OMNI ACTIVISM BIBLIOGRAPHY
Compiled by Dick Bennett jbennet@uark.edu
--Denham, Diana and C.A.S.A. Collective. Teaching Rebellion: Stories from the Grassroots Mobilization in Oaxaca. PM Press, 2008. Rev. WIN Magazine (Summer 2009).
--Solnit, David and Rebecca Solnit. The Battle of the Story of the Battle of Seattle. 2009.
ACTIVISM (see: Abbey, Academic Freedom, Animal Protection, Anti-War, Counter-Recruiting, Democracy, Hope, Political Graphics, Resistance)
Solnit, David. Stabilize Liberation: How to Uproot the System and Build a Better World.
ACTION FOR PEACE, JUSTICE, ECOLOGY (see: Animal Rights, Anti-War, Apathy, Civil Resistance, Democracy, Rights)
--Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way. U of Minn. P, 2008. Strategies for running and winning a progressive campaign.
--Miringoff and Opdycke. America's Social Health: Putting Social Issues Back on the Public Agenda. Sharpe, 2008. Describes how social progress has stalled and the country's energies and resources need to be directed toward critical domestic problems.
--MacPhee and Rodriguez. Reproduce and Revolt. Soft Skull P, 2008. Street Posters, graffiti, bumper stickers—designs to capture imaginations and spread a message, free and unrestricted use..
--Barham, Hammock, and Wilson. Practical Idealists: Changing the World and Getting Paid. Harvard UP, 2008. Rev. In These Times (Oct. 2008).
--Lichterman, Paul, The Search for Political Community: American Activists Reinventing Commitment. Cambridge UP, 1998. US emphasis on personal fulfillment and individualism can enhance public-spirited, pollitical commitment.
--Gandio, Jason Del. Rhetoric for Radicals: A Handbook for Twenty-First Century Activists. New Society, 2008.
--Pasternak, Judith, ed. The Path of Most Resistance: A U.S. Radical History Tour. The War Resisters League 2009 Peace Calendar. www.warresisters.org, 877-234-8811.
--Sirota, David. The Uprising. A book that challenges the status quo, questions the media and political Establishment and asks tough questions.
The Uprising by David Sirota - Hardcover - Random House
| In his invigorating new book, David Sirota investigates whether this uprising can be transformed into a unified, lasting political movement. ... |
Amazon.com: The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist ...
| "David Sirota details with clarity the sharp knife of corporate greed pointed at the throat of our democracy--and the populist uprising that may thwart the ... |
David Sirota: The Uprising in CT | Omnisio
| At an event co-sponsored by CCAG, David Sirota discusses his new book, The Uprising, at RJ Julia Bookstore in Madison, CT. |
From Uprising to Movement: Five Ideas | OurFuture.org
| Jul 9, 2008 ... From Uprising to Movement: Five Ideas. David Sirota's picture ... Based on my reporting for The Uprising, here are five concepts I think we ... |
--Hertel, Shareen. Unexpected Power: Conflict and Change Among Transnational Activists. Cornell UP, 2006. Rev. Peace and Change (April 2006). Expands the work of Keck and Sikkink, Activists Beyond Borders (1998) to add to Northern/Western rights frame the Southern economic and structural analysis.
| --Lisa Witter, COO of Fenton Communications and co-author of The She Spot: Why Women are the Marketing for Changing the World - And How to Reach Them www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-witter |
--Reich, Charles. Opposing the System. Crown, 1995. A prescient writer, arguing for constitutional curbs on corporate tyranny, a restored social contract for economic justice, and a resurgent protest movement guided by a new map of values.
--Hutto, Jonathan, Sr. Anti-War Soldier: How to Dissent Within the Ranks of the Military. Nation Books, 2008. Hutto's moral values and commitment to human rights up against the war system.
EDUCATION for PEACE
Peace Education Foundation Website: www.PeaceEducation.org Info. on their Peace Works curricula and related materials.
