Wade Rathke:

Pearl River     The other day I read a belated obituary on Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Nick Kotz.  He had passed away at 87 on his cattle farm in Virginia of a freak accident involving a vehicle.  The obit celebrated his work, while an investigative reporter based in Washington for the Des Moines Register and the […]

Pearl River     Remember way back in another lifetime, pre-pandemic, before the coronavirus global killer wave?  It seems years ago, but it was only last summer that ACORN’s French affiliate, Alliance Citoyenne, gained huge attention throughout France and all of Europe and the Francophone world, when our members and leaders led actions with Muslim women and […]

Pearl River     The sports pages are full of discussion about whether or not baseball players will be putting the wood on the ball soon in huge, empty parks, or whether basketball players will be bouncing the rubber on the hardwood courts to resume their season.  For organizers, putting the fist on the wood again, means […]

New Orleans       In the United States all states are now opened with different levels of restrictions and rules.  While businesses try to lead people back into malls and restaurants, many of us, listening to our members and their concerns, know that it is also time for us to lead our people back into the […]

New Orleans       Whoever thought that global diplomacy was not child’s play?  They have huge lessons to learn from President Trump, who is proving every day in every way that the world is simply his schoolyard where he is the big bully on the playground. He’s cornered by all of the rest of the kids […]

New Orleans      Stage one reopening in New Orleans this weekend was a snoozer, and hardly different from the previous two solid months of stay-at-home orders and restrictions. The new requirements issued by the governor and hardened somewhat by the mayor only allow 25% capacity in restaurants making reopening more about a commitment to service […]

New Orleans      I witnessed something of a miracle yesterday as thirty leaders and staff from more than fifteen ACORN affiliates were successfully able to hold a board meeting for two hours on Zoom.  ACORN’s historic first might seem passé since Zoom calls have become one of the iconic signatures of the coronavirus pandemic.  To […]

New Orleans       I had to do a doubletake.  What in the world?  There were pictures of armed men with masks giving out food and protective gear in Mexican barrios.  Another picture, eerily like the ones Local 100 representatives and members had taken during distribution with the boxes of KN95 and our smiling members, had […]

Pearl River     In a Netflix “Narcos Mexico” rip-off, a paralegal is now facing charges for having tipped off a Mexican drug cartel about investigations and raids while working as a paralegal for the US Attorney for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio.  That’s a made for TV, truth is stranger than fiction kind […]

Pearl River     ACORN and its affiliates are direct action, mass-based organizations.  Some now ask, how do we explain the fact that we also, especially now, deliver what many would only expect of service-based outfits?   Easy answer: a membership-based organization has to be able to respond to the membership.  When the membership is in crisis, so […]