Accountability and White Anti-Racist Organizing:

Stories from Our Work

Bonnie Cushing, with Lila Cabbil, Margery Freeman, Jeff Hitchcock, and Kimberley Richards, editors

Paperback, 256 pgs., 6" x 9"

$17.95

A growing number of white people are working for racial justice, but experienced organizers caution that white activists, to be effective, need to develop accountable relationships with people of color. While this advice is easy to understand in concept, it is often more difficult to apply in practice.

Now a select group of white-identified anti-racist organizers from around the country tell personal stories and offer lessons from their everyday experiences that reveal how the notion of accountability informs their work. Their stories describe cutting edge work, available to a larger audience for the first time.

Readers learn practical approaches and best practices by looking through the eyes of seasoned activists who identify mistakes and pitfalls to avoid, and offer models of how people can participate in the growing multiracial movement for racial justice.

Eleven chapters reveal a panorama of personal styles, perspectives, organizing traditions and approaches. Locations range from post-Katrina New Orleans to the New York City school system, from a Washington DC-based advocacy group to a faith community in Seattle.

Accountability and White Anti-racist Organizing reveals the leading edge of a rising social phenomenon. Some white people are moving beyond limited and simplistic models of colorblindness, diversity and multiculturalism to developing accountable relationships with people of color.

Contributors: Alliance for Racial and Social Justice (ARSJ), Alliance of White Anti-Racists Everywhere-Los Angeles/Racial Justice Alliance (AWARE-LA/RJA), Lisa V. Blitz, Gillian Burlingham, Mickey Ellinger, Jacqui “Adhi” Hermer, Benjamin G. Kohl, Cameron Levin, Sharon Martinas, Members of European Dissent, Matt Meyer, Jeb Aram Middlebrook, Christine Schmidt, Shelly Tochluk, and Larry Yates