I am an activist and always have been. My organizations, Spread The Vote + Project ID and Project ID Action Fund work on the ground and on impactful policy nationwide. I would never have been able to build a movement or an organization that makes a real impact without the lessons that I have learned from the past. Every book I have read about how change was made before me has helped me do the work I do and my hope is that future leaders will learn these lessons too.
I wrote
American Identity in Crisis: Notes from an Accidental Activist
Few people have made the types of significant legislative changes that have improved the lives of Americans as Ralph Nader has.
Every time we put on a seatbelt or are saved by an airbag, we have him to thank. The Nader reader has some of Ralph’s best writings, including many about how Americans should be involved in their government to make sure that our Democracy keeps working.
Four generations of Americans have come to associate Ralph Nader with the political issues that have defined our age, be it car safety in the 1960s or the anti-WTO demonstrations that recently shut down Seattle. His work has successfully shaped the Left, increased government accountability, made possible new laws, and served as a powerful check against abuses of corporate power. In this landmark collection, the essays that reveal the intellectual, social, and political underpinnings of this legendary citizen advocate are brought together for the first time. In The Ralph Nader Reader, we follow the trajectory of Nader's concerns from 1956…
Progress is never a straight line; it usually takes the form of two steps forward and one step back. As we continue to fight battles we thought we’d won, this account of the long and unsteady march toward civil rights can give us direction, inspiration, and hope.
American life is filled with talk of progress and equality, especially when the issue is that of race. But has the history of race in America really been the continuous march toward equality we'd like to imagine it has? This sweeping history of race in America argues quite the opposite; that progress toward equality has been sporadic, isolated, and surrounded by long periods of stagnation and retrenchment.
This book is set in Montauk, under looming threat from a warming climate and overdevelopment. Now outsider Clancy, a thirty-six-year-old claims adjuster scarred by his orphan childhood, has inherited an unexpected legacy: the power to decide the fate of Montauk’s last parcel of undeveloped land. Everyone in town has a…
Movements require strategy, planning, and patience. This book offers case studies of some of the best-known movements of the modern age and shows how none of them happened by accident.
This book is a must read for anyone who wants to make real change.
There is a craft to uprising,and this craft can change the worldFrom protests around climate change and immigrant rights, to Occupy, the Arab Spring, and #BlackLivesMatter, a new generation is unleashing strategic nonviolent action to shape public debate and force political change. When mass movements erupt onto our television screens, the media consistently portrays them as being spontaneous and unpredictable. Yet, in this book, Mark and Paul Engler look at the hidden art behind such outbursts of protest, examining core principles that have been used to spark and guide moments of transformative unrest.With incisive insights from contemporary activists, as well…
Real change happens one person and one act at a time. Micro Activism teaches you how to make a difference wherever you are and whatever your circumstances.
This beautifully illustrated, friendly, and readable book is the perfect way to learn how to get started as an activist and how to build activism into your life every day.
In this age of social justice, those who don't necessarily want to lead a movement or join a protest march are left wondering, "How can I make an impact?"
In Micro Activism, former political consultant turned activism coach Omkari Williams shares her expertise in empowering introverts and highly sensitive people to help each of us, no matter our temperament, find our most satisfying and effective activist role. Using Williams's Activist Archetype tool, readers discover their unique strengths and use this to develop a personal strategy. To ensure sustainable involvement, Williams encourages starting small, working collaboratively, and beginning locally.
A breathtaking journey across Iran where war and superstition, jealousy and betrayal, and passion and loyalty rage behind the impenetrable walls of mansions and the crumbling houses of the Jewish Quarter.
Against the tumultuous background of World War II, Dr. Yaran will find himself caught in the thrall of the…
This has always been one of my favorite books. It’s more of a guide and it’s one of the best ways I have ever seen anyone lay out specific ways that people can get involved with specific examples and organizations.
It’s quite old and may not be completely useful as a guide (although many of the organizations still exist and the case studies and stories still hold up for the most part). Still, it is an example of how to create a clear and actionable guidebook; there is no better example.
Faced with global issues such as poverty, genocide, and climate change, it's easy to feel powerless. We want to do good and change the world, but too often feel paralyzed by the fear that individuals can't make significant impact. Awearness: Inspiring Stories About How to Make a Difference is a wake-up call--a call to action, to volunteerism, and to each and every person's unique ability to help build a better world.
Edited by longtime advocate and designer Kenneth Cole, Awearness is an engaging, informative, and empowering collection of eighty-six stories and conversations by ninety individuals, some well-known and others less…
26 million American adults do not have photo ID. American Identity in Crisis talk about why that is, what life is like when you don't have ID, and what we can do about it.
Who was the man who would become Caesar's lieutenant, Brutus' rival, Cleopatra's lover, and Octavian's enemy?
When his stepfather is executed for his involvement in the Catilinarian conspiracy, Mark Antony and his family are disgraced. His adolescence is marked by scandal and mischief, his love affairs are fleeting, and yet,…
The day the second atomic bomb was dropped, Clabe and Leora Wilson’s postman brought a telegram to their acreage near Perry, Iowa. One son was already in the U.S. Navy before Pearl Harbor had been attacked. Four more sons worked with their father, tenant farmers near Minburn until, one by…
