Review: Portside

A new book review from Portside:

Michael Ansara’s The Hard Work of Hope is an extraordinary memoir, presenting the political and personal reflections of a dedicated organizer over many decades.

From his early teens, Ansara played crucial roles, from civil rights advocacy to anti-war and student activism, and most notably, leading a major effort by the New Left to develop into innovative and lasting organizations outside campus walls.

Hard Work brings together razor-sharp analyses of these causes and, crucially, the current crisis represented by Trump’s second election in 2024. It offers a compelling, page-turning overview of the kaleidoscopic transformations of the 1960s and beyond as the New Left — with Ansara often playing a critical role — reached out to broader audiences, especially the working class. Keep Reading >>