"What they're reading" appears as an occasional series in MinnPost's Book Club Club section. We're asking well-known and not-so-well-known Minnesotans to tell us about the books they're reading and recommending to others — and why. In today's installment, we hear from Vic Rosenthal, Executive Director of Jewish Community Action. JCA is a St.Paul-based nonprofit that brings together Jewish people from diverse traditions and promotes social and economic justice in Minnesota.

I recently finished Michael Gecan's "Going Public: An Organizer’s Guide to Citizen Action" and JoAnn Gibson's "The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women Who Started It." I read both these books to enhance my knowledge of community organizing and the development of effective social movements. No matter how long you organize, there's still more to learn.

I've been recommending "Going Public" to others because I want them to better understand how organizing individuals into groups that stand together produces the power and influence crucial to social change in our community.