Seattle Leader to Speak About Activism

Tuesday, February 13, 5 p.m., Orcas Island Library

— from Orcas Island Library —

Nick Licata, former Seattle City Council member and one of the city’s most effective leaders of political and social change, will speak about his book, Becoming a Citizen Activist: Stories, Strategies and Advice for Changing Our World.

From post-inauguration rallies to #NoDAPL and the Black Lives Matter movement to the global Women’s March on Washington, the people are exercising their power through protest and community organizing in a way that hasn’t been seen in years. For those looking to organize for the first time or for seasoned activists looking to update their repertoire, the time is ripe for a playbook like Becoming a Citizen Activist.

A longtime Seattle city councilmember and one of the city’s most effective and inspiring leaders of progressive political and social change since the 1960s, Nick Licata outlines how to get organized and master the tactics to create change by leveraging effective communication strategies (such as creating community through online channels like Facebook and Twitter), how to effectively engage traditional media channels, and how to congregate local and national people power. Licata demonstrates by example that we can fight city hall. Balancing an idealistic vision of a better world with the clear-eyed pragmatism necessary to build it from the ground up, this smart and powerful book will empower any activist with the tools they need to effect change.

Nick Licata is from a working class family where neither parent graduated from high school. Licata, who couldn’t read until the age of nine, was the first of his relatives to attend college. He led the local chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at Bowling Green State University and subsequently was elected student body president.

He became a Seattle city councilmember despite being significantly outspent and the majority of the council, the mayor, and both daily newspapers supporting his opponent. Elected to five terms, in 2012 he was named by the Nation as Progressive Municipal Official of the Year and twice named Best Local Politician by the Seattle Weekly.

While in office he sponsored and had adopted as legislation paid sick leave and a minimum $15 an hour wage for all employees in the city, a city wide registration and inspection program for all rental units, required registration for all those lobbying city council, and created funding for cultural facilities throughout the city and initiated the city’s Civic Poet program.

He authored Becoming a Citizen Activist: Stories, Strategies & Advice for Changing Our World Published by Sasquatch Books – January 2016, ISBN: 978-63217-044-6
www.becomingacitizenactivist.org.