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"Coupled with the speed and networking capacities of social media, #blacklivesmatter was the hashtag heard round the world. But Alicia Garza well knew that the distance between a hashtag and real change would take more than a single facebook to cover. It would take a movement. Garza was a lifelong activist who had spent the previous decades educating herself on the hard lessons of organizing. She started as a kid, working on sexual education for her peers, and then moved on to major campaigns around housing, policing, and immigrant and labor rights in California and then nationally. The lessons she extracted were different from the "rules for radicals" that animated earlier generations of lefitists; they were also different than the charismatic, patriarchal model of the American Civil Rights Movement. She instead developed a mode of organizing based on creating deep connections with communities, forging multiracial, intersectional coalitions, and, most of all, calling in all sorts of people to join the fight for the world we all deserve. This is the story of an activist's education on the streets and in the homes of regular people around the country who found ways to come together to create change. And it's also a guide for anyone who wants to share in that education and help build sustainable movements for the 21st century at any level, whether you're fighting for housing justice in your community or advocating for a political candidate or marching in the streets or just voting. It's a new paradigm for change for a new generation of changemakers, from the mind and heart behind one of the most important movements of our time"--… (more)
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(Incidentally, I realized
I learned a lot from this book. It starts with a brief history of movements and leadership within the Black community to give context to where things stand with it today. Then she weaves in her personal story, including her work as a community organizer. I first heard the term “community organizer” when Barack Obama ran for president but I didn’t know what it really meant. Garza has a wealth of experience that she details in this book and I feel like I understand what a community organizer does a lot better now.
The last section of the book is about the Black Lives Matter movement – how it started and where it is today. I appreciated this information because I didn’t know the specifics before reading this book. Now, I feel like I have a wealth of knowledge that I can use to educate others. There is a lot of misinformation about Black Lives Matter out there and I’m glad I feel like I can speak out now.
The focus of The Purpose of Power is the Black Lives Matter movement but what Garza shares about organizing can be applied to any movement. If you’ve ever felt like you wanted to do something beyond posting a hashtag, this is a great book for you.