ACORN International « Wade Rathke: Chief Organizer Blog

Caveat Emptor / Buyers Beware the Fair Trade Mess

New Orleans Part of the global dispute that ACORN International highlighted in our recently released report, “Unfair Fairtrade” www.acorninternational.org, burst into the business section of the Times in a weird piece of Thanksgiving celebration. The issue engaged most directly continued to be the rouge retreat of Fair Trade USA and its chief, Paul Rice, from [...]

Finding Transcendent Issues in Sicily and Occupy NOLA

Finding Transcendent Issues in Sicily and Occupy NOLa

Palermo The Movimenti Civici di Sicilia or Civic Movement of Sicily had called together 40 of its key leaders and activists from throughout Sicily to participate in a workshop with me about strategy and tactics in building a more substantial movement for change city by city in [...]

ACORN Canada, ACORN International, Many Others Banned from FEMA Funding

New Orleans Props to Dave Weigel of Slate.com for bringing to the public a better understanding of how the Republican U. S. Congress is so consumed by hater-ation that they can’t see the desperate needs of victims of disaster because they are still blinded in the fog of their ghostbusting of the tragically defunct [...]

Mega Troubles for Microfinance

Buenos Aires
Today ACORN International released a shocking report, Mega
Troubles for Microfinance (www.acorninternational.org), as the result of months and years of
first skepticism and now study of the claims and contradictions of the industry. In a letter to
policy makers, politicians, and development agencies throughout the world, signed by ACORN
International President Kay Bisnah from Toronto and myself, we [...]

Global Grassroots: Perspectives on Organizing

Missoula It’s been fun to look at the first, advance copies of the new Social Policy Press book, Global Grassroots: Perspectives on Organizing. Sharing a copy with friends and family, the reactions have been positive. People are finding surprises as they open the covers.

The book combines a pile of essays from organizers around the world [...]

ACORN International Actions on Foreign Retail and on Small Retail in India

New Orleans I love my job! Given the differences in international time zones there are surprises all hours of the day and night, because good organizing is happening 24 hours a day. We are about to celebrate this with the publication by Social Policy Press of Global Grassroots: International Perspectives on Organizing this week, but [...]

Karla Lara, Valle de Angeles, and Informal Worker Unions

Tegucigalpa The highlight reel of this year’s annual meeting of ACORN International’s board and staff is rolling out now. The Mexican and San Pedro Sula delegation were on a morning bus Saturday for the journeys home. At 4 AM I saw off the first five from ACORN Canada heading for their 24 hour [...]

Death Threats, Web Attacks, and Organizing Reports

Dilcia Zevala giving the Tegucigalpa Report

Tegucigalpa A critical feature to the annual international meeting of the ACORN International board and staff beginning last year in Lima and now with both excitement and trepidation is the reports from offices around the world on their progress. All of this is well and good, but [...]

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