NEA’s new president, Lily Eskelsen García, is more talented than many members know. Not only was she a teacher of the year in Utah and an accomplished folk singer, she also recently authored the book, “Rabble Rousers.”

García’s husband, Alberto, illustrated the book, and the two of them autographed copies on Sept. 19 at the NEA office building in Washington D.C. Proceeds from the book will go toward United We Dream, an immigrant advocacy organization.

“Rabble Rousers” is the story of ordinary people who used their voices, commitment, and passion to organize communities to fight injustice. Featuring social justice advocates like Mother Jones, Emmeline Pankhurst, Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Harvey Milk.

In the book’s introduction, García writes, “These leaders have much in common … They all understood that the only way for them to win against such overwhelming power was to organize the little power, the only power that they had. … They understood that if they could rouse the common people, the ‘rabble,’ to demand justice with a common voice, they could change the world from what it was into what it should be.”

Dolores Huerta, who with Cesar Chavez founded the labor union that would become the United Farm Workers, says in the forward to the book that García “depicts how one does not have to have a lot of money or power to create change. It shows the power of the person, no matter what barriers may stand in the way.”