Saturday, December 5, 2009
3:30–5:30 p.m.
Unitarian Universalist Church, Peierls Room
67 Church Street, Montclair

Join BlueWaveNJ for a presentation by and conversation with Wade Rathke, founder of ACORN and its chief organizer for 38 years. Learn about the history of the organization and its massive voter registration drives and why the organization became the target of Fox News and other right-wing commentators. Participate in a frank discussion on the organization’s recent scandals and possible lessons for other community organizations and concerned citizens that want to build a strong progressive movement.

Wade Rathke has been engaged in community organizing across the United States and Canada for over 42 years. He is the head of a local union in New Orleans and an international community-based group. He also chairs the Organizers’ Forum. In his new book, Citizen Wealth, Wade has drawn lessons learned from his years of organizing low and moderate -income communities.

The discussion will be moderated by John Atlas. John’s book about progressive politics and poverty, Seeds of Change, The Story of ACORN, America’s Controversial Anti-Poverty Group, University of Vanderbilt Press, is due out next year.

Please RSVP to confirm your attendance and the size of your party: marciam@bluewavenj.org