Saul Alinsky off the cover of Let Them Call Me Rebel: Saul Alinsky, His Life and Legacy by Sanford D. Horwitt.

Saul David Alinsky (January 30, 1909, Chicago, Illinois - June 12, 1972, Carmel, California) is generally considered the father of community organizing. Image File history File links Saul_Alinsky. ... January 30 is the 30th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ... June 12 is the 163rd day of the year (164th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Carmel-by-the-Sea is a city located in Monterey County, California. ... Community organizing is a process by which people are brought together to act in common self-interest. ...

Biography and work

In the 1930s, Alinsky organized the Back of the Yards neighborhood in Chicago (made famous by Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle on the horrific working conditions in the Union Stock Yards). He went on to found the Industrial Areas Foundation while organizing the Woodlawn neighborhood, which trained leftist organizers and assisted in the founding of community organizations around the country. In Rules for Radicals (his final work, published one year before his death), he addressed the 1960s generation of leftist radicals, outlining his views on organizing for mass power. New City, one of the 77 official community areas, is located on the southwest side of Chicago. ... Nickname: Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: Country United States State Illinois County Cook & DuPage Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City  234. ... Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. ... The Jungle (1906) is the title of the book of socialist American author Upton Sinclair. ... ÊÊÊÊThe Union Stock Yard & Transit Co. ... The Industrial Areas Foundation is a Chicago-based community organization established in 1940 by Saul Alinsky. ... Woodlawn is a neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, USA bounded by Jackson Park to the east, the University of Chicago (and Hyde Park generally) to the north, Martin Luther King Drive to the west, and, mostly, 67th to the south. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ...

Author of Reveille for Radicals, Alinsky encouraged unity and communication through community organizing, writing "There's another reason for working inside the system. Dostoevsky said that taking a new step is what people fear most. Any revolutionary change must be preceded by a passive, affirmative, non-challenging attitude toward change among the mass of our people. They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless in the prevailing system that they are willing to let go of the past and chance the future. This acceptance is the reformation essential to any revolution. To bring on this reformation requires that the organizer work inside the system, among not only the middle class but the 40 per cent of American families - more than seventy million people - whose income range from $5,000 to $10,000 a year [in 1971]. They cannot be dismissed by labeling them blue collar or hard hat. They will not continue to be relatively passive and slightly challenging. If we fail to communicate with them, if we don't encourage them to form alliances with us, they will move to the right. Maybe they will anyway, but let's not let it happen by default.."^[1] Alinsky is often credited with laying the foundation for grassroots political organizing that dominated the 1960s.^[2] Later in his life he encouraged holders of stock in public corporations to lend their votes to "proxies" who would vote at annual stockholders meetings in favor of social justice. While his grassroots style took hold in American activism, his call to stock holders to share their power with disenfranchised working poor never took hold in U.S. progressive circles.

Alinsky was a critic of a passive and ineffective mainstream liberalism. In Rules for Radicals, he argued that the most effective means are whatever will achieve the desired ends, and that an intermediate end for radicals should be democracy because of its relative ease to work within to achieve other ends of social justice. He was awarded the Pacem in Terris Award. It was named after a 1963 encyclical letter by Pope John XXIII that calls upon all people of good will to secure peace among all nations. Pacem in Terris is Latin for "Peace on Earth." New liberalism (also called modern liberalism or American liberalism) is a political philosophy that argues for the idea that society has the responsibility of guaranteeing equal opportunities for each of its citizens. ... Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals (copyrighted as Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals) is the last book written by community organizer Saul D. Alinsky before his death in 1972. ... The Pacem in Terris Award has been awarded annually since 1964 in commemoration of the Encyclical Pacem in Terris of Pope John XXIII by Davenport (Iowa) Diocese. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... An encyclical was a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Christian church. ... Blessed Pope John XXIII (Latin: ),(Italian: Giovanni XXIII), born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (November 25, 1881 – June 3, 1963), was elected as the 261st Pope of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City on October 28, 1958. ... A visibly ill Pope John XXIII, who died shortly afterwards, signing Pacem in Terris. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ...

The documentary, "The Democratic Promise: Saul Alinsky and His Legacy,"^[3] claims that "Alinsky championed new ways to organize the poor and powerless that created a backyard revolution in cities across America."

Students of Alinsky

Many important community and labor organizers came from the "Alinsky School." Some of the below studied at the Industrial Areas Foundation Training Institute.

