We Make Change: Community Organizers Talk About What They Do--and Why

by Kristin Layng Szakos, Joe Szakos

Community organizers work at their jobs because they are passionate, because they believe that change is possible, and because they enjoy working with people. Although it's not an occupation that leads to great wealth, community organizers can make a living at it. They get salaries, pensions and health insurance. They raise families. They do well by doing good. This book explores the world of community organizing through the voices of real people working in the field, in small towns and city neighborhoods--women and men of different races and economic backgrounds, ranging in age from those in their twenties to those in their sixties. Fourteen in-depth profiles tell the life stories of a cross-section of the diverse people who choose the life of an organizer. Other chapters, focused on issues of organizing, are tapestries of experience woven from the 81 interviews the authors conducted.

280 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Bill]

This is a good overview. It seems like it's designed as a text-book. It's collected stories. It tries to be thematic, but it's a bit uneven. Still, a good book for anybody who knows a little bit about organizing, but wants to learn much more.

[Carrie Basas]

Someone in our book club wrote this one.