WADE RATHKE is the founder of ACORN, Chief Organizer at ACORN International, and Author of "Nuts & Bolts", "Citizen Wealth", "Global Grassroots", and "The Battle for the 9th Ward".
Little Rock Sometimes you stumble over something so obvious, you shake your head wondering why your thinking was so patterned that it was in danger of becoming more habitual than flexible in facing organizing problems. An organizer always has to challenge herself not to simply fall back on a practiced repertoire of tactics and strategies in facing …
Montreal There are probably thousands of sayings about measurements. “Measure twice, cut once,” is the rule in carpentry and many other trades. In business, “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” In life and much of work, “if you don’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” In general, “a good measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions,” and …
New Orleans There was a depressing op-ed in the New York Times entitled “Losing the Fight Over Abortion” by Amy Littlefield, a correspondent for The Nation. Sadly, this may be the first of many post-mortems for Roe v. Wade, even before the Supreme Court puts the knife in its heart after decades with hundreds of cuts by courts, cities, and states. Even more discouraging …