Preface: A different kind of community organizing book
Chapter 1: Making a difference
Chapter 2: Democracy from the grassroots up
Chapter 3: Communities: Unorganized, organized and re-organized
Chapter 4: Thinking like an organizer
Chapter 5: Working backwards
Chapter 6: Asking the right questions
Chapter 7: Persuasion and pressure
Chapter 8: Patience
Chapter 9: Dealing with established power
Chapter 10: Community organizing in the electronic age
Chapter 11: Ethics
Chapter 12: Community organizing as a way of life
Afterword: Shoulders
Si Kahn is executive director of Grassroots Leadership (www.grassrootsleadership.org) and a singer and songwriter with fifteen CDs to his credit.
“Make room, Howard Zinn! Si Kahn’s Creative Community Organizing
deserves a place on the must-read shelf next to A People's History
of the United States. Warm, cheerful, candid, and wise—just like
the man himself—Si's book is more than a how-to for justice
seekers, more than a gripping memoir from the front lines of
bodacious modern activism. It's the up-close and creative story of
how the ‘people’s history' gets made.”
—Jay Harris, Publisher, Mother Jones
“Si Kahn’s latest book is a great addition to strategic community
organizing, offering nuanced insights into the difficult and often
life saving fights organizers wage on a daily basis for social
justice, human rights, and progressive change.”
—Rinku Sen, President and Executive Director, Applied Research
Center; Publisher, ColorLines; and coauthor of The Accidental
American
“Creative Community Organizing reminds us of the power of music and
storytelling for deep transformation. Magic happens when we
bring together creativity with strategy. Si gives us the recipe for
moving to a future where human rights for all can become
possible.”
—Mallika Dutt, Executive Director, Breakthrough
“Si Kahn is a Renaissance man for the social movements of our
generation. He is a troubadour, a poet, and a lyricist; a
thoughtful and reflective writer; a committed organizer and
institution builder; and a carrier of his family’s and his faith’s
deepest values. Most of all, he is a passionate believer in social
justice and the power of ordinary people to stand up and determine
their destinies. Reading this beautifully written and uplifting
narrative will give faith and hope to all who read it and take it
to heart.”
—Miles Rapoport, President, Demos
“Creative Community Organizing documents Si Kahn's career of
working for justice in ways that are deeply affecting, personally
and culturally. Si is truly Democracy's Troubadour, bringing us not
just the songs and stories of democracy and justice but also the
practical strategies to deepen our democratic roots.”
—Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin
“Si Kahn is an organizer and an activist. He's also a poet, a
songwriter, a preservationist, a historian, a documentarian in
song. He's a stark realist and simultaneously an unflinching
optimist. The tender reverence he holds for the people whose
struggles he has facilitated spills over into his writing, keeping
their stories alive, connecting us to them—and ultimately,
ourselves.”
—Kathy Mattea, Grammy-winning singer
“Over a lifetime of social justice activism—much of it spent on the
front lines—Si has kept the faith with courage, creativity,
and humor. His bedrock belief in the power of people working
together to create a just world is the spirit that guides this
remarkable book.”
—Alan Jenkins, Executive Director, The Opportunity Agenda
“The true moxie of Creative Community Organizing comes from Si
Kahn’s brilliant storytelling and his own distinguished career as
an organizer, folksinger, and all-around rabble-rouser—exemplifying
all that is great about fighting for justice and working for
progressive social change. This book is a great primer for
organizers, activists, and those dedicated to movement
building.”
—Pronita Gupta, Director of Programs, Women Donors Network
“Si Kahn has been my mentor, song leader, and conscience since I
started organizing two decades ago. From his strategic wisdom, I've
learned about organizing smart campaigns, about winning and losing
and never giving up. From his songs and stories, I've been
connected to the beauty and pain and shared vision that make it
possible to keep on fighting. Si combines the brass tacks of
organizing with the soulful, collective, creative yearning for the
world-as-it-should-be.”
—Brad Lander, New York City Councilmember, 39th District
(Brooklyn)
“In this marvelous book, Si Kahn leads us through his own history
as an organizer for progressive social change and in the process
provides an education for future generations to get involved in
bringing justice to more of the world's people. His insights on the
importance of integrating artistic expression into strategies for
change are invaluable.”
—John Stocks, Deputy Executive Director, National Education
Association
“Classic recipe: Mix classic storytelling with 2 cups
autobiography, 3/4 cup textured folk/movement/gospel poetry set to
music, 1/2 cup U.S. history, 2 spoons tested advice, a dash of
nostalgia, and a smidgen of medieval history and literature. Blend
well with love, encouragement, rejuvenation, faith, and a lifetime
of commitment. Get Si Kahn's classic book, Creative Community
Organizing: a great lesson plan for teaching organizers but also a
must-read for anyone who cares about progress and how to make it
happen.”
—Congressman Mel Watt
“Si Kahn has the heart of a poet, the wit of a comedian, the hands
of a seasoned political operative, and the ability to explain to
the rest of us how to translate dreams into day-to-day reality.
This is one of the most illuminating and personal books ever
written by a real-life progressive hero.”
