Collective Visioning

about the author

LINDA STOUT grew up poor in North Carolina. Her father was a tenant farmer, later a factory worker, and her mother worked in the textile mills until she became disabled when Linda was five. Growing up in poverty, Linda wanted to make her community better but thought the only way to do that was through prayer and making small changes.

Organizers seemed to speak only to college-educated people who were also well-versed in politics and used a language that excluded her. But she began to realize that many others were like her: people who joined groups to work on issues that concerned them but dropped out because they didn’t feel at ...