"Grassroots organizing is our best hope. If you're serious about making change from the bottom up, read Gordon Whitman's book and pass it on."

~ Congressman Keith Ellison
 

About The Book

Each of us faces a moment of truth when we have a chance to take a risk for something larger than ourselves. At a time of crisis, do we stand up and speak out, or retreat into our private lives? Stand Up! is a book for anyone frustrated by what they see happening in the world, but not sure what they can do about it.

Veteran community organizer Gordon Whitman shows that we have all the power we need to create a racially and economically just society. But it won't happen if we stay on the sidelines sharing social media posts and signing online petitions. We only win if we’re willing to join other people in the kind of face-to-face organizing that has powered every successful social movement in history.

Stand Up! describes five types of conversations that enable people to build organizations that can solve local problems and confront the greatest challenges facing our country -- from gun violence to climate change. The book is a road map for standing up to the bullies who’ve hijacked our democracy and divided us against each other.

Read A Sample Chapter

Discover five conversations that will show you how to take actions that create lasting change.
By Gordon Whitman
 

Praise For 'Stand Up!'

A manual for a multi-racial movement that combats racism and economic inequality as two sides of the same coin, Stand Up! is a road map for moving from resisting to governing.
~ Heather McGhee, President of DEMOS
Stand Up! is full of good sense about how people with the most on the line can use their leverage to create change.
~ Carlos Saavedra Diaz, Cofounder of Movimiento Cosecha & Lead Trainer at Ayni Institute
Gordon Whitman has done what organizers almost never do: turned his years of practice into a valuable resource for engagement, learning, and action.
~ Marshall Ganz, Senior Public Policy Lecturer at Kennedy School of Government
Gordon Whitman’s book is a summation of years of great organizing and an invaluable resource for anyone who is ready for action.
~ Ai-jen Poo, Executive Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance
'Who belongs?' is the most important question of our time. Adopting this as a challenge, Stand Up! charts a way toward a more inclusive society through five necessary conversations. Part organizing strategy, part research, part biography, and part history lesson, Stand Up! is an important guide for our troubled times.
~ Professor John A. Powell, Director of the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, University of California, Berkeley
Upset about the state of the world? Unsure what you can do about it? Read Stand Up! You will be a changed person and more prepared than ever to help change the world.
~ George Goehl, Co-Director of People’s Action
Whitman’s book is a must-read antidote for anyone who is struggling to understand how to live a life of purpose or anyone who feels the calling but is not sure what to do.
~ Professor Hahrie Han, University of California, Santa Barbara
 

Video Trailer

 
 
Stand Up!

Gordon Whitman

Gordon Whitman has worked as a community organizer and social change strategist and coach for the past twenty-five years. He first learned organizing in Santiago, Chile, and helped found successful grassroots organizing groups in Philadelphia, PA, and Flint, MI.

As the deputy director of Faith in Action (formerly PICO National Network), the largest faith-based community organizing network in the U.S., he has coached hundreds of organizers, clergy, and grassroots leaders. He’s helped people build some of the most effective new multi-racial community organizing groups over the past decade. Gordon has also led national organizing campaigns on children’s health coverage, health reform, and stopping of foreclosures.

Before becoming an organizer, he worked as a legal services and civil rights lawyer in Philadelphia, and also served as the associate director of the Temple University Center for Public Policy.

 

Recent Press

  • Stand Up! How To Get Involved, Speak Out, And Win In A World On Fire
  • Stand Up, Together!
    We want a better world, and Gordon Whitman shows us how in Stand Up! How to get involved, speak out, and win in a world.
  • Breaking the Cycle of Cynicism
    "Stand Up!" Offers Tools for Effective Organizing in the Age of Trump

Press Inquiries

To request an interview with Gordon Whitman regarding the his new book, Stand Up!, please contact:
Katie Sheehan
By Gordon Whitman
+1 (510) 817-2266
 
Stand Up!

Order Your Copy Today

In a time where the fight for social justice can feel overwhelming, Gordon Whitman empowers readers to stand up with a purpose-driven mindset and effective strategy.

Stand Up! is an antidote to the cynicism that keeps so many people on the sidelines. It's both an argument about how to solve the biggest problems facing our society, and a guide to engaging with others to change the world.

