abolition of slavery, xi–xii, 49
African Americans
battle for public rights, 27–29, 32–33, 49
and the convict lease system, 96, 163
courage in the Southern Civil Rights Movement, 49–51
employment discrimination against, 12–14
leadership of the Movement, 120–123
Negro National Anthem, xiii, 68–69
racist language against, 34–36
segregation of, 33, 49–51, 98, 108, 112, 125
in Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union strike, 25–27
textile mill workers, 127–129
voting rights of, 9–11, 22–24, 33, 152, 159
See also multiracial organizing; Southern Civil Rights Movement
Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU), 3
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), 110, 111, 112, 115
American Gulag (Dow), 163
anti-immigration politics, 151–152, 156–160
anti-Semitism, 124–125
apartheid, 51–52
Arnold, Matthew, 77
Aronson, Arnold, 121–123
Aronson, Charlie, 162
Aronson, Rae Sterling, 158
Artists United to End Immigrant Family Detention, 170–172
Asch, Moe, 68
asylum seekers, 158
Auerbach, Isabelle, 50
Auerbach, Saul, 50
BBS (beg, borrow, and steal) tactics, 109
Been a Long Time (Kahn), 70
Berks County Immigrant Family Detention Center, 163
Black Lung Association, 55–58
black lung disease, 55–57
Blacks. See African Americans
Blair, J. H., 79
boycott, Forrest City, 12–17
Branton, Wiley, 35–36
Brookside Strike, 3, 58–61, 138
Brown, Mrs. (Forrest City resident), 141, 144–145
Brown Lung Movement, 3
Bunch, Charlotte, 87
Bush, George W., 152
Bustamante, Jorge, 156
Campaign to End Immigrant Family Detention, 166–173
Casey, Jerry, 63
CCA (Corrections Corporation of America), xiv, 149, 156. See also Shelby County for-profit private prison proposal
Chaney, James, 137
Chaplin, Ralph, 79
Civil Liberties Act of 1988, 162
civil rights, 32–33
Civil Rights Movement. See Southern Civil Rights Movement
Clay, Florence, 63
Clay, Jesse, 63
Clay Funeral Home, 63
coal miners’ struggle
Black Lung Association, 55–58
Brookside Strike, 3, 58–61, 138
harassment of Granny Hager, 140
story of Aunt Molly Jackson, 88–90
Collins, Addie Mae, 137
Communications Workers of America (CWA), 99
Cornell Corrections, 152
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), xiv, 149, 156. See also Shelby County for-profit private prison proposal
cotton mill workers, 188–191
creative community organizers
advocating the positive/opposing the negative, 108, 193
BBS tactics, 109
building alternative organizations, 57–58, 195
committed to peacemaking over violence, 145–146, 195
dividing the opposition, 13–14, 18–19
employing a collective strategy, 83, 88–91, 93
encouraging neutrality over opposition, 114, 193
finding people’s common self-interest, 125–127, 132, 193, 194
framing and asking questions, viii, 92–93, 194
guarding against arrogance, 65, 194–195
importance of personal relationships to, 170, 195
inspiring/supporting others’ stories, 72–73, 83
need for long-term commitment, 179
practicing cheerfulness, 184–185, 194
refusal to compromise with injustice, 52, 196
risk and ethics, 61–62, 64–65, 194
as separate from leader/spokesperson, 182, 195
and the stop sign principle, 46–48
suspending disbelief, 41–42
Top 20 list, 193–196
understanding the role of history, xii, 45, 52
working backwards strategy, 100, 193
See also multiracial organizing
culture
Artists United to End Immigrant Family Detention, 170–172
as central to community organizing, 82–83, 85, 87, 93
distinguishing historical movements, 4
encouraging/supporting others’ stories, 72–73, 82–83
examples of, 87
integration techniques, 87–92, 93
key to transformative social change, xii–xiii, 86, 93, 126–127, 195
in multiracial organizing, 133
need to support, 92
and power, 77–79, 83, 85–87, 93, 195
defensive organizing, 126–127
Democratic Party, 159
Denia (former Hutto detainee), 150–151, 158
Detention Watch Network, 166, 174
Díaz, Antonio, 155
Douglass, Frederick, 49
Dow, Mark, 163
Dowson, Ernest, 76
Duke Power Company, 59–61
e-toolkit, 170–172
Elaine Massacre, 25
Eliot, T. S., 76
Elsa (former Hutto detainee), 155
ethics, 64–65
faith, 184–186
family detention. See immigrant family detention
family internment. See Japanese internment
Faubus, Orval, 50
Fifteenth Amendment, 22
fixed fights, 46–48
Flowers, Jacob, 101–105, 108, 113, 115–118
for-profit private prisons, xiii–xiv, 3, 96–98, 112, 130–131. See also Hutto; immigrant family detention; Shelby County for-profit private prison proposal
Forrest, Nathan Bedford, 11
Forrest City, 11–19, 22, 25, 26, 63–64, 104, 120, 144
