John Atlas
- Birthday
- July 13
- Bio
- John Atlas is president and founder of the National Housing Institute which publishes Shelterforce magazine.His book about democracy, poverty and progressive politics, Seeds of Change: The Story of ACORN, America’s Most Controversial Anti-Poverty Community Group will be out in June. (Available atAmazon.com http://www.amazon.com/John-Atlas/e/B002QNVLA2 and Vanderbilt University Press http://www.vanderbiltuniversitypress.com/books/387/seeds-of-change)
“There is more value on a single page of Seeds of Change than in a year’s worth of Rush Limbaugh screeds combined with a lifetime of Sarah Palin sneers at community organizers.”—Todd Gitlin, Columbia University
"...an exceptionally important book--a vivid, honest, and gripping look at the front lines, warts and controversies and all.” --Harry C. Boyte, author, founder and co-director, Center for Democracy and Citizenship
"Atlas deploys his journalistic skills beautifully in this powerful portrait of people working to realize a vision of social prosperity. Add this to the already growing collection volume of writings on housing, politics and urban affairs that has now become the Atlas oeuvre.” ----Sudhir Venkatesh, author of Gang Leader for a Day
"John Atlas combines scholarship, political insight, and powerful narrative writing in this essential book.” --Robert Kuttner, author and founder of The American Prospect
“A must read...The reader gains an understanding not only of ACORN's success in the fight for social justice, but also why its efforts to empower ordinary people are viewed with alarm and have come under attack by conservative and reactionary forces." --William Julius Wilson, Harvard University
"Atlas has now written the definitive work on ACORN.” --Samuel G. Freedman, author of Letters to a Young Journalist
For over 35 years, John has been a public-interest lawyer, activist, radio talk-show host, and organizer.
Holding a law degree from Boston University and a master of law from George Washington Law Center, he is an alumnus of Columbia University and recipient of the Charles Revson Fellowship.
MY RECENT POSTS
- Stop the Vitriol of the Right?
A Lesson From the ACORN Trage
January 19, 2011 06:16PM - Fake ACORN Pimp O'Keefe Tries
to Seduce CNN Reporter
September 30, 2010 02:07PM - The Missing Katrina Story.How
Acorn helped save New Orleans
August 30, 2010 05:57PM - My new book on Acorn, “Seeds
of Change” is out
July 31, 2010 02:33PM - ACORN Vindicated of Wrongdoing
by the Congressional Watchdog
June 15, 2010 06:42PM
John Atlas's Links
Stop the Vitriol of the Right? A Lesson From the ACORN Trage
After the horrific Tucson shooting, John McCain and even Roger Ailes, the Fox News president, joined President Obama's call for a more civil discourse. Ailes told his anchors and reporters to "tone it down." McCain agreed with the President's call "...to aspire to a more generous appreciation o… Read full post »
Fake ACORN Pimp O'Keefe Tries to Seduce CNN Reporter
James O’Keefe, the conservative activist known for
manipulating the mainstream media by making undercover videos that
helped destroy the progressive community group ACORN, plotted to
humiliate CNN and its investigative journalist Abby
Boudreau.
He planned to record a meeting using hidden came… Read full post »
The Missing Katrina Story.How Acorn helped save New Orleans
A week after Katrina hit New Orleans, Federal Government officials and private relief organizations were still discussing how to send aid to the area. ACORN, which had been organizing low-income and working class residents in the city since the 1978, had already moved into action.
Banks… Read full post »
My new book on Acorn, “Seeds of Change” is out
SEEDS OF CHANGE goes beyond the headlines of the 2008 Presidential campaign and today’s controversies to describe the truth behind ACORN’s massive voter registration drives and how it confronted its internal divisions and a prostitution scandal. Because of its success fighting poverty, I… Read full post »
ACORN Vindicated of Wrongdoing by the Congressional Watchdog
On Monday, June 14, a preliminary probe by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)of ACORN has found no evidence the association or related organizations mishandled the $40 million in federal money they received in recent years.
A review of grants by nine federal agencies found no problem… Read full post »
Fake ACORN Pimp Pleads Guilty; the New Yorker Adds its Voice
What's the difference between James O'Keefe, who made national headlines with his ACORN undercover video, and ACORN? O'Keefe is a criminal and ACORN is not. Yesterday O'Keefe pleaded guilty to charges of entering federal property under false pretenses when he attempted to embarrass Senator Mary Landr… Read full post »
ACORN Is Back in the News, but the News Still Gets it Wrong
This week, the FBI arrested 25-year old James O'Keefe and three other men, charging them with plotting to tamper with phones in the New Orleans office of Senator Mary Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana. The four men appeared in federal court Tuesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Louis Moore wea… Read full post »
Acorn's Funding Restored. Will liberals find backbone?
A federal judge blocked U.S. officials from enforcing a funding ban on ACORN, one of America’s most effective anti-poverty groups. Congress cut off funding for ACORN -- the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- in September after a right wing Web sites and TV news outlets, mo… Read full post »
Progressives should support Acorn
By now most Americans have heard of the group, ACORN. It is so unique the mainstream press, especially the Washington Post, CNN, and other television networks are ill prepared to explain what it really is. The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now is a nation-wide anti-poverty group t… Read full post »
John Atlas: Rove against ACORN. Voter suppression vs. fraud
Now we know that Karl Rove spearheaded the firing of David Iglesias, the U.S. Attorney in New Mexico who refused to follow the Bush White House's orders to intimidate low-income voters by making false charges of "voter fraud.”… Read full post »
Cramer vs. Jon Stewart: who is responsible?
If you have not been watching The Daily show stop what you are doing and go on the Internet and watch last week's clips of Jon Stewart’s show. He engaged in a weeklong battle with CNBC and Jim Cramer. What Stewart did was amazing.
It started with a CNBC’s Rick Santel… Read full post »
The best of the Inaugural: Obama, Seeger and Springsteen.
What was the best event at the Inaugural celebration? Of course just watching Obama take the oath of office. But the next best moment was watching Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen lead the nation in singing “This Land is Your Land” at Sunday's "We Are One" concert at the Lincoln Memorial… Read full post »
Obama encourage social movements and other lessons from FDR
As Obama prepared
his massive economic recovery plan, he read Jonathan
Alter's The
Defining Moment
Today, the McCain-Palin campaign released the Web ad attacking Barack Obama for his ties to ACORN. It’s important to understand the deep roots of the right’s fear and loathing of ACORN and the lengths they’ve gone to t stifle the group’s efforts to broaden Americans’ ele… Read full post »
When the Bush administration proposed its corporate give-away to rescue financial institutions that had engaged in risky, irresponsible lending, encouraged by the Republican's see-no-evil deregulation policies, I was sure I had been here before. Yes! It's the 1980s Savings & Loan bail… Read full post »
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Joan Walsh
Kerry Lauerman
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