Shel Trapp Explained

Shel Trapp
Birth Date:	September 15, 1935
Death Date:	October 18,
Nationality:	American
Occupation:	Community activist

Shel Trapp (1935 – October 18, 2010) was a community organizer based in Chicago, co-founder of National People's Action (along with Gale Cincotta), and author of several books and pamphlets on community organizing.^[1] Trapp and Cincotta are widely credited with writing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Trapp has also been responsible for training hundreds of community organizers throughout the United States through the National Training and Information Center. He retired in 2000 and died of pneumonia in October 2010.^[2]

Bibliography

• John Koval, Larry Bennett, Michael Bennett, and Fassil Demissie, The New Chicago: A Social and Cultural Analysis (Temple University Press, 2006).
• Rinku Sen and Kim Klein, Stir It Up: Lessons in Community Organizing and Advocacy (Jossey-Bass, 2003).
• David Walls, The Activist's Almanac: The Concerned Citizen's Guide to the Leading Advocacy Organizations in America (Simon & Schuster/Fireside, 1993).

Pamphlets by Trapp

• Basics of Organizing. Chicago: National Training and Information Center, 1986.
• Blessed Be the Fighters: Reflections on Organizing . . . Collected Essays. Chicago: National Training and Information Center, 1986.
• Dynamics of Organizing. Chicago: National Training and Information Center, 1976.

External links

• Video interview with Shel Trapp about his beginnings in organizing
• NPA website
• Video interview with Shel Trapp on the origins of the "bank-in"

Notes and References

1. Web site: Amazon. Amazon.com. 28 October 2021.
2. News: Shel Trapp, 1935–2010 . Chicago Tribune . October 25, 2010 . 2011-06-07 . Margaret Ramirez.