Courageous Resistance: the Power of Ordinary People is written by Kristina E. Thalhammer, Paula L. O'Loughlin, Myron Peretz Glazer, Penina Migdal Glazer, Sam McFarland, Sharon Toffey Shepela, and Nathan Stoltzfus and was published by Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. See review at end. See: Ann Wright' book on resistance.
Sirota, David. The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington. Crown, 2008. See Sirota's article in In These Times (June 2008) adapted from his book. Discusses how to stop the war—the traditional way of the peace movement (grassroots education, rallies) or focus on government and media in DC.
www.antiwar.comMEJIA, CAMILO (see: Conscientious Objection, Imperialism, Iraq, Middle East, Militarism)
The new paperback edition of Camilo Mejía's acclaimed Iraq war memoir, Road from ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia. "After reading this book, you'll want everyone you know to read it.
Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejía became the new face of the antiwar movement in early 2004 when he applied for a discharge from the Army as a conscientious objector. After serving in the Army for nearly nine years, he was the first known Iraq veteran to refuse to fight, citing moral concerns about the war and occupation. Despite widespread public support and an all-star legal team, Mejía was eventually convicted of desertion by a military court and sentenced to a year in prison, prompting Amnesty International to declare him a prisoner of conscience.
Far from being an accidental activist, Mejía was raised by prominent Sandinista revolutionaries and draws inspiration from Jesuit teachings. In this stirring book, he argues passionately for human rights and the end to an unjust war.
As New York Times columnist Bob Herbert writes, "The issues [Mejía] has raised deserve a close reading by the nation as a whole. . . . He has made a contribution to the truth about Iraq."
Also check out Dahr Jamail's front-cover story on Winter Soldier in the April print edition of The Progressive. We will be publishing Dahr's book, Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist In Occupied Iraq."
REVIEW OF COURAGEOUS RESISTANCE
Courageous Resistance by Jason MacLeod
Every now and then a book comes along that I want to recommend to everyone in my activist and training
networks. Courageous Resistance: the power of ordinary people is one such book.
The authors suggest three elements define a courageous resistor. Firstly a courageous resistor is a person who
voluntarily acts against injustice with a significantly high risk or cost to either themselves or their associates.
Secondly, their actions are the result of a conscious decision. Thirdly, their efforts are sustained over time (pg 5).
The authors argue that courageous resistors are made not born and proceed to map out the pathways that lead to
people becoming either courageous resistors, bystanders or perpetrators. The journey to becoming a courageous
resistor essentially involves negotiating a series of six crossroads, or critical decision making moments. Firstly,
the person must become aware of the injustice. Secondly, the person needs to frame the situation as an injustice.
The need to accept personal responsibility is the third crossroad. Once this decision has been made the next
critical decision making point is indentifying options followed by choosing and acting on one or more of these
options. The final crossroad is sustaining acts against injustice at some cost to oneself or ones close associates
over time.
The authors also show how at different points on the journey not proceeding to the next critical decision making
juncture can lead becoming either a perpetrator or bystander. These multiple pathways are influenced by three
factors that further help determine whether people become courageous resistors or not. The three factors include
preconditions, networks, and context. Preconditions refer to internal factors. These include the way the person
was socialised, attitude to authority, a history of helping others, the ability to learn from doing, and the degree to
which the person has developed a sense of inclusiveness and appreciation of diversity. Networks, the number
and type of people and organisations a courageous resistor can create or draw upon to assist them, also play a
critical role. Finally, the context also influences the process of whether people become courageous resistors or
not.
Through a series of compelling narratives the authors show how the pathways people take transform the
individual, their networks and the context. The case studies highlight individual, collective and institutional
resistance. Some of these stories may be familiar to readers such the successful collective resistance of the
German women who prevented their Jewish husbands from being sent of to concentration camps or the story of
villagers of Le Chambon in occupied France who kept hundreds of Jews alive during the Second World War.
Other well known stories of courageous resistance that are examined include analyses of the struggle of the
Women of the Plaza del Mayo in Argentina who helped bring down the Argentinean dictatorship and the case of
Paul Rusesabagina whose efforts to save over 1200 Tutsi and moderate Hutu's during the Rwandan genocide was immortalized in the film Hotel Rwanda.
