People working for social justice in struggling communities, through their everyday experiences, are dynamically constructing knowledge essential to the field of community building. The knowledge resources derived from community practice are critical for understanding the complex role of race in building democratic communities. By engaging these practitioners in piecing together the learning gained from rigorous exploration of race and community building, we gain a powerful understanding of this complex struggle. The collection of practitioner-based knowledge, available for the first time in this report, shows us that while race is sometimes used to distort or derail, it also can transform the process of building democracy at the grassroots level. Racial identity and racial difference are clearly vital tools driving the transformative power of this work.