Democratizing Cleveland is experiencing a revival.  A new bookstore in the Tremont area – Visible Voice Book Store – is now carrying the book.  I visited the bookstore yesterday to drop off an order, and was impressed by its homey atmosphere; its inventory and that you can buy a glass of wine while browsing. 

Currently there are five bookstores in Northeast Ohio that stock Democratizing Cleveland.  They are: 

All are small independent bookstores that continue a hallowed tradition in perilous economic times.  Buy the book, but patronize them even if you do not.

In other news, a chapter in Democratizing Cleveland will be reprinted in an upcoming edition of Social Policy magazine.  Social Policy focuses on grass roots movements for social change and is one of the most venerable publications in its field. 

A review of the Democratizing Cleveland is also being planned for Ark Magazine, the journal of the National Organizers Alliance. 

Chris Krosel

It is with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Chris Krosel, archivist for the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.   Chris passed at the end of April from a brain aneurism.  Her contributions to Democratizing Cleveland were incalculable.  She led me through the maze of documents, and collections that described the origins of the Commission on Catholic Community Action – the sponsoring organization of so many of the community organizations I described in the book.  She was of great help in helping me document the growth of progressive Catholic activism in the 1960s and 70s. The photographs in the book are there because of Chris.  She also knew many of the people who populate the pages of Democratizing Cleveland and was always available to not only fetch files for me, but swap more than a few stories as well.  And last but not least, she was a royal pain in the butt for slum lords operating in her Tremont neighborhood.  All of Cleveland, and especially archive rats like myself, have suffered a terrible loss in her passing.  It is only with time that we will come to appreciate how much this dear, dear person contributed to her beloved city and church.  Our condolences to her family, friends and the Diocese of Cleveland.
 

Little Green Group Project 

I am researching a new book, which will focus on small grass roots environmental groups.  The tentative title is Little Green Groups: tales from environmentalism's grass roots.  I spent the spring, summer and fall of 2009 interviewing activists in West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Missouri.  Among the groups they represented were The West Virginia Environmental Council, the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, and Meigs CAN, Voices for the Forest, Valley Watch and the Allegheny Defense Project.  Since then I have been transcribing interviews, and will soon be scheduling new interviews for the 2010 interview season.

So often in our activism, the Big Picture of pending legislation in Washington, or in our state houses overwhelms us.  In the environmental movement, big issues like climate change weigh like a mountain upon our minds and emotions. 

What are lost in the Big Picture are the very personal stories of activists doing “boots on the ground” work in communities all over the country.  They are fighting pollution from coal-fired power plants, working to preserve public land, and they remind public agencies that they are supposed to be working for us and by “us”, we do not mean corporations.  They are ordinary people who do extraordinary things, come from the communities they work in, and launch their groups around kitchen tables.  Their advocacy often alienates them from their families.  They win no local popularity contests.  They are fired from their jobs, and are threatened.  But they persevere, and their stories need to be told. That is why I am writing Little Green Groups.