Many other stories will be less familiar. The story of efforts by the people of Old Providencia, a small
Colombian island in the Caribbean, to resist rapacious development in the face of repression stood out for me, as did accounts of two whistleblowers: army Specialist Joseph Darby who exposed U.S. abuses at Abu Ghraib and Cathy Harris who changed a culture of sexual harassment and racism by U.S. customs staff. There is also excellent material on the role of institutional reform work by courageous resistors, including the creation of human rights organisations such as Human Rights watch and work on having the Genocide Convention adopted by the U.N. These case studies on institutional resistance further illustrate how the creation of new networks and institutional rules functions to transform the context. The framework in the book grows up out of these case studies and is a great example of grounded theory.
While the praxis of nonviolent resistance is not emphasized in the book, Courageous Resistance complements and adds to the body of work on nonviolence theory and history, in particular recent work on the role of decentralized network structures in developing resilience to repression by Kurt Schock (2005) and Brian Martin's backfire model (2007), which outlines a model for promoting outrage to repression. Activists and activist educators alike will find it very useful. The book offers hopeful and empowering accounts of how ordinary people have resisted injustice. There is also fresh thinking about how to resist repression and mobilizing for change in the face of sometimes overwhelming odds. While reading the book I immediately found myself developing training tools for unpacking the model presented in the book in my own work investigating nonviolent resistance in repressive settings. But the theory and case studies are also relevant for those of us living in western liberal democracies.
Courageous Resistance: the power of ordinary people is written by Kristina E. Thalhammer, et al. Palgrave, 2007.
--Hightower, Jim and Susan DeMarco. Swim Against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go with the Flow. Wiley, 2008. See their article in The Nation (3-24-08). A collection of stories about idealistic citizens seeking change and who buck the Corporations-Pentagon-White House system. For example, Maine citizens successfully gained public money for elections; candidates there don't have to become indebted to corporations.
--Carlsson, Chris. Nowtopia: How Pirate Programmers, Outlaw Bicyclists, and Vacant-Lot Gardeners Are Inventing the Future Today. Today's vibrant subcultures of experimentation and cooperation.
--Inspiration is not enough. Strategy and tactics matter. I commend to you a recent handbook of nonviolent change: Love in Action, by Richard K. Taylor, a veteran grass-roots activist. It was originally written for Catholics seeking profound reforms of their church, but much of it is useful to spiritually motivated activists of any flavor.
-- The other book on activism I recommend is an anthology of articles on Jewish social action -- Righteous Indignation, edited by Rabbi Or Rose, associate dean of the rabbinical school at Hebrew College in Boston; Jo Ellen Green Kaiser, former managing editor of Tikkun; and Margie Klein, a student at the Hebrew College rabbinical school, and published by Jewish Lights. Its fascinating array includes essays on the theory of justice and Judaism and articles on specific issues like eco-Judaism, stem cell research, immigration, feminism, Israeli-Palestinian peace, and Abrahamic connections (the last, an article by Rabbi Phyllis Berman and myself).
--Szakos, Kristin and Joe Szakos. We Make Change. Vanderbilt UP, 2007. Rev. Mother Jones (Nov.Dec. 2007). Explores social change through voices of 81 community organizers who make changing the world their life's work.
--Dunlap, Louise. Undoing the Silence: Six Tools for Social Change Writing.
-- Theatre for Living: The Art and Science of Community-based Dialogue by David Diamond. Trafford Pub.,2007. Rev. Richard S. Drake, Arkansas Free Press - January, 2008 http://www.headlinestheatre.com/
Everett, Melissa. Making a Living While Making a Difference: Conscious Careers for an Era of Interdependence. New Society, 2008. Professionals with a conscience for what the world needs.
--The Essential Chomsky by Noam Chomsky. His best over the past 40 years. New P, 2008.
--Barsky, Robert. The Chomsky Effect: A Radical Works Beyond the Ivory Tower. MIT P, 2007.
