In this wide-ranging interview for The American Prospect, Robert Kuttner speaks with longtime organizer Michael Ansara about his new memoir The Hard Work of Hope and the lessons it offers for today's fight against voter suppression.

On this week’s Labor Heritage Power Hour: Ron Carver sits down with lifelong activist and author Michael Ansara, whose powerful new memoir The Hard Work of Hope traces his journey from a 13-year-old stepping into a Woolworth’s picket line to leading anti-war and grassroots campaigns across the country. Ansara reflects on building hope through action, the lessons of SDS, and the importance of solidarity today.

In a thoughtful new review, The Progressive calls Michael Ansara’s The Hard Work of Hope “a compelling memoir that reminds us that the arc of history bends toward justice—but only if we push.”

Michael talks to DrT about lessons we can learn from the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War movements--and what's different now.

Before it even hit the shelves, The Hard Work of Hope has been earning powerful praise from organizers, writers, historians, and public leaders alike.

Whether you're part of a book club, a classroom, or a community group, our new Discussion Guide is designed to help you explore the lessons of the 1960s and 70s—and apply them to the challenges of today.

Micah’s comments brought me back to November 1965, when I helped organize the second major antiwar march on Washington, D.C.—25,000 to 30,000 people protesting a war that was only just beginning to enter the nation’s consciousness. But the march didn’t just happen. There was a lot of real-world organizing that had to happen, and even organizing behind the organizing: The conversations in dorm rooms. The leaflets. The debates. The slow, persistent work of building trust, shifting perspective, and growing a movement one person at a time.

In a month marked by political assassinations in Minnesota, massive demonstrations across the country, and American bombs falling on a distant land, the urgency of activism feels all too familiar. The headlines echo the upheaval of the 1960s — a time when young people challenged injustice, took to the streets, and dared to believe in change. The Hard Work of Hope is my memoir of that era, a reflection on what it means to hold on to hope and keep organizing when the world feels like it’s coming apart. It’s a story of struggle, mistakes, resilience– and the belief that, even now, we can build something better.

This is not a nostalgic look back. It’s a gripping, clear-eyed account of how movements are made—and why they matter.

Michael takes us deep into the heady, turbulent days of 1960s and 70s activism: the civil rights movement, the ten-year fight to end the Vietnam War, and the hard lessons of organizing in the years that followed.

After nine years of writing, I’m excited to invite you to pre-order the book, which I hope will resonate with anyone who values democracy, decency, and social justice. You can pre-order it from Cornell with a 30% discount by using code 09BCARD at checkout here.