Posted by julia from dhcp102208.res-hall.northwestern.edu (199.74.102.208) on Thursday, January 23, 2003 at 2:47AM :
In Reply to: Re: Saul Alinsky posted by pancho from pool0007.cvx20-bradley.dialup.earthlink.net (209.179.250.7) on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 at 8:25AM :
alinksy was also a "true rebel" in the sense that he wanted to change the way poor people lived. he wanted them to be empowered so that they can get what they deserved as american citizens. he criticized the people who only fought for union wages or affirmative action, he was such a humanist in the sense that he argued everyone should see themselves as part of a human family and not just a black, white, pole, jew, etc. and he even got malcom's seal of approval for some black empowerment movements becuase he was such a good community organizer.
see after reading some of this guy's book, i thought he was about violent protest, but then he basically argues that you gotta be empowered as citizens before you can expect any change. and to be empowered is not to march (which is why him and MLK were not best friends) . to be empowered was to organize, and organize with organizations, and strike, and fight for and with other groups even unlike yourself. and make demands using the political system. and they say his method of community organizing is the most popular one in the u.s.
: A truer Radical doesn't "rebel". To rebel is merely to fight at the chain that binds you...to be Radical...or Revolutionary is to break the chain and walk away.
: That so pisses people off they come gunning for you with a vengence.
: Malcom was a Radical in the best sense. The word means "to go to the root"...not to fuss around fine tuning and tweaking. He even realized Black Racism against Whites was wrong...and he renounced violence as a means to change right at the end...that's when he really became dangerous and had to be killed.
: Violence stops nothing, not for the long haul...therefore Radicals don't believe in violence. Revolutionaries aren't quite Radical enough.
: In the 60's and 70's, when crimminal justice was a hot topic...people demonstrated against the legal system and the prisons. Protesting wasn't my way...so what, you say, "Down With The System". Okay...now what? I tried to find an alternative...go to the root of the problem...and I did. I didn't change the system, but I understood it better...saw what the hang up was...that's why two different Sociology Departments at two different Colleges tried to have me removed.
why did they have you removed? did they ask you to demonstrate with them?
: We need us all.
i think saul agrees! i really see a lot fo what i learned from you in alinksy.
-- julia
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