Is resistance futile? Since the last economic downturn, there has been a tremendous surge of new grassroots activism — mostly on the left, in keeping with the dominant historical pattern. Yet in recent years, numerous commentators have observed that protest now seems less effective than in decades past, a feeling shared by some veteran organizers and scholars, too.

So what makes for not just hope, but change? We ask historian Steve Jaffe, author of Activist New York, and geographer Don Mitchell, editor of Revolting New York — the first books to survey the city’s long history as the major site of democratic reform in the U.S. — as well as leaders from some of the most visible and effective activist groups in NYC today.

Hawk Newsome, President, Black Lives Matter, Greater New York
Jari Geigl, Senior Organizer, Picture the Homeless
Asenhat Gomez, Senior Director of Programs, El Puente
Eddie Bautista, Executive Director, NYC Environmental Justice Alliance
Moderator: Traci Strickland, Co-Chair, New York Progressive Alliance Network