In Activists Speak Out, a group of 15 Amer­i­can activists speak can­did­ly about how and why they strug­gle for change. Their caus­es and strate­gies vary — in the areas of civ­il rights, gay and les­bian rights, the envi­ron­ment, women’s issues, health, youth, edu­ca­tion, labor, free­dom of expres­sion, and the arts. But the lessons learned res­onate across geo­graph­ic and ide­o­log­i­cal bound­aries. Whether work­ing as grass-roots orga­niz­ers or cor­po­rate insid­ers, in cities or in rur­al areas, the through-line of their obser­va­tions is con­stant: Change is slow, and may take shape in unex­pect­ed ways. Small vic­to­ries count. And, what­ev­er the ini­tial moti­va­tion to become engaged in the strug­gle for change — anger, com­pas­sion, frus­tra­tion — the very process of engage­ment is itself trans­for­ma­tive. You cross that line, and noth­ing is ever the same.