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Book

Organizing America : stories of Americans who fought for justice

Call Number

  • 361.2 L8636 (CEN)

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Publication Information

New York : The New Press, 2025.

Physical Description

viii, 259 pages ; 23 cm

Summary

"From the acclaimed author of A History of America in Ten Strikes, a sweeping account of the impact of organizers on United States history. We are living through a time when real social change seems to be in the rearview mirror. But this rousing new book offers a beacon of hope: the stories of organizers who have shown America the way forward in the darkest of times. Author of the celebrated A History of America in Ten Strikes (a Kirkus Reviews best book of 2018), Erik Loomis uncovers a rich and revealing history of social change activism with immediate relevance to our present. In twenty short biographies, Organizing America tells the story of America through its most important organizers. A chronological story with a vast sweep, Organizing America considers a cross section of social justice activists across time, race, gender, and movement, examining lives as varied as Benjamin Lay, Ida B. Wells, Eugene V. Debs, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Bob Moses, Yuri Kochiyama, Daniel Berrigan, Dolores Huerta, Barbara Gittings, and many more. With an introduction that explains what organizing is and how collective action works--and how we should think about the power of organizing in 2025 and beyond--Loomis sets a tone that is both practical and historical, providing context and inspiration for anyone seeking to step into the work of changing America for the better."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents

  • Introduction
  • Benjamin Lay : the first anti-slavery crusader
  • Lydia Maria Child : not all white suffragists
  • Maggie Walker : using the tools of the master
  • Ida B. Wells : intersectionality pioneer
  • Eugene Debs : the American path to socialism
  • Clara Lemlich : a revolutionary life
  • Frank Little : the martyr
  • Elizabeth Gurley Flynn : a rebel life
  • Myles Horton : organizing the South for justice
  • Lucy Randolph Mason : to win these rights
  • Clint Jencks : El Palomino
  • Mike Quill : the power of a union
  • Robert Williams : organizing through armed self-defense
  • Ella Baker : give people light and they will find their own way
  • Bob Moses : the organizer of Mississippi
  • Yuri Kochiyama : the late-life organizer
  • Daniel Berrigan : the power of religious example
  • Barbara Gittings : the mother of the gay civil rights movement
  • Richard Oakes : the fight for indigenous justice
  • Dolores Huerta : a living legend
  • Conclusion.

Subjects