Maathai, Wangari. Unbowed: A Memoir. Anchor, 2007. First African woman and first environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
--True, Michael. People Power: Fifty Peacemakers and Their Communities. Rawat Pub., Jaipur, India, 2007. Rev. The Catholic Worker (Dec. 2007).
--Beller, Ken, and Heather Chase. Great Peacemakers: True Stories from Around the World. Two capsule bios, with lesson plans and maps for middle and high school. Ingram Book Group, 2008. GIVEN AN OMNI PEACEWRITING AWARD 2007.
-Szakos, Kristin and Joe. We Make Change: Community Organizers Talk About What They Do and Why. Vanderbilt UP, 2007.
--THE EXPLOIT: A Theory of Networks by Alexander R. Galloway and Eugene Thacker
University of Minnesota P, | 2007.
Alexander R. Galloway and Eugene Thacker challenge the widespread assumption that networks are inherently egalitarian. Instead, they contend that there exist new modes of control entirely native to networks, modes that are at once highly centralized and dispersed, corporate and subversive. In this provocative book, they argue that a whole new topology must be invented to resist and reshape the network form.
--Pelosi, Christine. Campaign Boot Camp: Basic Training for Future Leaders—A 7-Step Guid to Launching Successful Campaigns for Candidates and Causes. PoliPoint P, 2007.
-- Thom Hartmann. Cracking the Code: How to Win Hearts, Change Minds, and Restore America's Original Vision.
--The Progressives Handbook. www.progrressiveshandbook.com Part encyclopedia, part self-defense manual.
Addressing Ethnic Conflict through Peace Education: International Perspectives,
Edited by Zvi Bekerman and Claire McGlynn. Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
This compelling collection includes contributions from an international group of scholars representing a wide variety of geographical conflict areas and exemplifies the multiple venues of peace educational labour. A strong emphasis is given to integrative and sustained long-term peace education efforts.
--Peace and Justice Studies Association is creating an annotated bibliography of children's peace books. Send selections to www.peacejusticestudies.org/publications/peacebiblio.php
--Zolotow, Charlotte. The Hating Book. A little girl learns not to hate her friend.
Catherine Whitmire, Practicing Peace. The inner-outer route to peace by a Quaker.
--Berger, Dan, et al., eds. Letters from Young Activists: Today's Rebels Speak Out. Nationa Books, 2005. Rev. Monthly Rev. (April 2006). " …youth can be a counterweight to the despair many feel watching a society spinning off the rails….The concept of the book is that young people in the United States, who have made a decision not to accept the world the way it is, write letters…explaining why."
--Kern, Alex., ed. Becoming Fire: Spiritual Writing from Rising Generations.
--Shut Up & Sing. Documentary DVD dir. by Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck. 2007. Rev. The Humanist (Jan. Feb. 2007): "truthful look at [Dixie Chicks] perseverance in the face of [right-wing] opposition and to the preservation of Constitutional rights."
| | |
| | |
|
|
|
Nonviolent Action Introductory
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---Shah, Palak, ed. Defending Justice: An Activist Resource Kit. Political Research Associates. www.defendingjustice.org
---Gagnon, Bruce. Come Together Right Now: Organizing Stories from a Fading Empire. Global Network, 2005. www.space4peace.org
*---Tait, Vanessa. Poor Workers' Unions: Rebuilding Labor from Below. South End P, 2005 www.southendpress.org
---Boudin, Chesa, et al., eds. Letters from Young Activists: Today's Rebels Speak Out. Nation Books, 2005.
---Freeman, Jo. At Berkeley in the 60s: The Education of an Activist, 1961-1965. Indiana UP, 2004.
--- "FIFTY-TWO SIMPLE WAYS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE" by Paul Simon with a Foreword by Senator Jack Danforth. President Jimmy Carter says, "Senator Paul Simon has left us a clear message: Each of us has the power to build a better society. With just simple acts at the grassroots level, we can help to change the world. Paul worked tirelessly to create a better world for all its inhabitants and has described a few 'simple' ways to continue his good work."
