Empowering grassroots efforts in literacy is paramount in the literacy education movement. Six issues face literacy work, research, and policy in the United States today: (1) although there are many exciting and innovative literacy projects being conducted, their lessons are unexamined and they are not part of a larger organizing strategy; (2) although there are a number of leaders in the literacy field, their positions are fragile and their work is hindered by reliance on a traditional notion of leadership; (3) participatory research is barely acknowledged in the United States, although it is used in other countries; (4) the literacy experience for most learners is separate from social issues such as racism, sexism, class inequality, and poverty; (5) there is a continuing naive faith in the power of information to transform political structures; and (6) the central policy question has to shift from "how many" to "how does change happen?" The literacy field must work cooperatively with other fields that are committed to securing basic human rights and social justice. It must find ways to support the small but important changes that are happening, and it must extract knowledge through international networking. (KC)