Name That Activist

so, I'm thinking about Wednesday night at the tavern again. The quiz guy thinks we are all babies because we don't break out singing Draft Dodger Rag, so he gives us another chance.
The second question is "who was Saul Alinsky?"
Hey! I've just heard that name... a few nights ago on C-SPAN. There was a pillow-pounding interview of the brilliant living history treasure (hero) Studs Terkel by another liberal modern media hero who was shafted by the boss, Bob Edwards.

Speaking of liberal media heroes getting canned in fashion of the Bill Moyer, Phil Donahue, etc... How about James Ridgeway getting canned by The Village Voice which was recently purchased by a monopolist conservative Arizona outfit. What a travesty.

I can't tell you how it stung to hear The Voice is moving on into The Ministry of Truth.
The Voice is what finally woke me up.
You know the meme that "9-11 changed everything"? Well, on 9-11 I went to my computer and began reading The Voice. Who would report more authentically from ground zero than a "small" alternative New York paper? And who did I read on the Voice? Nat Hentoff and James Ridgeway.
But back to Studs. How in the heck does he keep all of his remarkable knowledge so fresh and accessible? The man is as sharp as a tack. But I have digressed.
A member of the C-SPAN audience asked Studs about Alinsky! Coincidence rules.
All I knew was he was a radical of some sort, and no one else came up with more for the quiz guy.
Then our Fearless Leader who apparently goes back with activism to some degree comes up with "Alinsky was a social, a social..."
Bingo.
Spit it out, Alinsky was a socialist activist.
Quiz guy says we need to do our homework, and he knew Alinsky and was trained by same.
On the way out the door a girl at the bar said Phil Ochs wrote and sang 'Love Me I'm A Liberal". Look it up.

Time for some more homework.
I Googled our quiz guy. He's a local activist, involved in many good works as a profession. A professional do-gooder. And the little theatre presented Wednesday night was a short course in raising awareness. Use humor, spark imagination, challenge folks to learn more. I will add Alinsky to my list of things to look up.
Historical amnesia can be remedied. Wake up.

Now for some bit and pieces:

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask
why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." - Dom Helder Camara
(Note to self: look this up)

Number of U.S. prisoners serving life sentences with no parole for crimes they committed while juveniles: 2,225[Human Rights Watch (N.Y.C.)]
Number of prisoners serving such sentences in all other countries worldwide: 12[Human Rights Watch (N.Y.C.) ] - from Harper's Index
(Talk about a prison planet)

Outwitted
by Edwin Markham
He drew a circle that shut me out —
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in!