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".
New Orleans It’s one thing to try and balance secular claims with religious freedoms, but it’s another to directly discriminate against an entire people for their religion and religious practices. These are not the normal issues that a grassroots organization of lower income families would choose to tackle. Organizing 101 would normally nudge …
London Four-forty in the morning saw me jumping into a cab to head for the Lyon airport. Three emails from British Airways warning of a potential strike by security there advised – in the strongest terms – everyone to be there two hours early. I was sixth or seventh in line, but of course …
Grenoble When I sat down in the evening to visit with some of the Grenoble leaders of ACORN’s Alliance Citoyenne affiliate, one kidded me about being “on tour.” Now at the end of this UK-France trip, maybe they had a point. Counting quickly, I had met with organizers and leaders in eight cities that …
St. Sauveur We found ourselves in the rolling hills of the French countryside almost an hour’s drive from Lyon before we headed again for the Alliance’s headquarters in Grenoble. Hardy, multi-course country meals on the farm table were enjoyed as rain and fog drifted outside and yellowed leaves fell on the road to break …
Lyon Traveling from Paris, we arrived in time to meet the head organizer of ACORN’s affiliate, Alliance Citoyenne, in Lyon for a quick coffee, and then were off to a community center in one of the housing complexes where we had a chapter organization. We passed by the building where, earlier in the week, we …