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The struggle for social justice is easily romanticized. Nostalgia, or ignorance, leads to tales of energized, dignified mass movements rising from an injustice fully-formed and ready to fight. But this is never the case. The 1934 general strike in San Francisco, Ca was preceded by years of vicious battles for better working conditions. Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus after years of organizing for civil rights. The unsung heroes behind major victories are the many community leaders and organizers who endure long meetings and many failures before success. Mike Miller, a life-long community organizer, analyzes the good, bad, and the ugly of one particular fight for social justice in his new book, “A Community Organizer’s Tale: People Power In San Francisco.” Miller takes the reader step-by-step through his process and philosophy of organizing, which is rooted in the teachings of his mentor, Saul Alinksy. The book chronicles his time as Director of the Mission Coalition Organization in San Francisco in the late 1960s. Mike Miller has directed various community based projects, including the Organize!Training Center in San Francisco. He also lectures, consults, and conducts workshops. Miller’s writing has appeared in the Social Policy quarterly, of which he was editor for three years, as well as the Boston Review, and many other journals and newspapers.

GUEST: Mike Miller, author of A Community Organizer’s Tale: People Power In San Francisco

Listen to part 2 of the interview here: http://uprisingradio.org/home/?p=17534