The Wisconsin Poor People’s Campaign is starting a book club!

Dr. King said, “Education without social action is a one sided value because it has no true power potential.” It is both social action and education that we need right now. In a time where there is so much social action, the requirement is to build clear, competent, committed, and connected people that are leaders. We feel a deep need to bring people together, educate with the rich history of our movement, and build the base that is focused on abolishing poverty. This is our commitment, as Bernice Robinson said, “We are going to learn together.”

What is the book? And Why? The book is called Revolutionary Nonviolence: Organizing for Freedom by James M. Lawson. James Lawson, in the introduction of the book, invites us into power and vision. We in isolation lack both. Together, we have both. “We have to find ways to create a new power, and the new power is the power of people who get engaged and are willing to work on developing a plan and a strategy…that enables us to work as a people to make change,” said Lawson. The challenge remains the vision, “to endure and to take the movement for a better world further than it has ever gone before.” There is a violence that is harming us all. What we need is revolutionary nonviolence.