—Danny Goldberg, author of Bumping into Geniuses
“There is so much hope in Si Kahn's new book: it is filled with
stories spanning four decades of his creativity tackling some of
our country's toughest problems. He may not have invented the term
‘creative community organizing,’ but he has certainly shaped its
past and future.”
—Geraldine Laybourne, founder, Oxygen Media
“In Creative Community Organizing, Si distills forty-five years of
experience for another generation that is already picking up the
fight for a just and democratic future. Poet, songwriter, and
storyteller par excellence, he weaves memoir and organizing manual
into a unique and inspiring tapestry. This book is a gift to the
rest of us, a challenge never to lose faith in human possibility or
to back off from doing the work of joining with others to build a
better world.”
—Sara M. Evans, author of Born for Liberty
“My union brother Si Kahn and I have been friends for over thirty
years. His first book, How People Get Power, was my introduction to
organizing and my initial inspiration for what has been a wonderful
life working to build collective action and to struggle together
for the common good. What better hope for Creative Community
Organizing than that it will help create that dynamic in the lives
of others.”
—Stewart Acuff, Assistant to the President, AFL-CIO
“Si Kahn’s compelling portraits remind us that creative community
organizing is all about people – real-life individuals who use
their skills to take on enormous challenges and those whose lives
are made better as a result. This is an inspiring and instructive
read.”
—Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky
“Si writes with a calm passion. This book is a kind, caring friend
and mentor for we who are engaged in the struggle to help our
country live up to the promise of what America was meant to
be.”
—Ben Cohen, cofounder, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream
“Si Kahn's powerful, stirring story of his lifelong journey for
justice and lessons learned will captivate and energize all who
care about equal justice. This is the handbook for rabble-rousers
everywhere!
—Ada Deer, Distinguished Lecturer Emerita, School of Social Work
and American Indian Studies Program, University of
Wisconsin-Madison; former Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs;
past chair, Menominee Tribe
“In his forty-five years as a labor, civil right,s and community
organizer, Si Kahn has maintained his unshakeable faith in the
capacity of working people to shape their own destiny and his
passionate belief that what this country needs more than anything
else is a strong progressive labor movement. His work and his songs
are a testimony to the power of the union.”
—John McCutcheon, President, Local 1000, American Federation of
Musicians, AFL-CIO
“Organizing is not simply a toolbox of strategies, charts, and
tactics. Organizing for social and economic justice demands deep
relationships, core unshakeable values, humility born of
experience, and appreciation of the creative spirit in all of us.
Si Kahn, a marathon runner for justice, crams a lifetime of
experience and wisdom into this highly readable and inspirational
book—a must read for anyone in the trenches or thinking about
joining the struggle for justice.”
—Kim Bobo, Executive Director, Interfaith Worker Justice
“Si Kahn’s unique combination of folk songs and prose provides a
riveting memoir and analysis of class struggle as well as an
inspirational organizing tool. This book will become a cornerstone
of the movement for social justice.”
—Stephen Nathan, editor, Prison Privatisation Report International,
London, England
“Reading a Si Kahn book is like listening to his music—organizing
stories come alive and we learn while listening and imagining. This
is an equally great read for community and workplace
organizers.”
—Larry Cohen, President, Communications Workers of America
“Si Kahn, the grandchild of immigrants, is a gifted storyteller who
conveys the story of community organizing in a way it’s never been
told. His account of the campaign to abolish so-called immigrant
family detention leaves the reader with hope and inspiration.”
—Daranee Petsod, Executive Director, Grantmakers Concerned with
Immigrants and Refugees
“Creative Community Organizing provides the reader with an
opportunity to listen and learn from one of the field's legendary
practitioners. As someone who has benefited firsthand from Si's
insight and inspiration, first as an organizer and more recently as
the CEO of the Jewish Funds for Justice—the foundation Si helped
create to fund community organizing—I commend this book to anyone
seeking to understand what organizing at its best can look
like.”
—Simon Greer, President and CEO, Jewish Funds for Justice
“Si, master organizer, storyteller, and musician, uses his poetic,
lyrical prose to teach and inspire. This is a book you’ll read in
one sitting and remember the lessons because the stories will stay
with you forever.”
—Jackie Kendall, Executive Director, Midwest Academy
“Si Kahn beautifully weaves poetry, song, stories, remembrances,
analysis, and prescriptions into a rich tapestry. He transports the
reader through forty-five years of community and labor organizing,
from roots with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in
1965 through recent decades as founder and executive director of
Grassroots Leadership. This is a deeply personal book, firmly
planted in his religious Jewish upbringing by his father, a very
musical rabbi, and his mother, who taught him the love of poetry.
Read this book to learn from a consummate organizer, educator, and
cultural worker.”
—Neil Tudiver, Assistant Executive Director, Canadian Association
of University Teachers/
“If ‘the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice’,
as Martin Luther King said, then Si Kahn has devoted his life
to riding that arc. His powerful impulse to service, combined
with deep compassion, is a force of nature. I put Si in
the same category as Woody Guthrie, as Pete Seeger, and in a
strange way, as my dad, who shared his righteous sense
of humanity and his love of the ‘meek,’ who he truly believed
would 'inherit the earth.'”
—Rosanne Cash, writer and musician
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