Activists Speak Out: Reflections on the Pursuit of Change in America

By Claire Peeps

Book Overview

In Activists Speak Out, a group of fifteen American activists speak candidly about how and why they struggle for change. Their causes and strategies vary - in the areas of civil rights, gay and lesbian rights, the environment, women's issues, health, youth, education, labor, freedom of expression and the arts. But the lessons learned resonate across geographic and ideological boundaries. Whether working as grass-roots organizers or corporate insiders, in cities or in rural areas, the through-line of their observations is constant: Change is slow, and may take shape in unexpected ways. Small victories count. And, whatever the initial motivation to become engaged in the struggle for change - anger, compassion, frustration - the very process of engagement is itself transformative. You cross that line, and nothing is ever the same.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312235046
• ISBN13: 9780312235048
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
• Length: 279 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Great Book

> This book is an inspiration. The interviews range from funny to militant,<br>> the organizing strategies range from creatively loopy to brave and<br>> brilliant. What the reader absorbs from these wonderful and diverse<br>> activists is an infectious sense of commitment to improving society, and a<br>> sense of idealism about the potential we all have to make those changes. We<br>> see and feel how lives are made whole by engagement with social change.

A Must-Read for Anyone who wants to change their world

This masterful collection of intimate interviews is even more than the sum of its wonderful parts. While there are many books about activists, this is the only one that embraces activists across diverse disciplines, ranging from community arts and culture to banking and finance. After reading this book, I have come to the conclusion that interviews may be the only way to authentically capture the perspectives of visionary leaders. Marie Cieri and Claire Peeps clearly engendered an intimacy with their subjects that resulted in an outpouring of insight and honesty. As a reader, you feel that you've actually had a personal conversation with these special human beings. And perhaps the greatest gift of this book is that it humanizes these activists, focusing on the everyday choices that these leaders made in their lives, and the simple improvisational skills they demonstrated in the face of life's surprising curves. The result is that the reader is inspired to believe that he or she could actually make changes in their own world. And what better reason is there to write a book? I purchased a stack of these books for my family, frioends, and colleagues. I heartily recommend buying this book for everyone you know.

ATTENTION ARTISTS AND ACTIVISTS!

This is a great book for everyone interested in arts and activism to read because there are no easy answers or facile solutions given here. The editors respect the individual voices of the 15 artists and activists they interviewed. They don't try to tidy up the narrative and impose their own generalizations and comparisons. What they give us through these interviews are tough questions and real inconsistencies that we must try to figure out. Why are so many people indifferent to artists today? Can art help us relate across generations and build stronger communities? Can involvement in activism challenge artists to do better work? To me, this book contains the kind of information and inspiration that represents art and activism at its best.