Life of an Activist

Randy Jurado Ertll is the executive director of El Centro de Acción Social in Pasadena, California. He has worked on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., published numerous opinion columns in newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, La Opinión, and the Houston Chronicle, and has been interviewed by networks such as NPR, CNN, PBS, Univisión, and Telemundo. He is an alumnus of Occidental College and obtained his master’s degree from Azusa Pacific University.

The book offers a glimpse into his experience as an activist and community organizer, especially as a Latino. . . . Ertll writes about well-known activists like Malcolm X, but also about his own experience. He has spent the last 20 years participating in different movements and campaigns spanning environmental, human rights and education issues. He gives advice for budding activists, like how to raise money, write newspaper columns, organize fundraisers and deal with boards of directors and bureaucracies.

• Foreword I.Evolution of an ActivistII.Angry and Bitter Is Not Necessarily the AnswerIII.Media as Advocacy Tool — Organizing Press Conferences and Writing ColumnsIV.Raising Money: Foundations, Government Grants, Fundraisers, and Asking the Community You Serve to Give Back V.Three Well-Known and Well-Established Non-ProfitsVI.How to Organize FundraisersVII.How to Organize and Mobilize Community MembersVIII.How to Deal with Boards of Directors and BureaucraciesIX.Concepts of Community Organizing and Coalition Building X.Other Well-Known Non-Profits and Their Role in Advocacy and Community OrganizingXI.How to Keep GoingXII.All you need is love — and ganasXIII.The Purpose of Being an Activist — Is This Love?Appendix ReferencesIndex