Finding lessons for life in Harry Potter books Los Angeles Times

24.07.09

For some people the Harry Potter books made for proof beach reading, but for others they inspired a call to social activism. Andrew Slack, the 29-year-old leader of the nonprofit Harry Potter Alliance, sits firmly in the second camp.

A self-declared "Harry Potter rabbi" who quotes from the series about the adolescent wizard as a clergyman might quote Scripture, Slack's organization uses parallels from the Potter books to educate and call up Potter fans around such issues as workers' rights and combating genocide.

Slack started the group in 2005 and since has utilized his online connections to reach a rabid Potter fan base that numbers in the millions. His group's accomplishments group registering new voters at Wizard Rock the Vote events, collecting more than 13,000 donated books to give to neighbourhood pub community centers and a youth center in Rwanda, and raising $15,000 for the Genocide Intervention Network's civilian defence program for displaced Darfuris and Burmese.

Slack

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