--- 4 most important books for all peace leaders, builders and educators. They are "Being Peace" by Thich Nhat Hanh; "Self Leadership and the One Minute Manager : Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Self Leadership", by Ken Blanchard, Susan Fowler, Lawrence Hawkins; "The Leader Within : Learning Enough About Yourself to Lead Others", by Drea Zigarmi, Ken Blanchard, Michael O'Connor, Carl Edeburn; and "Social Intelligence: The New Science of Success; Beyond IQ, Beyond EI, Applying Multiple Intelligence Theory to Human Interaction", by Karl Albrecht. (from a Canadian peacemaker)
McGinnis, James, and Janet Folkl. Peacemaking and the Powers: Promoting Justice and Peace in Post-9-11 America. A Six-Session Program for Churches, Youth, and Religious Communities on Racism, Materialsm, and Militarism. Institute for Justice and Peace, St. Louis, 2005. Rev. Fellowship (July/August 2005).
---Shiva, Vandana. Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability, and Peace. South End P, 2005. The struggles for these values against the rising tide of fundamentalisms, violence against women, and planetary death.
Released on August 9, 2005, Chicken Soup For the Soul - Stories for a Better World contains a very special collection of all new stories of inspiration, understanding and love all dedicated to making the world a better place. Within these pages you ll find true guidance on how to make the world a little better every day so that together, just maybe, we will all truly make a difference. The Chicken Soup for the Soul books were first published in 1993 and quickly rose to number one on the New York Times bestseller list. With over 80 million copies sold and 65 titles in 37 languages, Chicken Soup for the Soul has made international publishing history and garnered numerous prestigious awards for creators, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. Canfield and Hansen are joined on this book with coauthors Candice C. Carter, Susanna Palomares, Linda K. Williams, and Bradley L. Winch. For more information please hit reply or call Linda K. Williams on 619-583-8454 or email her directly at lindawms@sdcoe.k12.ca.us
Simmons, Jane. I of the Storm for Teens. How do you stay connected during times of conflict? The book "The I of the Storm: Embracing Conflict, Creating
Peace", by Rev. Gary Simmons teaches these skills and has been a Unity best seller since its publication in 2001. The book imparts the principles of peacemaking, a method of embracing situations that create conflict and finding the peace within. Packed with stories, anecdotes and illustrations, the book
teaches the same principles found in the adult book, but with an emphasis on youthful understanding. At the end of each chapter, you will find "Aware-apy" questions for self-inquiry. Using principles of non-violent communication as well as tools for dealing with criticism and judgment, this book teaches the pathway of the heart. (from the author)
PEACE TEAMS
*Boardman, Elizabether. Taking a Stand: A Guide to Peace Teams and Accompaniment Projects. New Society, 2005. Both an account of Voices in the Wilderness, Christian Peacemakers, and other groups, and an instruction manual for such efforts.
Covey, Dziedzic, Hawley, eds. The Quest for Viable Peace: International Intervention and Strategies for Conflict Transformation.
PEACEMAKING FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN
Guinan, Kelly. Peace Quest. Packed with activities for children. www.celebratingpeace.com
Brooke Shelby Biggs; Conceived by Anita Roddick. Brave Hearts, Rebel Spirits: A Spiritual Activist's Handbook. Dozens of activists in this book are the heirs to that great tradition of faith-based activism--environmentalists, peace workers, land reformers, child advocates. Visit http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Environment.html#BraveHearts
Harris, Nancy, ed. The Peace Movement. At Issue: Opposing Viewpoints Series. Greenhaven P, 2005. Eleven essays describing, advocating, and opposing the "peace movement" in the US, edited by fellow Fayetteville resident. Also contains a helpful, annotated list of organizations, a bibliography, and an index.
Kim Klein, Fundraising for Social Change
Andy Robinson, Selling Social Change (Without Selling Out)
Larry Solomon, Roots of Justice: Stories of Organizing in Communities of Color
*Benerjee, Mukulika. The Pathan Unarmed. Oxford, 2001. A bio of Ghaffar/Badshah Khan, the founder of one of the most remarkable pacifist movements of the 20th century-among the Muslim Pashtuns of now eastern Pakistan. He was known as "the frontier Gandhi."
