What You’ll Learn to Become an Active Citizen
You don’t have to be a Marvel comic book superhero to change the world. You don’t even have to be a saint, a revolutionary, a political leader, or a community organizer. You just have to be aware of your surroundings and of the opportunities to improve your life and those of others.
Certainly if you are driven to improve the world, this book should help you evaluate various strategies and tactics to employ. I reference what I’ve learned from my experience and that of others. It will hopefully help you go from wanting change to initiating change. The lessons that follow should help you minimize the risk of failure and maximize success in taking on that effort.
However, the theme here is that every citizen should have the power to meaningfully participate in a democracy. Too often citizens defer to politicians, as if they are the only ones who should exercise power. You don’t need to start a movement to challenge the status quo, but you do have the power to question it.
Ultimately, change begins with you. You have to help yourself create your own future. If you don’t, someone else will.
Changemakers Love the Book
Robert W. McChesney, co-author People Get Ready: The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizenless Democracy[/text-with-icon]
Jim Diers, author of Neighbor Power[/text-with-icon]
Pramila Jayapal, Washington State Senator and founder and former Executive Director of OneAmerica.[/text-with-icon]
Paul Loeb, author Soul of a Citizen and The Impossible Will Take a Little While[/text-with-icon]
Jim Hunt, former president of the National League of Cities and founder of Amazing Cities[/text-with-icon]
Eric Liu, founder and CEO of Citizen University[/text-with-icon]
Andrew Friedman – Founder and Co-Director of the Center for Popular Democracy[/text-with-icon]
Wendy Wendlandt, Political Director, The Public Interest Network and Chair of the board, WashPIRG, the Washington Public Interest Research Group[/text-with-icon]
Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Founder and Executive Director of MomsRising[/text-with-icon]
Barbara Moore, Ex. Director of the National Municipal Democrats Organization
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What the Critics Are Saying
“Becoming a Citizen Activist” includes advice on protests as well, by comparing the Occupy movement to the Tea Party movement. It carefully analyzes what made the Occupy movement fizzle out and what made the Tea Party movement solidify in Congress. As it turns out, activists can learn from both movements in order to strengthen their own.
– The Epoch Times
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A Little Bit About Nick
Nick Licata is from a working class family, where neither parent graduated from high school. Licata, who couldn’t read until the age of nine, was the first of his relatives to attend college.
He led the local chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at Bowling Green State University and subsequently was elected student body president. He became a Seattle City Councilmember despite being significantly outspent, with the majority of the council, the mayor, and both daily newspapers supporting his opponent. He was elected to five terms to the council and became its president.
In 2012 he was named by The Nation as Progressive Municipal Official of the Year and twice named Best Local Politician by the Seattle Weekly. He was an acknowledged leader in passing Paid Sick & Safe Leave, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and legalizing marijuana.
He initiated the founding of Local Progress; the national municipal policy network and served as its first chairman. In 2003, Licata authored the children’s novel, “Princess Bianca and the Vandals”.
