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".
Charleroi Hardly more than an hour from Brussels is another side of Belgium in Charleroi. This was the coal-mining, industrial center of Belgium. Over the last fifty or more years, the mines shut down. Perhaps one steel mill is left in operation, but the long, hulking buildings and giant smokestacks can be seen …
Brussels It’s Tuesday, it must be Brussels in this endless six-country road trip over the last month, not counting time in the Adirondacks on upstate New York. This time it’s with my colleague Craig Robbins, ACORN’s field coordinator, who also flew overnight; he from Philly and me from Dulles. We’re here to work with …
Bristol Over the years, I’ve been to Sicily a number of times. It’s a wonderful place in so many ways with a generous people, unmatched virtually anywhere in the world. Palermo, the Simeto Valley, Paterno, and another towns and cities across the island have all welcomed me, but nowhere more than Catania. Over …