How To Be An Activist

From experienced campaigner Vanessa Holburn and with a foreword by award-winning animal welfare campaigner Lorraine Platt, this is the essential guide to activism. 'Essential reading for anyone looking to start a grassroots campaign - and useful bedtime reading for some of our political parties too' - Hannah Beckerman, Guardian How To Be an Activist covers everything you need to know to create a successful social campaign and bring about positive change no matter what your cause. This practical, inspirational book covers topics ranging from identifying your central issue and setting meaningful milestones and goals, to learning how to use the media effectively and stay safe and within the law. It will help you with every step of your campaign, keeping you motivated through periods of self-doubt and staving off burnout as you celebrate milestones on the way to creating meaningful change in the world. With contributions from influential campaigners including Natasha Devon MBE. Fresh from waving banners in the pouring rain, journalist and campaigner Vanessa Holburn passes on the lessons she has learned so the reader can fast track their movement to success. This is the age of activism and everyone is invited to join the movement.

Just Get Started! Be Unstoppable! Dream Big! How to Become an Accidental Activist profiles almost 100 activists from around the world, including change-makers like Greta Thunberg, Pete Seeger and Lilly Singh. This book shows us how ordinary people have persevered throughout history to do extraordinary things to help themselves and others. These activists come from many different backgrounds and a drives to take action. They work for human rights, to help the environment, to preserve historic buildings and more. This book will inspire young readers by giving them tips on getting started, continuing when the going gets tough and encouraging others to get involved. They will learn how to use determination, channel their passions and dream big to change the world.

Donald Trump’s election forced academics to confront the inadequacy of promoting social change through the traditional academic work of research, writing, and teaching. Scholars joined crowds of people who flooded the streets to protest the event. The present political moment recalls intellectual forbearers like Antonio Gramsci who, imprisoned during an earlier fascist era, demanded that intellectuals committed to justice “can no longer consist in eloquence ... but in active participation in practical life, as constructor, organizer, ‘permanent persuader’ and not just a simple orator" (Gramsci, 1971, p. 10). Indeed, in an era of corporate media and “alternative facts,” academics committed to justice cannot simply rely on disseminating new knowledge, but must step out of the ivory tower and enter the streets as activists. The Activist Academic serves as a guide for merging activism into academia. Following the journey of two academics, the book offers stories, frameworks and methods for how scholars can marry their academic selves, involved in scholarship, teaching and service, with their activist commitments to justice, while navigating the lived realities of raising families and navigating office politics. This volume invites academics across disciplines to enter into a dialogue about how to take knowledge to the streets. Perfect for courses such as: Introduction to Social Theory | Social Foundations | Certificate in Public Scholarship | Practicing Public Scholarship | Reimagining Public Engagement | Decentering the Public Humanities hrClick HERE to see a video of the book launch, moderated by Monisha Bajaj for Imagining America, with contributions from Margo Okazawa-Rey and John Saltmarsh. hrWatch the #CompactNationPod interview, which runs between minutes 9:35 and 48:45. In this episode, Marisol Morales chats with Colette Cann and Eric DeMeulenaere, as they share the true stories of their lives as activists, scholars, and parents who are trying to push forward social change through academic work.Compact Nation Podcast · The Activist Academic hr What does it mean to be both an activist and an academic? Watch the FreshEd podcast Becoming an Activist Academic, which features authors Colette Cann & Eric DeMeulenaere discussing their own journeys as a guide for merging activism and academia. hr

How to Think Like an Activistoffers a space for budding activists to learn from the past and look to the future. A lot of talk around changing the world gets stuck in theory, but this is about action. From small daily commitments to larger ongoing projects, this book offers tangible ways to start building the world you want to live in – now. Right now, we’re experiencing a new chapter in the history of activism. The social, environmental, and political stakes are larger than ever. But so is the impact that we can have as individuals and as communities. To have a voice in society once meant power, money and, status. But now, with the rise of social media and the internet we all have the ability to defend the causes that matter most to us and reshape the world. But during a time where everyone calls themselves an activist, what does the title actually mean? And how do you begin to make an impact on issues that feel so huge and overwhelming? Filled with inspirational quotes from past leaders, historical facts about important movements as well as daily protests, How to Think Like an Activist will help set you on the path to your new activist life. The Survive the Modern World series tackles big subjects in a fun and digestible way. The tone is frank and chatty, but the content is comprehensive. Upskill and expand your knowledge with these accessible pocket guides.