**Wallach, John. The Enemy Has a Face: The Seeds of Peace Experience. USIP Press, 2000. About the author's creation of a summer camp to bring children of hostile societies together.
One Makes the Difference by Julia Butterfly Hill
The author of the best-selling "The Legacy of Luna" shows how we all can
help protect our environment.
After her record-breaking two-year tree sit, Julia Butterfly Hill has
ceaselessly continued to promote sustainability and ecologically-minded
ways to save the old-growth redwoods she acted so valiantly to protect.
Here she answers the question she hears so often from her fans and
supporters: What can I do to help?
"One Makes the Difference" is a hands-on guide full of advice on how to
promote change and improve the health of the planet. This book is
accessible to both adults and young people who look to Julia as an example
of how one person can change the world.
Packed with information, inspirational stories, and commonsense actions,
"One Makes the Difference" provides easy-to-follow guidance for everyone
who wants to help save their environment.
195 pp. $15. OMTD
The Better World Handbook
From Good Intentions to Everyday Actions
Ellis Jones, Ross Haenfler and Brett Johnson with Brian Locke
Here's the essential guide for busy people who care about making the world
a better place but don't know where to begin.
It shows us how to live our values by choosing from a wide range of simple
but effective actions that we can take every day -- actions that focus on:
money, shopping, food, personal life, friends and family, community, home,
work, media, politics, transportation, travel and organizations
It discusses the global challenges we face, outlines the seven foundations
for a better world and includes a Better World Shopping Guide, a Top Ten
List of Actions for a Better World, and a wide range of follow-up resources
that cover everything from socially responsible investing to alternative
news sources.
300 pp. $19. BWH
Tavis Smiley. Doing What's Right. 2000. How-to book for working for causes, using all media resources, etc.
McFarland & Co. in Jefferson, North Carolina has just published a second edition of Ian Harris's 1988 classic, Peace Education.. The 2003 version has a second author, Mary Lee Morrison.
This book, Peace Education, introduces a relatively new area of educational reform, where educators use their skills to address problems of violence. It explains how educational strategies reduce levels of violence in this postmodern world. It defines peace education, discusses diverse approaches, presents key issues and topics, describes obstacles, discusses new ways of thinking, explains how to construct educational programs, addresses fears generated by the arms race, and presents alternatives for resolving conflict nonviolently. This book has been written for a broad audience that includes school personnel, university professors, scholars, church leaders, and peace movement activists. See OMNI's web site, Peace: Remedies file.
Ian M. Harris is a professor of education policy and community studies at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
Mary Lee Morrison is the founder and director of Pax Educare, the Connecticut Center for Peace Education in Hartford, Connecticut. She lives in West Hartford, Connecticut.
Randy Schutt. Inciting Democracy: A Practical Proposal for Creating a Good Society. Vernal Project, 2002. How to overcome obstacles to creating decentralized education and nonviolent social change.
Louis Kriesberg. Constructive Conflicts: From Escalation to Resolution. 2nd ed. Roman and Littlefield, 2003. Major text on mediation.
Kate Penner, ed. Risking for Change: Stories of Ordinary People (First Freedom Foundation, 1999). 75 stories in prose and poetry. Nearly half on resistance to war and militarism, plus environment, poverty, animal rights, etc.
Jan Wahl, How the Children Stopped the War (1969, out of print, positively reviewed in Peacework July-Aug 2003).
Jonathan Schell, The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People (Henry Holt, 2003). Rev. in Fellowship July/Aug. 2003 by Walter Wink: ".this is an instant classic [for] everyone who senss that nonviolence is an idea and practice whose time has come"; ".we can begin to build an alterantive society now, a shell within the shell of the imperialist regime [that] must be global." Also a 2nd rev. by Zia Mian.