Get your copy and learn how to take definite actions that create lasting change.

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Upcoming Events

  • Community Organizing and the Struggle for Racial Justice
    Join POWER, the author of Stand Up! and grassroots leaders and organizers for a conversation about the role of community organizing in building power against racism and discrimination.
  • Stand Up! Book Discussion - A Year of Resistance: What Comes Next?
    Join the author of Stand Up! and grassroots leaders and organizers for a conversation about moving from protest to power.
  • Stand Up! Book Discussion - Year of Resistance: What Comes Next?
    Join the author of Stand Up! and grassroots leaders and organizers for a conversation about moving from protest to power.
  • Stand Up! Book Discussion - A Year of Resistance: What Comes Next?
    Join the author of Stand Up!, organizers from ISAIAH and Arique Aguilar from Take Action Minnesota for a conversation about moving from protest to power.
  • Stand Up! Book Discussion - A Year of Resistance: What Comes Next?
    Join the author of Stand Up! and organizers from Together Colorado and Colorado People's Action for a conversation about moving from protest to power.
  • Stand Up! book discussion
    Join the author of Stand Up!, LA VOICE and ACCE for a conversation about moving from protest to power.
  • Stand Up! book discussion
    Join Gordon Whitman and professor john a. powell, Director of the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society and Professor of Law, African American, and Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley for a discussion of Stand Up!.
  • Stand Up! Book Discussion - A Year of Resistance: What Comes Next?
    Join the author of Stand Up! and grassroots leaders and organizers from Seattle for a conversation about moving from protest to power.
  • Stand Up! Book Discussion - From Protest to Power
    Join the author of Stand Up! and Vivian Satterfield, Deputy Director, Organizing People, Activating Leaders (OPAL) and Ana del Rocío, State Director of Color PAC for a conversation about moving from protest to power.
  • From protest to power: Stand Up! book discussion
    Join the author of Stand Up! and grassroots leaders and organizers for a conversation about moving from protest to power.
  • Stand Up! book conversation with Gordon Whitman and Rev. Cassandra Gould
    Join the author of Stand Up! and Rev. Cassandra Gould, Executive Director of Missouri Faith Voices, for a conversation about moving from protest to power.
  • Stand Up! Book Discussion
    Join the author of Stand Up! and grassroots leaders and organizers from IndyCAN and Faith in Indiana for a discussion of building a moral movement for racial and economic justice in Indiana.
  • Organizing for Governance: Stand Up! book discussion
    Join the author of Stand Up!, Marshall Ganz, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, Kennedy School of Government and Lisa McGirr, Professor of History, for a discussion of the role of organizing in overcoming the obstacles to social change in contemporary society.
  • Stand Up! book discussion
    Join the author of Stand Up! and grassroots leaders and organizers for a conversation about moving from protest to power.
 

Get Involved

 
Stand Up!

Ahora En Español

Cada uno de nosotros enfrenta un momento de verdad, cuando nosotros tenemos que hacer un cambio, tomar un riesgo por algo más grande que nosotros mismos. En un momento de crisis, ¿Nos ponemos en pie, hablamos francamente o nos refugiamos a nuestra vida privada? Stand up! Es un libro para cualquier persona que se sienta frustrada por lo que está pasando en el mundo, pero no están seguros de lo que ellos pueden hacer al respecto.

El veterano organizador comunitario Gordon Whitman demuestra que tenemos todo el poder que necesitamos para crear una sociedad racial y económicamente justa. Pero no sucederá si nos mantenemos al margen compartiendo publicaciones en redes sociales y firmando peticiones en línea. Solo ganamos si estamos dispuestos a unirnos a otras personas en el tipo de organización cara a cara que ha impulsado a todos los movimientos sociales exitosos en la historia.

¡Stand up! describe cinco tipos de conversaciones que permiten a las personas crear organizaciones que puedan resolver problemas locales y enfrentar los mayores desafíos que enfrenta nuestro país, desde la violencia armada hasta el cambio climático. El libro es una hoja de ruta para hacer frente a los matones que se han apoderado de nuestra democracia y nos han dividido unos contra otros.

 

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