Lee Staples
Lee worked with AISJ as a trainer from 1979 through 1981, approximately. In this interview, Lee talks about his early introduction to organizing, through NWRO in OH and then MA in 1968-early 1970s; his early interactions with George Wiley and other early NWRO organizers, along with Warren Haggstrom and other theorists on community organizing. He then talks about founding Mass Fair Share and WAGE, both predecessors and models for ACORN. After leaving those organizations, he connected with ACORN and AISJ, mostly doing trainings for ACORN organizers and for other organizations. He then began teaching community organizing at Boston University, and eventually wrote Roots to Power, a training manual on community organizing based in part on the ACORN model. Lee also talks about what ACORN did well, and in addition offers critiques.