You Only Get What You're Organized to Take

“Through long study in the ‘University of the Poor,’ working alongside communities of poor and dispossessed people, my sister Liz has developed a unique capacity to articulate the shared wisdom of an organizing tradition that has been overlooked by most journalists and scholars. You Only Get What You’re Organized to Take is an essential addition to the movement literature of our time. It should be read by anyone who wants to know how we can not only save democracy but finally achieve what I call a democracy worth saving.” —William J. Barber II, author of White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy “Part memoir, part political history, part moral polemic—this book arrives at a critical time for our nation. Liz Theoharis and Noam Sandweiss-Back have crafted an ode to the often-dismissed power of poor and working-class people. These pages are filled with wisdom and strategy on what it will take to end poverty and build a more just and humane society. You Only Get What You’re Organized to Take is a must-have for every organizer interested in building big, durable, coalitions that materially change the lives of the poor and working class.” —Maurice Mitchell, national director, Working Families Party “This book is a must-read for today’s changemakers and organizers. Examining stories of courageous, creative movements, it teaches us how others have tried to create change by building solidarity. You’ll come away with new ideas and renewed hope that, together, creating change is possible.” —Sara Nelson, president, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO “I’ve been waiting for this book for a long time. Theoharis and Sandweiss-Back brilliantly remind us what’s possible when the disinherited of our nation overcome the politics of divide-and-conquer to take bold and united action together. In these pages, you’ll find not only the plight of the poor—so often swept under the rug in our society—but also their courageous fight and visionary insight.” —Willie Baptist, author of Pedagogy of the Poor “We face a confluence of unprecedented crises today, none greater than ever-widening inequality and the poverty that is its stain. There are no easy answers to their resolution, but the hard work of organizing, movement building, and solidarity give us a fighting chance. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but we can learn the lessons from other struggles and the organizers who helped to shape them. You Only Get What You’re Organized to Take is the book we need for the moment we are in right now.” —Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation