For more than two decades, John Wessel-McCoy has served as an organizer and educator involved in grassroots labor and community organizing, rooted in the organization of poor and dispossessed across color lines. He was part of a student-led effort at Union Theological Seminary that led to the founding of the Kairos Center for Rights, Religions, and Social Justice. Originally from Decatur, Illinois, Wessel-McCoy is a student of histories of mass struggle, particularly in the context of the United States. His core text is W.E.B. Du Bois’ Black Reconstruction in America.