowing patients to die
New Orleans There are no good ways to die, but emphysema is a tough way to go. I watched my grandfather die that way as a child. He was weak and housebound in his last…
Rathke: Five thousand blogs and what do you get
New Orleans When you do something every day, rain or shine, here or abroad, every once in a while, you need to take stock, and evaluate whether a disciplined practice is a trivial habit, an…
Rathke: New housing law in NY has impact on tenant evictions
New Orleans The Wall Street Journal and its reporters must get a special thrill when they can score an exclusive on the New York Times on New York’s own turf. I bet they didn’t even…
Rathke: In praise of door to door canvassing
New Orleans In modern politics obsessions run hot and heavy as election day looms ahead. One cycle it might be microtargeting with sophisticated databases categorizing voters and messages. Another cycle it’s small donors and social…
Rathke: We’re so sorry about Louisiana’s Senator John Neely Kennedy
New Orleans Those of us who live in Louisiana or care about the role of the state and its people in public affairs are just as sorry as we can be every time our junior…
Rathke: End of the year notes on the road
New Orleans Since 1975, I’ve been on the road, one way or another, pedal to the metal or wheels up, anywhere between one-third and more than a half of the year. I always make a…
Years of grassroots organizing forged Biden’s Georgia win
Atlanta, often called the “cradle of the civil rights movement,” was the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr. and made up much of the congressional district represented by the late John Lewis. The story behind how…
Rathke: Lanny Roy was a peoples’ warrior
New Orleans Lake Charles is a medium-sized city of nearly 80,000 people, the fifth largest in Louisiana, close to the Texas border. It’s the home of oil refineries and chemical plants. Texans driving over the…
Rathke: Voter Purges Coming in Wisconsin and Georgia
New Orleans A Georgia judge allowed a 300,000 voter purge to happen hours ago in that state. A lawsuit filed by Fair Vote Action seeking to prevent the purge will happen later this week on…
Rathke: Figuring out which companies are naughty or nice
Quebec City Even as the Brexit landslide seemed to be building in the formerly United Kingdom, the European Union leadership was piecing together an ambitious plan to achieve climate goals by 2050. Their plan was to…
Rathke: Consolidating the fight against housing displacement in Canada
Quebec City After a day of training and reports, the ACORN Canada organizing staff really got serious when the Year End / Year Begin meeting began no holds barred wrestling with campaigns. The discussion was particularly…
Community Radio on the frontlines
by Wade Rathke October 11, 2020 Pearl River The Grassroots Radio Coalition is a loose confederation of various progressive community radio stations around the country. We got involved with them when, to our surprise, they had…
Memories and milestones
by Wade Rathke October 4, 2020 Pearl River Tenants all over the world are facing a huge crisis as the dual scourges of the pandemic and economic depression confront them daily. In some industrialized countries, eviction…
Old and New Social Movements
by Wade Rathke Sunday, September 13 Pearl River Every month in the 50th anniversary year of ACORN, I’ve been talking on the radio to veteran organizers and others with unique perspectives on the organization, its history,…
The Disappearing Organizing Art: Tagging
by Wade Rathke Pearl River Those were the days! As part of the ongoing 50th anniversary celebration of ACORN this year, different veterans have joined me on Wade’s World to share their memories and reminisce…
Protest moves people, money, and votes
by Wade Rathke New Orleans Remember not so long ago when one self-proclaimed wizard after another, usually in power in some corporation, foundation, or governmental post, declared that “protest is passé.” Those of us so…
Thinking outside the box for worker power
by Wade Rathke Pearl River In organizing unions, captive audience meetings are the scourge of organizing drives. The employers have the right to make the meetings mandatory in order to deliver their anti-union screeds, but…
Living and dying on the numbers
by Wade Rathke Pearl River A lesson close to the heart for every organizer is the importance of numbers. An organization can live and die on the numbers. Rising numbers are a sign of health,…
Protests disrupt, no duh!
“Power concedes nothing without struggle and once the vigilance of struggle subsides, will seek to re-impose the comforts it once enjoyed.” The kumbaya of revision and co-optation later can’t alter the reality of disruption inherent in the…
Small contributions make a huge difference
by Wade Rathke New Orleans Whether it’s a moment or a movement, some things are different this time than they have been in the past. One encouraging and crucial difference is the fact that the…
New York State classifies use of chokeholds as felony, two weeks into racial justice protests
“Stay in the Streets. It’s Working” “Let’s keep pushing, marching, organizing, and winning for our communities.” by Julia Conley, staff writer Monday, June 8 Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday urged Americans to stay the course in…
Pushed by national uprising, Democratic lawmakers unveil legislation to overhaul policing
The new measure includes provisions to ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants and limits transfers of military-grade equipment to local law enforcement. by Andrea Germanos, staff writer Monday, June 8 After two weeks of nationwide protests over…
Don’t be confused about racism and police brutality
by Wade Rathke New Orleans We stand in solidarity with all protestors against racism and police brutality both in the United States and around the world. At the same time, we need to remember in…
The 2020 uprisings join a long river of struggle in America
Protesters filled the newly named Black Lives Plaza, near the White House, on June 6, 2020 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee/Getty Images by Matthew Countryman, University of Michigan The river was the metaphor that best captured…
