This is a review of The Politics of Nonviolent Action by Gene Sharp from the online Fragments zine: www.fragmentsweb.org/. In part one, Power and Struggle, Sharp discusses the nature of political power, why people obey rulers, the limitations of using … Continue reading
Letter from the Hunger strikers. For 22 days and nights the stories of our hunger strike have reinforced life and faith. Life and faith are two sides of the same coin. Every night for the last 22 days we gather … Continue reading
(Article from Sojourners magazine) by Glen Peterson 11-04-2008 Activists, evangelical Christians, and Catholic Workers have joined in a hunger strike in downtown Los Angeles to expose the plight of immigrants in the United States and to motivate 1 million people … Continue reading
By David Bacon The Nation, web edition, November 26, 2008 http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081215/bacon?rel=hp_picks Since 2001 the Bush administration has deported more than a million people–including 349,041 individuals in the fiscal year ending just prior to the election. It has resurrected the discredited … Continue reading
One morning this past summer I was seated on the back porch of our house, meeting with the nonviolent discussion group for the Center for the Working Poor, when I was seized by a vision of nonviolent resistance that resonated … Continue reading
I know it has been a full year since you last received a copy of The Burning Bush, and many of our readers may have been wondering just what we at the Center for the Working Poor have been doing. … Continue reading
In a few days, Sam Pullen and I will be going to jail in Washington DC. We are participating in a civil disobedience designed to pressure the government to change from coal to renewable energy. But when I mention to supporters … Continue reading
This is a updated video short with a commentary by Paul Engler, founder of Center for the Working Poor. We dubbed his radio interview with 89.3 KPCC FM into the footage that Faith/Activism Collective took at our recent dumpster dive. … Continue reading
We will All Become Pilgrims: 2022 Newsletter Summary
December 19th, 2022
By Paul Engler Whenever I write my newsletter, I am afraid a subtle or not-so-subtle repetition will be noticed—I fear I write the same thing over and over again! Generally the theme has something to do with change, uncertainty, and … Continue reading
Liminality is a Recipe for Navigating Winter: Becoming a Pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago
December 19th, 2022
Whether you’re in a midlife, quarter life, or general life crisis, the proverbial crap hits the wall. You break up with your girlfriend, your community starts falling apart, your movement dies, your organization goes bankrupt, you lose the political campaign. … Continue reading
December 19th, 2022
I’m happy to report that our community has stabilized at the Center for the Working Poor house. We haven’t had one person leave in the past year! A welcome contrast to 2021, when we had so many people come and … Continue reading
December 15th, 2021
There is a big debate among economists about a curious phenomenon unfolding right now called “The Great Resignation”. We have an immense labor shortage because people are not returning to work as the experts expected (common after a recession). There … Continue reading
2021 Center Update: Ring the Bell of Hope… Again, and Again
December 15th, 2021
This fall, in one of my first trips to visit my coworkers from the Ayni Institute in Boston, I stopped by New York City to visit one of my closest friends, Eric Stoner. And I was sitting on his couch, … Continue reading
December 15th, 2021
The Center for the Working Poor was founded in 2006, but we didn’t move into our large Victorian house until 2007. Therefore, we have been in the house for 14 years now; and throughout this time, only Paul Engler has … Continue reading
The Story of Community Counseling
December 15th, 2021
Over the last year, we have started beta groups for a new model of mutual aid counseling, called Community Counseling that has engaged dozens in weekly small group counseling practice and training. In November, I went to Boston to lead … Continue reading
2020 Center Update: Surrender and Become Attentive
December 17th, 2020
“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die …” — Ecclesiastes 3:1 “Surrender to what is dying, and become attentive to what is emerging.” — … Continue reading
