direct-action-protest
Tactics such as forming human chains and disrupting corporate meetings to pressure companies and authorities.
2 chapters across 1 book
The Great Divide (1988)Studs Terkel
The chapter chronicles the persistent racial and class struggles faced by Black Americans from the hopeful 1963 March on Washington through the regressive political climate of the Reagan era, highlighting both overt and covert racism experienced in liberal environments. It details grassroots community organizing against environmental injustice, including direct confrontations with political leaders and corporate entities to protect neighborhoods from toxic landfills. The narrative also contrasts intergenerational activism with the rise of white supremacist ideologies, illustrating the complex social and political tensions within communities.
The chapter chronicles Pastor Douglas Roth's leadership in a declining steel-mill town devastated by economic disinvestment, particularly by Mellon Bank, which has led to widespread unemployment and social despair. Roth and his congregation engage in direct and symbolic protests against financial institutions and face severe institutional repression from both the church hierarchy and corporate powers, including defrocking and arrests. Despite opposition and financial hardship, the pastor's inclusive ministry grows among unemployed black working-class members, while the chapter critiques both religious fundamentalism and bureaucratic church structures.