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".
Recife The itinerary said “meeting with GMM” and that there would be various groups to meet with the Organizers’ Forum delegation in the late afternoon. We left in plenty of time, but we got an education in transportation planning in this outer neighborhood of Recife. For almost fifteen minutes we were all parked in …
Salvador Organizing low waged and informal workers around the world teaches an organizer a lot about the basic humanity and survival skills of workers. Humility and respect are constant companions, but so are the painful lessons about economics at the bottom of capitalism’s barrel. Call them waste pickers, trash workers, or, preferably, recyclers, I’ve …
New Orleans Recently, I was somewhat horrified to read about actions taken unanimously by the Indonesian Parliament. The Organizers’ Forum had taken a delegation there in 2005, and met with amazing groups organizing among the urban poor and lower-income workers. We were especially impressed that so many of the organizations were directed by …