I’m resting up after a provocative conference of SOS in Washington D.C. I come away more determined, but full of questions. It was a gathering of good friends and allies and we all left with new ideas for next steps. While there I picked up a bi-monthly publication I had not read before. I just read it (14 pages in all).

Advice: read Poverty and Race, published by Poverty and Race Research Action Council, (info@prrc.org) It’s advisory board includes some friends/colleagues such as Pedro Noguerro, Gary Orfield, Bill Kornblum, and more. I’m reading volume 22, number 3 (May-June) which consists of three great little essays. One is on building a movement “in a Limited Age” by Deepak Bhargave of the Center for Community Change in Washington D.C. It’s a must read as a follow-up for our three days together at SOS. After exploring the data regarding how people in the bottom 99% are responding to the economy he comes to interesting conclusions. This issue also includes a summary of what we know about the value of economic and racial integration in schools and some strategies for re-starting that movement, written by Derek Black of Howard University. And a short essay by Douglas Massey of Princeton University on the impact of housing integration in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.

It’s not often I come upon a new ally–but this is surely one we should all know about.