Jane Vennard, Embracing the World: Praying for Justice and Peace. Jossey-Bass/A Wiley, 2003. A Christian pastoral treatment of 5 aspects: praying for others and the world, praying with our actions, praying for renewal, praying to be transformed, praying for discernment.
MoveOn's 50 Ways to Love Your Country: How to Find Your Political Voice and Become a Catalyst for Change. (see review below)
Robert Jensen <rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu>
Bob Jensen's new book, CITIZENS OF THE EMPIRE: THE STRUGGLE TO CLAIM OUR HUMANITY, has just been published by City Lights in San Francisco. The book analyzes the current political landscape, critiques the current political rhetoric, and offers thoughts on a future course for progressive and anti-empire politics. One chapter looks at the failures of U.S. universities after 9/11.
If you want to read more, there's a fuller description online at
<http://www.citylights.com/CLpubRE.html#citizens>http://www.citylights.com/CLpubRE.html#citizens
Get MoveOn's 50 Ways to Love Your Country at your local bookseller or at Amazon.
Click Here.
Dear MoveOn Member,
MoveOn's new book has hit the streets and is already at #2 on Amazon. Can we push it to #1 at all booksellers? All royalties go to support our work together. The book is called MoveOn's 50 Ways to Love Your Country: How to Find Your Political Voice and Become a Catalyst for Change. With introductions by Al Gore, Gail Sheehy, Nancy Pelosi, and the MoveOn team, the book focuses on the best fifty personal stories amongst thousands submitted by MoveOn members. These uplifting stories demonstrate the power of the individual, with tips and resources to turn inspiration into action. They're about ordinary citizens changing laws, getting out the vote, hosting meet ups, and much more.
50 Ways to Love Your Country should now be available at your local bookseller. Be sure to ask for it. You can also buy the book online. Here's the link to the book at Amazon:
Priced at around $10, we've tried to keep the book affordable. Arianna Huffington calls it "political Viagra." And the president of the United Farm Workers, Arturo Rodriguez, invokes Cesar Chavez to remind us that ordinary people can right wrongs. He calls 50 Ways to Love Your Country "a vital primer for every activist interested in progressive social change."
Get your copy now to keep the momentum going. In the next two months, there will be 100+ bookstore events around the country for community discussion, voter registration, and more. MoveOn members will be presenting. If a bookstore event comes to your area, we'll let you know.
Thank you so much for all you do,
- Adam, Carrie, Eli, James, Joan, Laura, Mari, Noah, Peter, Wes, Zack
The MoveOn Team
March 29th, 2004
P.S. As a sample, here's an excerpt from Former Vice President Al Gore's introduction to our "Every Vote Couns" section:
Woody Allen has famously said that 90 percent of success is showing up. That's true of democracy too. I'd argue that the other 10 is making sure you're registered beforehand.
It's easy to be cynical about politics and to believe that one vote barely matters. But consider these facts: John F. Kennedy's 1960 victory over Richard Nixon-a victory that ultimately led to sweeping changes in civil rights laws, the first great wave of space exploration, and the creation of Medicare-was decided by just 100,000 votes nationwide. In 1994, the year Republicans won both houses of Congress, the redistribution of about 10,000 votes nationally would have kept Congress in Democratic hands. One of my former House colleagues, Connecticut Democrat Sam Gejdenson, won reelection by twenty-one votes that year. ("All you need is one," he remarked; "the rest are for your ego.")
The democratic political process isn't perfect. Winston Churchill once said it's the worst system for governance "except for every other system that has ever been tried." Often, you may find no candidate who completely reflects your views. But as voter participation has declined-from nearly two-thirds of eligible voters in 1960 to less than half in many national elections today-strong and decidedly undemocratic forces have stepped in to fill the void.
