We—the research group of a grassroots think tank network composed of forty community organizing groups and national alliances in the education justice movement—are conducting a participatory action research project to learn from community organizers across a diverse set of communities and issue-based movements. Our project also aims to build relationships with these organizers to attempt to create solidarity in real time, learning from those efforts in a form of self-study.
On this page, you will find links to our Intersectional Organizing Essay Series and to the published articles from our research. For more information about our research, see our general project overview.
The following essays were produced in collaboration with the Peoples’ Think Tank. We interviewed these organizers and worked with them to create these essays. We believe that these essays offer important lessons for educational justice and other movement builders seeking to pursue intersectional organizing, connect communities and movements, and build solidarity.
The views expressed in these essays, however, are the author’s and not necessarily those of the People’s Think Tank.
Click to read more from our essays below.
James Haslam, founder of Rights & Democracy, shares how formative experiences in New England politicized him to fight for workers’ rights, healthcare, and fully-funded public education. He meditates on past examples and current analysis of intersectional approaches to organizing for a multiracial democracy.
Breaking the Unspeakable Thoughts:
Building Solidarity through Struggle with Love
Manuel Criollo, April 2025
Text | PDF
Manuel Criollo, senior partner with Organizing Roots – a school for revolutionary organizing – shares a perspective on what it takes to work toward full solidarity. He takes us through his organizing from riding with the Bus Riders Union through fighting truancy tickets for Los Angeles students.
Bringing my Full Self into Organizing: Learning to Slow Down, Love, and Organize
Cazembe Jackson, April 2025
Text | PDF
Cazembe Jackson, an organizer with Right to the City, shares his experiences around Black Southern Cultural Organizing traditions and learning from BOLD (Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity) in a fight for a world where everybody is treated with dignity and respect.
Click to read more from our essays below.

Intersectional Organizing Essay Series
Solidarity as Embodied Practice: Fighting for Liberation and Self-Determination for Black Youth and Communities of Color (December 2024)

Intersectional Organizing Essay Series
Refusing to Accept the Unacceptable: Organizing with Dignity and Love (November 2024)

Intersectional Organizing Essay Series
We Are One: Struggle Rooted in a Belief System (October 2024)

Intersectional Organizing Essay Series
We All Have the Same Goal: Liberating Marginalized Communities Across These United States of America (September 2024)

Intersectional Organizing Essay Series
Revolutionary Mothering and a Family Centered Movement (May 2024)

Intersectional Organizing Essay Series
Bold and Intersectional Organizing for Trans Liberation (January 2024)

Intersectional Organizing Essay Series
Reimagining our Future through Indigenous Education (January 2024)
Click to read more from our essays below.

Intersectional Organizing Essay Series
Becoming Visible: Centering the Native Experience in Solidarity Building (December 2023)

Intersectional Organizing Essay Series
Liberation is Intersectional: Following the Leadership of Trans Youth of Color (December 2023)
Click to read more from our articles below.


Research Article
Intersectional Organizing and Educational Justice Movements: Strategies for Cross-Movement Solidarities (March 2021)