We Need To Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy

From the former faith advisor to President Obama, comes an inspirational guide for those who seek to promote positive social change and build a more diverse and just democracy

In his youth, Eboo Patel was inspired by love-based activists like John Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr., Badshah Khan, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Dorothy Day, Abraham Joshua Heschel and Thich Nhat Hanh. Drawing on his 20 years of experience seeking to promote positive social change after founding the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), Patel tells the stories of what he learned and how he learned it, and how, in the process, he came to construct as much as critique, and collaborate more than oppose.

We Need to Build focuses on the often over-looked role of builders in work towards social change, and particularly of builders of civic institutions. In civic institutions, like schools, or athletic leagues, people from different backgrounds come together in shared activities that promote the general well-being and that guide cooperative relationships. Patel’s story is one for those who appreciate the work of critique and protest, but who want to learn to create and innovate the kinds of institutions we need for a diverse democracy to flourish.