"Jamie Margolin is among the powerful and inspiring youth activists leading a movement to demand urgent action on the climate crisis. With determined purpose and moral clarity, Jamie is pushing political leaders to develop ambitious plans to confront this existential threat to humanity. Youth To Power is an essential how-to for anyone of any age who feels called to act to protect our planet for future generations." --- Former Vice President Al Gore Climate change activist and Zero Hour cofounder Jamie Margolin offers the essential guide to changemaking for young people. The 1963 Children's March. The 2016 Dakota Access Pipeline protests. March for Our Lives, and School Strike for Climate. What do all these social justice movements have in common?They were led by passionate, informed, engaged young people. Jamie Margolin has been organizing and protesting since she was fourteen years old. Now the co-leader of a global climate action movement, she knows better than most how powerful a young person can be. You don't have to be able to vote or hold positions of power to change the world. In Youth to Power, Jamie presents the essential guide to changemaking, with advice on writing and pitching op-eds, organizing successful events and peaceful protests, time management as a student activist, utilizing social and traditional media to spread a message, and sustaining long-term action. She features interviews with prominent young activists including Tokata Iron Eyes of the #NoDAPL movement and Nupol Kiazolu of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, who give guidance on handling backlash, keeping your mental health a priority, and how to avoid getting taken advantage of. Jamie walks readers through every step of what effective, healthy, intersectional activism looks like. Young people have a lot to say, and Youth to Power will give you the tools to raise your voice.

One of NPR's Top 100 Book for Young Readers “Reading it is almost like reading Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, but for two-year olds—full of pictures and rhymes and a little cat to find on every page that will delight the curious toddler and parents alike.”—Occupy Wall Street A is for Activist is an ABC board book written and illustrated for the next generation of progressives: families who want their kids to grow up in a space that is unapologetic about activism, environmental justice, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, and everything else that activists believe in and fight for. The alliteration, rhyming, and vibrant illustrations make the book exciting for children, while the issues it brings up resonate with their parents' values of community, equality, and justice. This engaging little book carries huge messages as it inspires hope for the future, and calls children to action while teaching them a love for books.

A priceless resource for everyone ready to make a difference, environmental activist Aidan Ricketts offers a step-by-step handbook for citizens eager to start or get involved in grass-roots movements and beyond. Providing all essential practical tools, methods and strategies needed for a successful campaign and extensively discussing legal and ethical issues, this book empowers its readers to effectively promote their cause. Lots of ready-to-use documents and comprehensive information on digital activism and group strategy make this book an essential companion for any campaign. Including case studies from the US, UK, Canada and Australia, this is the ultimate guidebook to participatory democracy.

The Life of an Activist is a non-fiction narrative that describes key steps on how to become and evolve into an effective activist and community leader. The book describes social movements and provides useful advice on how to successfully manage non-profits to accomplish positive social change that truly improves people’s lives. The author is a lifelong activist who was born in the United States but was deported to El Salvador as a baby. He spent his childhood in El Salvador but moved back to the United States and grew up in South Central Los Angeles during the tumultuous and violent decades of the late 1970s and 1980s. He has also lived and worked in Rochester, Minnesota; Madrid, Spain; Washington, D.C.; and Alexandria, Virginia. In each of these cities, he observed and learned a great deal about social movements and activism. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to improve their own lives and communities through activism. As Gandhi stated, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” The Life of an Activist: In the Frontlines 24/7 will truly be life-changing and inspirational.