Fox in the Henhouse, The (Kahn and Minnich), 32
“free media,” 168
freedom, 32–34
Forrest City Freedom Center, 63–64
Freedom Movement. See Southern Civil Rights Movement
Goldman, Emma, 82–83
Goodman, Andrew, 137
Gossage, Matthew, 149, 156, 170
Grassroots Leadership, ix, xi, xiii–xiv, 3, 83–85, 99, 102, 109, 112, 130–131. See also Hutto; Shelby County for-profit prison proposal
Gunn, Anton, 166
Hager, Granny, 139–141
Hall, Rich, 138–139
Harlan County U.S.A. (Kopple), 61
Harlan County, 54–55, 59, 60–61
Hayes, Rutherford B., 9
Hicks, Charles, 63
Hicks, Willie, 63
Hillbillies, The, 54–55
hod, 180
Hooks, Benjamin, 111
Horn, Carl, 61
How People Get Power (Kahn), 4
“Hunger” (Jackson), 88–91
Hutto
Artists United to End Immigrant Family Detention, 170–172
Campaign to End Immigrant Family Detention, 166–173
detention of immigrant families at, 148–149
initial campaign to close, 153–155, 163
100 Days, 100 Actions, 167, 173
partial victory over, 174–176
politics around, 151–153, 155–160
rallying national support against, 164–166
Hutto: America’s Family Prison (Gossage and Keber), 149–151, 155, 162, 167
Hutto (Kahn), 170
I Shall Not Be Moved (traditional), 78
ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement of DHS), 151, 155, 156, 157, 164
immigrant family detention, 3, 151–153, 156–160, 164, 175–176. See also Hutto
improvisational theater, 90–91
incarceration, xiii–xiv, 97–98, 109, 131
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), 79
INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service), 163
Internet campaigns, 167, 170–173
J. P. Stevens Campaign, 127–129
Jackson, Aunt Molly, 68, 88–91
Jewish Fund for Justice, 181
Jewish traditions, 73–75
Jews, and the Southern Civil Rights Movement, 121, 123–125
Johnson, James Weldon, 68–69
Johnson, John Rosamond, 69
Johnson, Lyndon Baines, 22
Johnson, Robert, 93
Johnson-Castro, Jay, 154
Just a Lie (Kahn), 70–71
Kahn, Benjamin, xiii, 70–72, 74, 75, 121, 123–124, 162, 179–183
Kahn, Celia Liebovitz, 70
Kahn, Jenette, 73
Kahn, Rosalind, 70, 74–77, 121, 123–126, 162
Kahn, Si, works of
Been a Long Time, 70
Fox in the Henhouse, The (and Minnich), 32
How People Get Power, 4
Hutto, 170
Just a Lie, 70-71
Organizing: A Guide for Grassroots Leaders, 4
Kahn, Simon, 140–141
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 5, 40, 41, 110, 112, 113, 115, 120, 121, 134, 196
Kopple, Barbara, 61
Kula, Irwin, 183
law-and-order rhetoric, 152
leadership
in multiracial organizing, 129, 130, 132, 133
sliding from organizer into, 182, 195
Southern Civil Rights Movement, 120–123
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), 121
Least of These, The (Lyda and Lyda), 170
letter-writing parties, 167, 168
Lewis, Congressman John, 120, 121, 136–137
Lewis, John L., 55
LGTBQ activism, 108
Libal, Bob, 109–110, 115, 149, 165–166, 167, 173, 174–175
Lincoln, Abraham, 159
Little Rock Nine, 50
Locking Up Family Values report (Women’s Refugee Commission), 154
Logan, Steve, 152–153
logo, Grassroots Leadership, 83–85
“Lost Children, The” (Talbot), 156
Mandela, Nelson, 51–52
Marcharia, Kamau, 166
Marshall, Thurgood, Jr., 111
Martin, Courtney E., 170
Mayfield, La Wana, 172
McNair, Denise, 137
media exposure, 168
Memphis, 102, 105, 112–115. See also Shelby County for-profit private prison proposal
Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, 103, 109, 117
mill workers, 127–129, 188–191
Millay, Edna St. Vincent, 77
Miners for Democracy, 58
Minnich, Elizabeth, 9, 32–33, 143, 175, 178–179
Mississippi Summer (1964), 9, 10–11
Mitchell, H. L., 26
Movement, the. See Southern Civil Rights Movement
multiracial organizing
balancing act of, 129–130
equity in, 132–133
finding common self-interests, 126–131, 132, 194
leadership in, 129, 130, 132, 133
preliminary principles for, 131–134
and the Southern Civil Rights movement, 121, 123, 125
unity through “defensive organizing,” 126–127
Napolitano, Janet, 167
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 50, 121
Nazi Germany, 162
Negro National Anthem, xiii, 68–69
neutrality over opposition, 114, 193
Nine Pound Hammer (The Hillbillies), 54–55
Norcross, Hiram, 26
Obama, Barack, vii, 156, 159, 166, 167, 174–176
Obama, Michelle, 174
O’Connor, Vincent, 16–17
100 Days, 100 Actions, 167, 173
opposition, strategies to combat the, 13–14, 18–19, 114, 193
organizer skills. See creative community organizers; multiracial organizing
Organizing: A Guide for Grassroots Leaders (Kahn), 4
Orta, José, 153
personal relationships, 170, 195
petition campaign, 167–168
