Join Center for Independent Media fellow Mike Connery and author of “Youth to Power: How Today’s Young Voters are Building Tomorrow’s Progressive Majority,” for a discussion on how technology, social media and grassroots organizing are reviving the youth political movement.
Book signings are slated tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the LoDo Tattered Cover and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Boulder Book Store.
Connery’s book is getting rave reviews:
Phillip Anderson, The Albany Project
Mike, who has been blogging at Future Majority and other sites for years, has been working in youth organizing for over half a decade and has spent most of that time listening to people tell him that he was wasting his time, that young people aren’t worth the effort, they don’t show up. All of a sudden, about two months ago, Mike starts to look like a genius as the Obama youth wave came on the traditional media’s radar screens. So far in this primary season, young voters are turning out at roughly double what they did in 2004 and in some states they are showing up at quadruple the rate of the last cycle. It’s entirely possible that youth turnout in this year’s general election could exceed the all time record participation of the 1972 election. The Obama phenomenon gets much credit for this development and they do certainly deserve a share of the credit, but this wave is bigger than Obama and people like Mike have been working their tails off for years to bring this about.
Matthew Singer, Better Editor
Mike Connery is well-placed to write the history of the emerging progressive youth movement. He has, after all, been near the heart of it almost since its birth in the years preceding the ’04 election.
Youth to Power is an engaging history of the lessons, mis-steps, and huge successes of the dozens of organizations and thousands of grassroots leaders across the country who comprise the new progressive movement.
This book is a recommended read for anyone working in youth politics — and anyone who wants to figure out how a progressive majority is possible in America.
Misswrite76, Good Reads
This is a great book outlining the etiology of the current youth movement and its potential to concretely impact Progressive politics for decades to come. Connery outlines the strategies that have worked, those that haven’t and sorts through the history of the major players for the different subcultures. I’m in the middle of it, but it’s great. Well researched and documented.
Thom Hartman, KPOJ-AM podcast
And don’t miss Connery’s live Q&A at Colorado Confidential last week outlining the challenges and opportunities of youth voters.
