Leveraging conflict to achieve advances in civil rights: community leadership — an unfinished work for educators

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to identify community leadership praxis of an activist for Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender civil rights in community housing, employment and public accommodations. The qualitative single-case study included data from city council meetings, interviews with Tony Stewart, the community leader/activist, other leaders, documents, archival records and newspaper articles. Community leadership praxis involved: (1) framing the issue by understanding the opposition’s viewpoint to leverage conflict for civil rights and social change, (2) building social capital and assessment of organized resistance, which resulted in capacity to counter the argument and (3) mobilizing through actions that addressed resistance and engaged resources to advance civil rights. Contributions to community leadership theory and implications for educators are discussed.