ABSTRACT
Most of the previous chapters give center stage to the stories of activists. The “what,” “how,” “who,” and “why” of activism is how I have structured the presentation of these stories. Activists discussed their goals and strategies. They revealed what issues they considered important, how they made those issues the object of their activism, the strategies they used to pursue the issues, and the challenges, problems, frustrations, and satisfactions they experienced in this activist work. This “reporting” was usually done in the form of stories of memorable campaigns or as lessons they have learned throughout their years of activism. Activists spoke of specifi c bills or concrete neighborhood services they were fi ghting for but they also spoke about “larger” and sometimes more ephemeral goals as well: radical restructuring, changing individual consciousness, and changing culture.
