I published a book in 2022 with the University of Minnesota Press called A Voice but No Power: Organizing for Social Justice in Minneapolis. The book explains why social justice organizers in the contemporary United States so often displace as much as empower egalitarian and emancipatory movements, and how they could better reach their potential as advocates for the abolition of exploitation, racial discrimination, and other injustices. Through an in-depth study of post-2008 Minneapolis, a center of progressive activism, I argue that social justice organizers often fall short of their potential largely because of challenges they face in building what I call “contentious identities,” the public identities they use to represent their constituents and counteract stigmatizing images such as the “welfare queen” or “the underclass.” In the process of assembling, publicizing, and legitimating contentious identities, I show, these organizers encounter a series of political hazards, each of which pushes them to make choices that weaken movements for equality and freedom. I demonstrate that organizers can achieve better outcomes, however, by steadily working to remake their hazardous political terrain. The book’s conclusion reflects on the 2020 uprising that followed the police killing of George Floyd, assessing what it means for the future of social justice activism.