Community organizing” is a phrase that’s taken on an almost elastic quality in this fraught political moment. When it isn’t being wielded by right-leaning ideologues to slight grassroots politics (see the 2008 US presidential and 2025 New York City mayoral elections), it’s being embraced by progressives who believe that hopscotching among major protest movements and voting every four years will eventually turn the tide.

Abramorama has acquired North American theatrical distribution rights to American Agitators, a documentary exploring the life and legacy of community organizer Fred Ross Sr., who mentored some of the most impactful activists in American history.