Recent Articles
Hot Off the Press | The Triumph of Injustice: From Boston to Richmond
The history of taxation in the United States is anything but linear. It’s a story of dramatic reversals, of sudden ideological and political changes, of groundbreaking innovations and radical U-turns.
Politically Effective or Just Good at Campaigns?
A research report on capacity building in 501(c)(4) organizations and the role of leadership.
Organizer Voices | From Textathons to Black Joy: How Color of Change is Re-imagining Organizing
The idea, says Color of Change's chief of campaigns Arisha Hatch, is to center Black joy and to build face-to-face teams, which now number in the thousands, of people meeting and acting locally (and having fun together).
Organizer Voices | What ACORN Taught Us
It has been ten years since the community group ACORN was destroyed. At its height, The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now was the largest community organization in the United States with chapters in over 100 cities.
Hot Off the Press | Civic Power: Reclaiming Democracy’s Radicalism
In this excerpt from the book Civic Power: Rebuilding American Democracy in an Era of Crisis, authors K. Sabeel Rahman and Hollie Russon Gilman discuss restoring American democracy and rescuing it from crisis.
Tips for Organizing Member-Led In-District Meetings At Scale
How many times have you just about gotten to the beginning of a Congressional recess, realized you want to run an in-district legislative campaign to influence them when they’re home from Washington, but didn’t do it because you weren’t sure where to begin?
Review in Brief | Merge Left
There’s no excuse for recycling tired phrases about “the middle class,” or simply pointing out how Trump is bad, without injecting our own values and vision into the conversation. We know that ignoring race should qualify as political malpractice. Let’s at least make new mistakes. López and his fellow researchers have given us everything we need to get started.
Review in Brief | Shadow Network
Anne Nelson's Shadow Network: Media, Money and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right tells a holistic story of the toxic cocktail of extremist political operatives and a right-wing evangelical base. This is the coalition that is winning our day. It is perhaps the greatest threat to our freedoms and to a progressive future and deserves our full attention.
Organizer Voices | Ten Lessons from Twenty Five Years in Organizing
My years as a labor organizer have been challenging, joyous, and sometimes devastating, like all organizing. Here are my "top 10" lessons.
How We Fought, Lost, and Learned
What I bore witness to was not merely an announcement about a congressional process. It was seeing people’s faith in our democracy and our world shift.
Organizer Voices | An Interview with Angela Lang
I felt like, if you’re organizing from a place of anger, that is not sustainable at all. I’m trying to figure out different ways to go back to organizing from a place of love.
Welcome to The Forge: Organizing Strategy and Practice
I'd like to welcome you to The Forge. Let us tell you about our vision, our plan, and how to get involved.
Organizer Voices | "I Fight For My Family"
"I fight for my family and my neighborhood." Tyla Pond, mother of four, answered her door in Franklin, Indiana to an organizer from Hoosier Action.
Organizer Voices | Puja Datta
We need to base build. We’re going to have to have mass obstruction of the economic system. We’re going to have to have mass obstruction of the information system.
From the Archives | Organizing: A Secret History
Given the obstacles to organizing and the inability of contemporary unions to increase or even maintain their membership, understanding the history of organizing seems more important than ever.
Cancel Kavanaugh Campaign
I’ve said that the reason that we lost is that we didn’t have the votes and that we ran out of power, but we also lost because we have electeds who are cowards. It’s not their fault, it’s ours, but our the Democrats could not even hold their entire caucus.
From the Archives | An Organizer’s Tale
We inaugurate the From the Archives series with a classic from Cesar Chavez.
Review | Why Changing Minds Isn’t Activism
A book review of Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be an Anti-Racist.
Interview with Hahrie Han
The Forge spoke to Hahrie Han, co-founder of the new Center on Democracy and Organizing and professor at Johns Hopkins University.
The Kavanaugh Reckoning Is Only Just Beginning
One year ago this week, after a shameful process, the Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh.
Kavanaugh One Year Later
What we didn’t know when we started was that this fight would become a sort of reckoning about sexual violence and how power flows along gender lines in our society.
Community Organizing: People Power from the Grassroots
Community organizing is not merely a process that is good for its own sake. Unless the organization wins concrete, measurable benefits for those who participate, it will not last long.
How A Devastating Loss Sparked An Even Greater Movement
It’s been a year since the Senate confirmed Judge Brett Kavanaugh to a lifetime position on the Supreme Court.