It took 40 years to build ACORN, the national community organization which at its peak had more than half a million members.  But it took just a few months to bring it down.  Now, local organizers are trying to rebuild from the ground up, while not forgetting the lessons they learned.*  *On this edition, the assassination of ACORN.  And a look at how the groups’ absence is affecting elections, poverty, and the continuing housing crisis?

Special thanks to Demos, and to Race, Poverty & the Environment.

Featuring:

*Steve Kest, *former ACORN executive director*; John Atlas, *author of *‘Seeds of Change’, *the *Story of ACORN*, *America’s Most Controversial
Anti-Poverty Community Organizing Group;** **Annie McKinzie & Bill Chorneau*,
former ACORN Oakland members; *Bertha Lewis*, former ACORN CEO and chief
organizer; *Morris Hilter,* *Denise Hilton, Travis*, ACORN Tampa members; *John
McCain*, US Senator; *Ina Gutierrez*, Interfaith Worker Justice deputy director of operations; *Tasha Alberty, *Oakland homeowner facing foreclosure*; Martha Daniels, *Oakland ACORN organizer;* Vivian Richardson, *San Francisco homeowner facing foreclosure*; Grace Martinez, *San Francisco ACCE community organizer;* Nealie Yarbrough, Ian Haddow*, San Francisco ACCE members.

For More Information:

Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE)

www.calorganize.org

Texas Organizing Project

www.organizetexas.org/

Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment

www.organizemo.org/

New England United for Justice

www.neunited4justice.org/

John Atlas

http://open.salon.com/blog/john_atlas

Seeds of Change: The Story of ACORN, America’s Most Controversial
Antipoverty Community Organizing Group by John Atlas

http://www.vanderbiltuniversitypress.com/books/387/seeds-of-change

The People Shall Rule: ACORN, Community Organizing, and the Struggle for
Economic Justice

http://www.vanderbiltuniversitypress.com/books/354/the-people-shall-rule

Demos

http://www.demos.org/

Race, Poverty and the Environment

http://urbanhabitat.org/rpe

Wade Rathke: Chief Organizer Blog

http://chieforganizer.org/

Interfaith Worker Justice

www.iwj.org/

Articles/Blogs/Videos/Audio:

 The fall of ACORN: A timeline – The Week

http://theweek.com/article/index/200161/the-fall-of-acorn-a-timeline

Can Obama Win Without ACORN? – Molly Ball – The Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/09/can-obama-win-without-acorn/262761/

Who Needs ACORN?

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/victory_lab/2012/08/obama_get_out_the_vote_efforts_how_the_voter_participation_center_is_picking_up_where_acorn_left_off_.single.html

Anti-ACORN Messages Threaten Staff and Obama (AUDIO)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/m.s.-bellows/anti-acorn-messages-threa_b_136222.html

Transcript of Interview with Bertha Lewis

http://urbanhabitat.org/node/6926

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