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".
Douala, Cameroon The Organizers’ Forum and ACORN International delegations spent an afternoon meeting in the cabaret of our hotel yesterday. We had finally come to the part of our agenda where we were hearing about the campaigns a number of our partners and organizing colleagues of recent days to stop land grabbing, particularly in their …
Douala, Cameroon The highlight of the first day of Organizers’ Forum and ACORN International meetings in Doula was a visit to the Bependa neighborhood where we met with an organization of the evicted. Their story was wrenching. In 1986, thirty years ago, 908 families were evicted along the roadway near where we were meeting. The …
New Orleans Why aren’t all school districts in the country simply crying “Uncle” and conceding that they will test all of their schools for lead in the water? They must know this is a tide coming towards them that they cannot resist. Yet, still we find foot dragging and, in some cases, the flimsiest of …