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 How does a neighborhood-based community organization continue to fight and win, when they can’t meet? That was the question before thousands of community-based groups around the world during the global pandemic. ACORN’s affiliate in New Orleans, A Community Voice, had to meet that challenge head-on and adapted the best they could. …
Pearl River I’ve always said about organizing that the “beginnings prejudice the ends.” Meaning simply, how you start things – like an organization – will have an immense impact on what that organization is ever able to do. If you begin as a tenants’ group, it’s unlikely that you will somehow morph into a …
Pearl River I was shocked at the news. Maybe I shouldn’t have been. Death waits for everyone, and as the years add up, it becomes more impatient and intolerant. Still, whenever I thought about Hawaii, I thought of my friend and comrade, Emmett Aluli. He was ageless to me. He was a doctor. He …