• Ed Chambers^{[citation needed]}
• Cesar Chavez^{[citation needed]}
• Tom Gaudette^{[citation needed]}
• Michael Gecan^{[citation needed]}
• Andrew Vachss^{[citation needed]}
• Pat Crowley^[4]

Edward T. Chambers has been the Executive Director of the Industrial Areas Foundation since 1972, a community organizing group founded by Saul Alinsky. ... 2003 USPS stamp featuring Chávez and the fields that were so important to him César Estrada Chávez (March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American farm worker, labor leader, and activist who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers. ... Tom Gaudette (1923-1998) was a community organizer who worked in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago. ... Michael Gecan is a community organizer in New York affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation. ... Andrew Vachss & Honey Pit Bull, courtesy of Ellery Queens Mystery Magazine Andrew Henry Vachss (born 19 October 1942) is an American crime fiction author, child protection consultant, and attorney exclusively representing children and youths. ... Pat Crowley (born 17 September 1929) is an American actress, best known for her roles on television. ...

Alinsky in the Media

Alinsky was the subject of Hillary Rodham Clinton's senior honors thesis at Wellesley College. Clinton commented on Alinsky's "charm," but rejected grassroots community organizing as outdated. The title of her thesis was "There Is Only the Fight..."^[5] Hillary Rodham Clinton (born Hillary Diane Rodham on October 26, 1947) is the Biggest loser/retard these united states have seen from New York. ... Wellesley College is a womens liberal arts college that opened in 1875, founded by Henry Fowle Durant and his wife Pauline Fowle Durant. ...

Alinsky also had a significant influence on Barack Obama, who is a United States Senator and candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. Obama particularly used Alinsky's techniques while participating in Chicago community organizations in the 1980s.^[6] “Obama” redirects here. ...

Published works

• Reveille for Radicals (1946). 2nd edition 1969, Vintage Books paperback: ISBN 0-679-72112-6
• John L. Lewis: An Unauthorized Biography (1949) ISBN 0-394-70882-2
• Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals (1971) Random House, ISBN 0-394-44341-1, Vintage books paperback: ISBN 0-679-72113-4
• Marion K. Sanders, The Professional Radical: Conversations with Saul Alinsky (New York: Harper & Row, 1970).

DAVE ACKERMAN HAS WOOLY SOCKSJohn Llewellyn Lewis (February 12, 1880 – June 11, 1969) was an American leader of organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1920 to 1960. ... Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals (copyrighted as Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals) is the last book written by community organizer Saul D. Alinsky before his death in 1972. ...

Biography

• Let Them Call Me Rebel: Saul Alinsky: His Life and Legacy by Sanford D. Horwitt (1989) Alfred Knopf, ISBN 0-394-57243-2; Vintage Books paperback: ISBN 0-679-73418-X

Documentary: "The Democratic Promise:Saul Alinsky and His Legacy," copyright 1999, Chicago Video Project and Media Process Group, co-produced by Bruce Orenstein, Chicago Video Project, www.chicagovideo.org 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In pop culture

The 2006 album The Avalanche by Sufjan Stevens includes a song, titled "The Perpetual Self Or 'What Would Saul Alinsky Do?'". For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album is an album by indie rock singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens, consisting of outtakes and other recordings from the sessions for his album Illinois. ... Sufjan Stevens (IPA pronunciation: ) (born July 1, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and musician from Petoskey, Michigan. ...

The 2006 album The Sufferer & The Witness by Rise Against includes an exerpt from the book in the back of the CD case. For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... The Sufferer & The Witness is the fourth album by Rise Against, which will be released on July 4, 2006. ... Rise Against is a melodic hardcore band from Chicago, Illinois, USA, consisting of four members, Tim McIlrath (vocals, guitar), Joe Principe (bass guitar), Brandon Barnes (drums), and Zach Blair (guitar). ...

External links

• Interview with Alinsky, published in Playboy in 1972. The interview is in twelve parts. The entire text is copied onto one page, here.
• Website of a documentary about Alinsky and his legacy, Democratic Promise.
• Some excerpts from Reveille for Radicals.
• Dissertation: Saul Alinsky and the dilemmas of race in the post-war city.
• "Problem of the Century," in TIME (book Reveille for Radicals reviewed by Whittaker Chambers, published February 25, 1946)
• "Democrats and the Legacy of Activist Saul Alinsky". The NPR host Robert Siegel discusses Alinsky's legacy with biographer Sanford Horwitt. At issue is that Democratic Presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama claim to be greatly influenced by Saul Alinksy.

Whittaker Chambers, 1948 Jay Vivian (David Whittaker) Chambers (April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer, editor, Communist party member and spy for the Soviet Union who defected and became an outspoken opponent of communism. ...

References

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Saul Alinsky