What it takes.

SOMEONE ASKED ME RECENTLY to come up with one word that described how I was feeling about the state of the country and what might happen next.

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I thought about it for a long moment, stumped. And then a word that surprised me popped into my head: Reinvigorate.

To be sure, I started explaining that we need to reinvigorate both the public debate and our movements at a time when it's critical not to accept war, poverty and racism as the norm, or to let complacency take hold. But, then I realized I also meant that I'm actually feeling reinvigorated, and I don't think I'm alone.

With this first issue of 2007, we begin the year by taking note of 15 innovators who are thinking big and moving their visions into reality. The people profiled are taking on challenges that include the denial of due process for thousands of poor and Black prisoners in the post-Katrina New Orleans justice system; a war in Iraq that "violates every tenet of international law, humanity and peace"; a U.S. government that refuses to stop the genocide in Sudan; and the devastation of communities here and in the Global South by corporate globalization.

Where do you even start when faced with such huge problems and a deep-rooted imbalance of power? To paraphrase First Lieutenant Ehren Watada, who's being court-martialed for refusing to serve in Iraq, first you have to seek out the whole truth, then have the willingness to act upon it.

Many of the stories in this issue revolve around the theme of bringing hope out of hardship and tragedy. Kari Lydersen tells the story of Black and immigrant students in Chicago's public schools who have learned to confront disability discrimination and racism in their fight to save deaf education programs. Eric Tang visits New Orleans East to find out how a thrice-displaced community of devout Catholics and war refugees managed to resist toxic dumping and rebuild against all odds.

Perhaps one of the most dramatic examples of what it costs and what it takes to bring hope out of tragedy is Rinku Sen's article, years in the reporting, on the remarkable journey of the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York. You'll get to know Fekkak Mamdouh, a former waiter at Windows on the World and accidental organizer of the only cooperatively owned and operated restaurant in the United States, and you'll read about an enduring campaign for worker justice.

Like the deaf students, who took a risk and discovered their own measure, and the Vietnamese survivors who turned into unlikely rebels, and the hardworking dreamers on The Innovators list, Mamdouh's story is about creating movement and being transformed by it.

Tram Nguyen

Executive Editor