"Activist and organizer Michael Ansara chronicles his experiences from early civil rights boycotts to antiwar protests and then into successful community organizing, exploring the bravery and audacity of so many 'ordinary people' called by circumstances to become extraordinary. However, he does not shy away from taking the reader into the minds of the young activists who in the late sixties, warped by the intensity of their efforts to end the war, made critical mistakes, some spinning off into violence and cults"--
The Hard Work of Hope takes you into the heady days of 1960s and 1970s activism, chronicling the hopes and strategies of the young people who created the movements that rocked the country.
Michael Ansara was on the front lines. In this fascinating memoir, he traces an arc of discovery: from the hope and moral clarity of the Civil Rights Movement to the ten-year struggle to end the war in Vietnam, with its sit-ins, marches, confrontations, and antiwar riots.
Ansara takes the reader into the minds of the activists detailing their successes as well as their mistakes. The Hard Work of Hope shows how he learned to become a more effective organizer and build the Massachusetts Fair Share organization. The book explores issues that remain urgent. How does a movement build support when large parts of the country are opposed to its goals? How do you connect with people who disagree with you? How do you build organizations that unite across racial lines? How can we make progress on the unfinished business of the hard work of hope?
