Book Review: After the Protests are Heard

After the Protests are Heard: Enacting Civic Engagement and Social Transformation is one of the most important books of the decade for activists, social entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, and anyone else that envisions a socially just and economically sustainable future.

Written by Sharon D. Welch, this book is a thoughtful and thought-provoking review of the past and future forms of progressive civic engagement and how they have lead from one period of transformation to the next. Although this book thoroughly describes the past in order to create a framework for the future, Welch really focuses this book on the next and coming forms of civic engagement that will be necessary if we are to see real transformation occur in our lifetimes.

A word of caution: this book is academic and heady; there are many new or foreign concepts and a lot of research/theory packed into this book. But it is also going to be one of the most important guiding texts available for those seeking to create change. Social justice is not an easy topic, so we should not be surprised that this is not an easy book. So, please do not let this information deter you from reading it. Instead just come fully armed and prepared to tackle the challenge.

In exchange for your time spent reading, analyzing, and engaging this text, you will receive a new worldview, a greater understanding, and a whole slew of new concepts and theories that will shape your work. This is the most difficult and worthwhile read that has crossed my desk for a long time.

This book is visionary pragmatism at its best: grounded in the past while looking to the future. Founded in past research and current examples, all while encapsulating and intertwining the wisdom of indigenous and native cultures.

If you have any desire whatsoever to become a better advocate and ally and create a truly democratic society for all, if you care about the environment and creating a sustainable future, and if you care to have your vision stretched and reach new depths of understanding our current political climate and dilemmas, this is the book for you.

You can order the book through Amazon here.

Important Note

Because this book is so important for anyone trying to create progressive change in today’s political and social climate, Nonprofit Leadership Toolbox is offering a digital copy of their Frameworks reading guide to help you through this book for only $5.00!

We normally do not share the reading guides outside of the Toolbox subscription service, but because this book is so important to nonprofit leaders and activists alike, we want to make sure it is accessible to absolutely everyone. We hope that the Frameworks guide can help every reader get as much out of the book as possible. It includes summaries, key concepts and quotes, thought-provoking questions and additional resources.

To order your digital copy of the Frameworks reading guide, click here.