No Issue Can Be Negotiated

From The Moment The Organizer Enters A Community He Lives, Dreams... Only One Thing And That Is To Build The Mass Power Base Of What He Calls The Army. Until He Has Developed That Mass Power Base, He Confronts No Major Issues.... Until He Has Those Means And Power Instruments, His Tactics Are Very Different From Power Tactics. Therefore, Every Move Revolves Around One Central Point: How Many Recruits Will This Bring Into The Organization, Whether By Means Of Local Organizations, Churches, Service Groups, Labor Unions, Corner Gangs, Or As Individuals.

Men Don't Like To Step Abruptly Out Of The Security Of Familiar Experience; They Need A Bridge To Cross From Their Own Experience To A New Way. A Revolutionary Organizer Must Shake Up The Prevailing Patterns Of Their Lives - Agitate, Create Disenchantment And Discontent With The Current Values, To Produce, If Not A Passion For Change, At Least A Passive, Affirmative, Non-challenging Climate.

The First Step In Community Organization Is Community Disorganization. The Disruption Of The Present Organization Is The First Step Toward Community Organization. Present Arrangements Must Be Disorganized If They Are To Be Displace By New Patterns.... All Change Means Disorganization Of The Old And Organization Of The New.

The Cry Of The Have-nots Has Never Been "give Us Our Hearts," But Always "get Off Our Backs"; They Ask Not For Love But For Breathing Space.

Once You Accept Your Own Death, All Of A Sudden You Are Free To Live.