Worldchanging 101: Challenging the Myth of Powerlessness

Why is it that while most of us can identify and explain problems challenging our communities, nations, and world, we so rarely act to address those problems? What keeps us paralyzed?

David LaMotte suggests that the stories we tell ourselves and each other about how the world works are a big part of the answer. Stories matter. They guide our actions more powerfully than data because they place boundaries around what we believe to be possible. Unfortunately, some of our common stories are simply not true.

Worldchanging 101 examines how large-scale change happens and how it doesn t, and explores our possible roles within that change. By breaking large transformations into more manageable components, LaMotte demystifies positive change-making, then guides us through questions to reveal specific pathways toward real and sustainable engagement with problems that concern us.

In Worldchanging 101, we re-think the importance of heroes and everyday people, including ourselves.

David LaMotte is an award-winning songwriter, speaker, author, and activist. Having produced 11 CDs and performed 2500 concerts on 5 continents, he suspended his successful music career in 2008 to accept a Rotary World Peace Fellowship, earning a master's degree in International Studies, Peace, and Conflict Resolution from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. As part of that program, he also spent three months in rural Andhra Pradesh, India, working with a Gandhian development organization.

David maintains a full calendar of speaking engagements and concerts and works with PEG Partners, the non-profit organization he co-founded to support schools and libraries in Guatemala. He is also a consultant on peace and justice issues for the North Carolina Council of Churches, and he serves as the Clerk (chair) of the Nobel Peace Prize Nominating Task Group for the AFSC (Quakers).

He has published two illustrated children s books, S.S. Bathtub, a rhyming book for small children based on his award-winning song of the same name, and White Flour, a whimsical introduction to nonviolence, based on true events. David's most recent projects include this book and PickOne.org, a web site that nourishes positive change by inspiring and empowering people to take action on issues they care about.

He lives in Black Mountain, North Carolina, with his wife Deanna and son Mason.