picketing, 15–17, 19, 58–59, 61, 84, 85
Pirke Avot, 191
poetry, 75–77
political refugees, 158
poverty, xiii, 25, 71–72, 97–98, 125
power
and culture, 77–79, 83, 85–87, 93, 195
in multiracial organizations, 129, 130, 133
and the stop sign principle, 47–48
power structure
backlash of attacking the, 61–62
building alternative organizations to the, 57–58, 195
shaky unity of the, 8, 13–14, 19, 193
See also white southerners
prejudices, antidote to, 86
private prisons. See for-profit private
prisons Pruneda, Nina, 157
Public Accommodations Act of 1964, 27
public rights, 27–29, 32–33, 49
race
Black leaders of the Movement, 120–121, 123
immigrant family detention, 163
Japanese internment, 162–163
in multiracial organizing, 129–134
seeking racial justice, 85, 125–126, 132–133
tension among fellow activists, 127–129
racism, 51–52, 124–125, 128, 133, 162–163. See also Southern Civil Rights Movement
racist language/rhetoric, 34–36, 152
Randolph, A. Philip, 121
Reagan, Ronald, 162
Ritchie, Jean, 63
Robertson, Carole, 137
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 159
safe spaces, 133
Santibañez, Luissana, 149, 155, 165–166, 167, 174, 175
Sawyer, Carol, 165, 170–171, 172
Schmidt, Les, 101–102, 104–106, 108–109, 113, 116–117
Schwerner, Michael, 137
segregation, 33, 49–51, 98, 108, 112, 125
self-interest, 125–127, 132, 193
Selma-to-Montgomery march, 77–78, 137
sharecroppers’ strike, 25–27
Sharry, Frank, 159
Shelby County for-profit private prison proposal
campaign activities against, 104–106
CCA’s offer to Shelby County, 99
lobbying the Shelby County Council, 110–114, 116–117
persuading elected officials to oppose, 114–115
positive advocacy to undermine, 108–110
strategy meeting to fight, 100–103
Shore, Freda, 71
Simmons, Dwight, 63
social transformation, xii–xiii, 86, 93, 126–127, 195
solidarity work, 60
South African apartheid, 51–52
Southern Civil Rights Movement, 2, 27
Black leadership of the, 120–123
essence of the, 32–34
inevitability of, 48–51
Mississippi Summer (1964), 9, 10–11
tearing down legal segregation, 33, 49–51, 108, 112
violence in the, 136–138
See also African Americans; Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union strike, 25–27
southern whites. See white southerners
stop sign principle, 46–48
storytelling, xii–xiii, 69–73, 82–83
strategy
developing collective, 83, 88–91, 93
encouraging neutrality over opposition, 114, 193
involving unity, 13–14, 18–19, 125–127, 132, 133, 194
streak o’lean, 72
strikes, 3, 25–27, 58–61, 78, 138
Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC), 11, 36, 39, 136, 141
creative legacy of, 2–3
Forrest City department store boycott, 12–17
Freedom Center, 63–64
make-up/leadership of, 120–121
and the Public Accommodations Act of 1964, 27–29
testing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 22–24
Talbot, Margaret, 156
Tarfon, Rabbi, 191
Taylor, Lucy, 189
tenant farmers’ strike, 25–27
Texans United for Families (TUFF), 154
textile mill workers, 127–129, 188–191
There Is a River (Harding), 49, 191
Thomas, Norman, 26
Till, Emmett Louis, 137
Top 20 list, creative community organizing, 193–196
tough on crime rhetoric, 152, 160
transformative social change, xii–xiii, 86, 93, 126–127, 195
Tubman, Harriet, 49
Turner, Nat, 49
Tyree, Gail, 99–106, 108–111, 113, 115–118
Underground Railroad, 49
union organizing, 127–129
United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), 3, 54–59, 61, 68, 138
unity, 13–14, 18–19, 125–127, 132, 133, 194
U.S. Constitution, Fifteenth Amendment, 22
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 151, 155–156, 158, 164
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), 163
Vesey, Denmark, 49
violence, 9, 136–138, 145–146, 195
voting rights, 9–11, 22–24, 33, 152, 159
Voting Rights Act of 1965, 10, 22, 23, 33, 152
We Shall Overcome (Tindley), 78
Wernick, Peter, 70
Wesley, Cynthia, 137
Which Side Are You On? (Reece), 79
White, Mr. (Forrest City picketer), 15–16, 17
white southerners
as antiracist activists, 103–104
denying African American voting rights, 9–10, 22
and the Forrest City department store boycott, 12, 15, 16–17, 19
ill treatment of civil rights workers, 37–39, 137
oppression of sharecroppers/tenant farmers, 25–26
and the Public Accommodations Act, 27–28
relationships with Blacks in rural areas, 36–37
See also Southern Civil Rights Movement
“white supremacy,” 9–10
Wilkins, Roy, 120–123
Williams, Ed, 36–37
Wilson, Jim, 144–145
Women’s Movement, 108
Woolworth lunch counter sit-in, 49
Yiddish, 74
3.15.22.160