Know you need to read more to deepen your organizing wisdom, but finding it tough to get to? Looking for a reading group and supportive community?

If so, SMT’s Reading Groups for Organizing Wisdom may be for you. Reading Groups are once-a-month online meetups to discuss a particular book.

Reading Groups:

Labor Organizing

2nd Thursday of the month 8pm EST; 5pm PST. Starts Feb 13; 7 meetings ending August 2025

Hosts: LaNoral Thomas and Gene Bruskin

• No Shortcuts – Jane McAlevey
• Rules to Win By – Jane McAlevey & Abby Lawlor 
• Labor Power & Strategy – John Womack

Practical Radicals

3rd Saturday of the month at Noon EST; 9am PST. Starts Feb 15; 4 meetings ending May 2025

Host: Katelyn Johnson

• Practical Radicals – Deepak Bhargava and Stephanie Luce

Re:Imagining Change

1st Thursday of the month at 6pm CET; Noon EST; 9am PST. Starts Feb 6; 3 meetings ending April 2025

Host: Victoire Guillonneau

• Re:Imagining Change – Patrick Reinsborough & Doyle Canning

Registration

Complete the form below to register via a contribution requested to defray admin & outreach costs. After donating, you will receive the Zoom links to register for the group(s) you want in the auto-reply email. If the form is not loading for you, make your donation here. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds. We do ask that each person donate at the highest rate you can. This is an experiment and SMT will only be able to continue hosting reading groups if participants support them at what it costs to support and run outreach for them.

Great Reads

If you have very young activists-to-be who you’re raising up, A is for Activist​ is an absolutely beautiful board book. And it’s also available in Spanish!

If your children are a little older or early teens, Bread and Roses Too​ is wonderful.

For us adults, here are our top 3 picks for organizers and activists.

• This Is an Uprising: How Non-Violent Revolt is Shaping the Twenty-First Century​
• Re:Imagining Change: How to use story-based strategy to win campaigns, build movements and change the world. Watch the Author Talk​​ that got rave reviews by registrants.
• Playbook for Progressives: 16 Qualities of the Successful Organizer​

And, if you’re a unionist and haven’t yet read Jane McAlevey’s books, it’s time.

These books are engaging to read, thought-provoking, and grounded in a sophisticated intersectional analysis of racial justice and other movements.

Below are great how-to classics on organizing – books that all organizers might find useful – and recent releases. Got a book to recommend? Let us know.  And please vote on books you’ve read to help fellow organizers find their way to good reads.