In a democracy, the future isn't something that just happens; it's something we shape for ourselves, together. Special-interest lobbyists get the government they pay for only when we stay home from the polls-only when we abdicate the electoral power that is mightier than any soft-money check, more decisive than any million-dollar ad blitz or corporate misinformation campaign.
http://www.southendpress.org/NOW AVAILABLE FROM SOUTH END PRESShttp://www.southendpress.org/
http://southendpress.org/books/womwriting.shtmlhttp://southendpress.org/books/womwriting.shtml
The Checkbook and the Cruise Missile:
Conversations with Arundhati Roy
Interviews by David Barsamian
Foreword by Naomi Klein
This dynamic series of interviews captures four wide-ranging conversations between two passionate and witty thinkers: Arundhati Roy, renowned author of the novel The God of Small Things, and David Barsamian, innovative producer and host of Alternative Radio. Beginning in February 2001, their discussions presage the September 2001 attack and trace the subsequent War on Terror to the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Arundhati Roy's political essays eloquently capture the thoughts of people worldwide whose primary reference points for the United States are multinational corporations and the military. For the many Americans who wondered after 9/11 "why do they hate us," there is no better source than Roy for the complex answers to that question.
"I don't know how Roy comes up with her killer one-liners, but I'm grateful. Each one is a gift, capable of transforming fear and confusion into courage and conviction."
-Naomi Klein, from the Foreword
"Arundhati Roy combines brilliant reportage with a passionate, no-holds-barred commentary. I salute both her courage and her skill."
-Salman Rushdie
"David Barsamian is one of the great journalists of our era."
-Robert McChesney
For more information on The Checkbook and the Cruise Missile, please contact Loie Hayes at 617-547-4002.
http://www.southendpress.org/books/transracism.shtmlhttp://www.southendpress.org/books/transracism.shtmlHIGHWAY ROBBERY Transportation Racism and New Routes to Equity edited by Robert Bullard, Glenn Johnson, and Angel Torres
Across America, equal access to safe, reliable and practical transportation eludes many people, the majority of them poor people and people of color. Substandard urban bus service, massive highway projects, and exclusive suburban train systems have left them stranded--literally cut off from economic and social opportunities. Highway Robbery shows how, half a century after the Montgomery bus boycotts, chronic inequality in public transportation is firmly and nationally entrenched, through transportation policy, and transportation tax dollars.
Highway subsidies have run roughshod over any notion of racial justice and these authors have laid out both the crime and correction for this discrimination in mobility, equity, and livability in a timely way.
-Jane Holtz Kay, author of Asphalt Nation
As the quality of public transportation services plummets and fares skyrocket, transit riders across the country are organizing for transportation justice, a shared concern for environmental activists and social justice groups. Transit activists are building alliances among these groups to ensure that access to transportation is equitable and our mobility doesn't threaten our health and the health of our planet.
a.. Read about the historical and current policies that have restricted transportation access and the legal struggles to change them including the groundbreaking case won by the Bus Riders Union and the Labor/Community Strategy Center against the Los Angeles County Metropolitcan Transit Authority.
b.. Review the successes and obstacles of coalitions between environmental and equity activists who have worked to create a model of fair, smart, and sustainable transportation.
c.. Examine tensions between transit riders and neighborhood residents, and the perceived conflicts between the needs of suburban commuters and city dwellers.
d.. Learn about how you could add your voice to those calling for the right of all Americans to safe, clean, efficient, affordable, and equitable transportation.
Robert D. Bullard is the Ware Professor of Sociology and director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University. He is the author of several books including Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality (Westview Press, 2000); and Confronting Environmental Racism: Voices from the Grassroots (South End Press, 1993).
Glenn S. Johnson is a research associate in the Environmental Justice Resource Center and associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Clark Atlanta University.
Angel O. Torres is a Geographic Information Systems training specialist with the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University.
Solnit, Rebecca. Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities. Nation Books, 2004.
Solnit, Rebecca. Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities. Nation Books, 2004.
Scott, Jim, comp., ed., arranger. The Earth and Spirit Songbook: Book One. Jim Scott Music, 2003. Rev. UU World (July-Aug. 2004). "…the soundtrack to the peace and justice and environmental movement."
Paul Rogat Loeb is the author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear (Basic Books, August 2004 www.theimpossible.org) and of Soul of a Citizen.
--
No comments:
Post a Comment